Flaushi & Friends (Mostly Off)
Peekaboo Miss Elfie - Please zoom in!
My Getty Images Portfolio and Flickr Getty Album
This image was taken right on my terrace and I thought it shows rather well how petite Elfie is plus I liked how it appears that she is whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the goody angel ;-) Oh, and it was taken at one of my record low shutter speeds of 1/8!
During the latter part of January, a rather elfin and super sweet robin turned up on my terrace. Because she is so very petite and much smaller than Angelo, I decided to name her Miss Elfie. I also think that she proves that you do not have to be a big round ball of fluffy feathers to be considered beyond adorable as a songbird!
Elfie is a real little charmer, much like the true Southern belle. She gives me the same adoring look all the super sweet visiting female robins have given me, including Angelo's grandmother Trudy and his mom Angel.
The most fascinating bit was that Angelo did not chase her away when she was on the one low posing branch above the goody angel while he is on top of the goody angel. Instead, he would puff himself up to a big ball and look mighty pleased as well as proud as can be. He seemed to love the attention she was giving him.
Basically, Elfie let Angelo be the big boss. A very Southern belle approach. Well, she let him THINK he was the head honcho ;-) The female robins leave their home garden turfs when it becomes milder in January / February to go off to find and woo a mate as the male robins generally are confirmed bachelors and cannot be bothered.
They just want to be left alone in their man cave and not have to deal with any such "menial" tasks like going furniture shopping or buying flowers, let alone remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Sound familiar, guys?!
So, the female robins come and try to charm these cranky bachelors into falling in love with them and starting a family. They do this by singing to and at one another. Often, they will part ways within a few hours or even days. Sometimes, the females are more persistent. So far, the real courting around my terrace usually happens the end of March into early April.
The hardest nut to crack was Angelo's grandpa Rudy, though Angelo might not be that easy either. I did see Elfie and Angelo flitting about in the hedge right next to my place and between the neighbor's yard last month and had high hopes that Elfie would manage to tame Angelo as I already have such a special bond with her.
Angelo has been busy singing his little heart out and he sounds like a virtuoso Baroque singer as he is embellishing the notes and trilling all over the place.
My darling resident dunnock Hedy's son from this past spring, Mr. Hedy Junior aka HJ, has also been practicing his beautiful song and loves warbling right on or in front of my terrace.
But, now that Angelo is really getting the hang of his technique, HJ likes to bud into his song. Those two were born around the same time and have quite the rivalry going on as they so do not get along!
These past few weeks, Elfie now also keeps flying to the backyard of the communal gardens surrounding my place. This happens to be the stomping ground of my darling senior resident robin Rudy, the uncle of little Angelo. So, maybe Elfie will become Mrs. Rudy instead.
In fact, it really does look that way as she is always flying right over my shoulder into the backyard, just like Rudy does as well and he has been turning up a few times now giving me his elated "I am going to be a dad soon" look. He lives to be a dad and last year, I gave him the new father-of-the-year award as he was so incredibly doting and caring.
He also developed quite the bromance with my alpha male blackbird PB last spring and summer. Rudy ended up looking after PB and Fleur's youngsters and vice versa during their later broods. It was too cute! Once they get going, robin dads have incredible parenting instincts and have even been known to help feed the nestlings and fledglings of the blackbirds. I was half-expecting Rudy to start feeding me as well at the time, lol.
Elfie could also very well even be the returning Mrs. Rudy from last spring and summer as I never met her at the time as Rudy kept her completely under wraps during the entire nesting season.
Last spring, my visiting robin was the most adorable Angel who followed Rudy back here. But she ended up marrying Rudy's difficult brother Dandy instead and they then had Angelo. This year, my visiting robin Elfie first tried to charm moody Angelo. But now, it seems that she is together with darling Rudy instead. Always not the way the ladies were planning it all ;-)
The rather skeptical and exacting dad of Rudy and Dandy (Angelo's father) inspired the character of the clever clogs professor: Prof. Dr. Dr. Rudy Besserwisser aka Rudy Wright in the upcoming picture book series, "Flaushi the Buddha Jay." The series is based on my very special and completely wild Eurasian jay Flaushi and all of his friends on and around my enchanted terrace.
