I’m very fond of my garden birds as you know, and one of my favourites is the robin, probably because he’s so cute and so cheeky. All robins are born with the ability to ‘strike a pose’, usually a cute one, perched on the handle of a fork or spade for ultimate ‘ahhhh’ effect.

A few years ago we had a robin in the garden who only had one leg, well to be more accurate he only had one foot. Sadly he didn’t seem to be around for long, I guess his disability was just too great, but at least I could tell him from the others.

Now we have another one who stands out from the crowd, this little chap has something wrong with the feathers around his head. Obviously I’m no expert, and even though he comes close when I’m weeding, I can’t really get near enough to see properly, but I would guess he’s got some kind of mite infestation. I’ve watched him and he seems to scratch his head a lot, and I don’t think it’s because he’s puzzled!

It doesn’t do much for his looks and I presume it irritates him, but I’ll tell you something, it doesn’t stop him singing, and boy does he have a song. Watching him sitting in a flowering cherry tree covered in white blossom, singing at the top of his voice has got to be one of life’s true pleasures, and there aren’t many things you can say that about these days. May he thrive and prosper.