I was sitting by the fire pit last week, enjoying a great cigar, when I saw a huge flock of birds, literally hundreds. Maybe starlings, I thought. On closer observation they were robins, a gazillion robins. They lit in several trees on the horizon, catching their collective breaths. They were likely heading north as the days get lighter.
I have had a few robins just hang around our yard all year. We had one that fed at our feeder during a snowstorm. That doesn’t happen often.
Robins form flocks to fly south and then again, to head north. When they return to their home turf, they stay put and begin eating lots of grubs and worms to get ready for nesting.
Then, the robin wars proceed as the male birds square off to defend their territories. We usually have two or three families to ultimately nest in or near our yard and they love the meal worms that I dole out for my bluebirds.
About 5 minutes after I saw the robins perch in their treetops, they all skedaddled. Following close behind was a hawk and odds are that huge flock was reduced by one.
