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Love and War

Writer's picture: CroneCrone

Standing under the back lilac, I saw a robin perched on the fence at the end of the garden. They just stayed there... looking, I thought, up at the lilac. I couldn't tell who they were, but by the behaviour - staying still - I was sure this wasn't Chestnut and I figured it might be Tapdance, who had perched on that same fence for a prolonged period once before, becoming the focus of attention for both Chestnut and Tane.


Something happened, my memory is indistinct, merging with what happened later, but I think that I was proven correct because I then saw both Tane and Chestnut and a flurry ensued.


A little later, I went out again. I have noticed that if I see Tane and point the camera at him he will nearly always fly over from two gardens down to attempt a trespass. Chestnut was, at that time, two gardens down in the other direction, tutting at something. Tane flew over and took some food. Then he flew up into the lilac and started singing - it wasn't the outraged-song-dispute voice, but a sort of high adrenaline version of the song nonetheless. And someone was responding in the same high emotion but not, I felt, aggression manner. A robin in the hedge to the right! I didn't know whom, but behaviour suggested that this was not Chestnut.


I looked back to Tane, still singing, and his chest feathers were puffed out - as in aggression or courtship. The light was low and I couldn't tell if he was swaying as Bobbit had done when courting Tiny, but the atmosphere certainly felt different from Tane's usual interactions with Chestnut.


The hedge robin, Tapdance, I assume, flew into the tree and Tane stayed there, still singing. But the sound had drawn Chestnut who very soon arrived. Tapdance moved across the tree, and Tane flew to next door's birch, still puffed out and now complaining. There was some chasing and someone was doing that high pitched whistle. It was confusing. I think I saw Tane fly back to his place.


I thought, "OK, so there's two males - Tane and Chestnut - after the female Tapdance." I know I have presented a case for Chestnut being female, but his or her singing has improved and I don't know that the whistling is a sure index of gender, nor the shyness. But maybe Tapdance is a second female?


This whole thing, this afternoon, lasted maybe two or three minutes. I wonder how much my presence created or transformed the situation? What I mean is that, I am entangled in this robin behaviour to some extent. Perhaps encouraging Tane over; certainly changing where the birds fly and perch. At the same time, there's a sense in which they cease to attend to me, engaged as they are in each other.



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