Rob the Dunnock

 

Tuesday 3rd July was an auspicious day for us. I came down first thing in the morning and Rob was bobbing about in the Garden room and seemed quite eager to get outside. He perched on my finger as I opened the door (at 7:41 am) to the outside and wandered over to the apple tree. Rob hopped in among the branches and surveyed the world. I stayed with him for several minutes saying goodbye with a tear in my eye and took a few pictures, then returned to the house leaving him all alone.

I had a cup of tea and opened the Bi-fold doors as the sun started to get higher and hotter. I lost sight of Rob, I think he may have flown into the garden next door.

It was coffee time at about 10:30 am as I sat down to read the paper, overlooking the garden through the open doors. To my surprise (and delight) there was a little whooshing sound and Rob landed on my chair arm! He had apparently had enough exploring (or not found enough to eat and drink) and had decided to pop home.

After hopping about me (and the paper) he flew down to the floor under his tree to bask in the sun. He wasn't that bothered about going out again. Later on we tried again, but he'd kept coming back in! We repeated the exercise, even holding him up to plants to feed of the greenfly and releasing into what became known as 'Rob's Bush'.

He obviously did not feel like roosting outside that night and he happily settled down that night in his tree.

The following day (4th July) we 'let him out' into the garden at around 7 am. He spent his day pecking around the garden and hopping in and out of a bush near the bi fold doors (we called this 'Rob's Bush' ever after). We placed a food and water bowl under this bush for him to use. He few back into the garden room through the open bi fold doors mid morning for a drink from his old old water bowl and then perched on top of the cushion on one of the chairs looking very relaxed and comfortable. After most of the rest of the day outside he spent his first night out under the open sky.

The morning of the 5th July saw us anxiously looking around the garden to see if he was still around. At first we couldn't see him, then we saw him feeding under the trees, and jumping in and out of his 'bush' for the rest of the day.

The following days saw him become more adventurous and he seemed to disappear for periods to adjacent gardens but returned to us eventually. He was not so interested in the food we left in the bowl under his bush as he became more experienced at finding his own.

He did start to become more nervous of us as each day passed, and was more reluctant to let us approach him, flying off to cover. Saying that when he choose he would fly up and perch occasionally very near us as if just to say 'hello' before going his own way again.

Once or twice he did make the mistake of trying to fly back into the garden room through the closed bi-fold doors, hitting the window glass to his surprise and dropping to the patio! He didn't appear to hurt himself when we noticed this and fluttered off into the garden each time.

We continued to see Rob for several weeks, however as he matured we couldn't honestly say it was him, and since then we have always had Dunnocks in the garden, mating and nesting. We enjoy watching them and can't help wondering if one is Rob or one of his offspring.