The Olympics

I wouldn't want anyone to think that I'm not watching all the birds. If they're there I'm paying attention. The palm warbler near Wagner Cove. The winter wren just sitting still, atypical. I think it was stuffed with gnats, satiated. I could see the swarm of bugs in my face.

But at this time of year it's the robins who catch my attention the most. Pretty soon they'll be into family building and they have to pack on the girth now. Raising a family is hard work. They're all gorging. They need the "oomph".

On an average, when a robin snags a big worm it gets yanked free from the soil in about 3 seconds. This robin set the Olympic standard for tug-of-war. The camera records the time that a picture is taken. This robin worked the tug from 2:22:16 to 2:22:59, 43 seconds to get worm out. I took 54 pictures, will NOT post all of them, but will put time picture was shot below the few I selected. Robin got hold and held on for dear life. Worm "dug in" and resisted. It was astounding.

2:22:16

2:22:17

2:22:21

2:22:26

2:22:32

2:22:39

2:22:47, a better grip

2:23:00

2:22:30

2:23:20

Worm got eaten in two seconds. The robins reward.

__________________________________