Kamikaze Robin Influx

We had a sudden influx of robins today, flying with great frenzy around our building's grounds. They are my favorites, sparrows next. A neighbor of mine, a horticulturist by trade, was watching them out in the driveway.

�Look at all these robins,� I marveled. �I didn�t think it was time for them to show up.�

�It�s too early,� he said. �Look, most of them are young. They still have down feathers.� They did. Flashes of white fluff made a stripe between the redbreast and the brown. �It�s too early for them to migrate up here.�

The robins were flying back and forth, high, low, across, from tree to tree and back. You could tell it was a pattern, but not what that pattern was. And they were all calling out.

�Wow, look at that, did you see that? One almost got creamed by a car, flying too low. I tell you, they�re young and inexperienced. My gosh, I�ve never seen so many at once. Look how many are in that tree!�

"Either they know something we don�t, or they were displaced,� I said.

 �Displaced. They�re really hungry. See how they�re swarming? They know they only have an hour before the sun goes down.� He pointed. �They don�t eat seeds, they eat bugs and worms. Look, they�re pecking the ground next to the buildings, because that�s the only place the snow has melted. They can�t get enough food. I wish I had a shovel.� He kicked some dirty snow. �It won�t melt by tomorrow.�

�No, it�ll just get a crust on top of the ice,� I said, and he agreed. �Damn.�

I went upstairs and brought back down my dustpan. We dug up snow around the bases of the trees and along a line of turf. John had the knowledge and the strategy. All we needed was the dustpan. Now hopefully the birds will stick around.