Peekaboo Miss Elfie - Please zoom in!
My Getty Images Portfolio and Flickr Getty Album
This image was taken right on my terrace and I thought it shows rather well how petite Elfie is plus I liked how it appears that she is whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the goody angel ;-) Oh, and it was taken at one of my record low shutter speeds of 1/8!
During the latter part of January, a rather elfin and super sweet robin turned up on my terrace. Because she is so very petite and much smaller than Angelo, I decided to name her Miss Elfie. I also think that she proves that you do not have to be a big round ball of fluffy feathers to be considered beyond adorable as a songbird!
Elfie is a real little charmer, much like the true Southern belle. She gives me the same adoring look all the super sweet visiting female robins have given me, including Angelo's grandmother Trudy and his mom Angel.
The most fascinating bit was that Angelo did not chase her away when she was on the one low posing branch above the goody angel while he is on top of the goody angel. Instead, he would puff himself up to a big ball and look mighty pleased as well as proud as can be. He seemed to love the attention she was giving him.
Basically, Elfie let Angelo be the big boss. A very Southern belle approach. Well, she let him THINK he was the head honcho ;-) The female robins leave their home garden turfs when it becomes milder in January / February to go off to find and woo a mate as the male robins generally are confirmed bachelors and cannot be bothered.
They just want to be left alone in their man cave and not have to deal with any such "menial" tasks like going furniture shopping or buying flowers, let alone remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Sound familiar, guys?!
So, the female robins come and try to charm these cranky bachelors into falling in love with them and starting a family. They do this by singing to and at one another. Often, they will part ways within a few hours or even days. Sometimes, the females are more persistent. So far, the real courting around my terrace usually happens the end of March into early April.
The hardest nut to crack was Angelo's grandpa Rudy, though Angelo might not be that easy either. I did see Elfie and Angelo flitting about in the hedge right next to my place and between the neighbor's yard last month and had high hopes that Elfie would manage to tame Angelo as I already have such a special bond with her.
Angelo has been busy singing his little heart out and he sounds like a virtuoso Baroque singer as he is embellishing the notes and trilling all over the place.
My darling resident dunnock Hedy's son from this past spring, Mr. Hedy Junior aka HJ, has also been practicing his beautiful song and loves warbling right on or in front of my terrace.
But, now that Angelo is really getting the hang of his technique, HJ likes to bud into his song. Those two were born around the same time and have quite the rivalry going on as they so do not get along!
These past few weeks, Elfie now also keeps flying to the backyard of the communal gardens surrounding my place. This happens to be the stomping ground of my darling senior resident robin Rudy, the uncle of little Angelo. So, maybe Elfie will become Mrs. Rudy instead.
In fact, it really does look that way as she is always flying right over my shoulder into the backyard, just like Rudy does as well and he has been turning up a few times now giving me his elated "I am going to be a dad soon" look. He lives to be a dad and last year, I gave him the new father-of-the-year award as he was so incredibly doting and caring.
He also developed quite the bromance with my alpha male blackbird PB last spring and summer. Rudy ended up looking after PB and Fleur's youngsters and vice versa during their later broods. It was too cute! Once they get going, robin dads have incredible parenting instincts and have even been known to help feed the nestlings and fledglings of the blackbirds. I was half-expecting Rudy to start feeding me as well at the time, lol.
Elfie could also very well even be the returning Mrs. Rudy from last spring and summer as I never met her at the time as Rudy kept her completely under wraps during the entire nesting season.
Last spring, my visiting robin was the most adorable Angel who followed Rudy back here. But she ended up marrying Rudy's difficult brother Dandy instead and they then had Angelo. This year, my visiting robin Elfie first tried to charm moody Angelo. But now, it seems that she is together with darling Rudy instead. Always not the way the ladies were planning it all ;-)
The rather skeptical and exacting dad of Rudy and Dandy (Angelo's father) inspired the character of the clever clogs professor: Prof. Dr. Dr. Rudy Besserwisser aka Rudy Wright in the upcoming picture book series, "Flaushi the Buddha Jay." The series is based on my very special and completely wild Eurasian jay Flaushi and all of his friends on and around my enchanted terrace.