photo:
taken from the Natural History Museum website – Image courtesy of pxhere (CC0).
I forgot to mention this heart-warming comfort I received while I was lying injured and in pain on the ice after my fall in December…
Obviously the order of events is a bit blurred now but I think this was when the lady dog walker had found me and gone for more help from the nearby house…
While I was lying on the cold ice sheet, sick and in pain, I opened my eyes to see a robin looking at me just as in the photo – he was stood very close to my face – a couple of feet away. I whistled to him a couple of times and, after he’d seen I’d noticed him, he hopped up onto my leg. From there he took up position on my hip and sat waiting with me for help. He only flew away when the two ladies came down the lane to me and had almost reached me and then he watched from a nearby branch.
It might seem silly to think so but I had a very strong feeling s/he was concerned and keeping me company as I was clearly suffering.
Whatever the case, it was a heart-warming experience and cheered me up at the time and over the next dark days of pain!
You’re reading a post by Mountain Coward. If you’ve enjoyed this post, be sure to follow The Mountain Coward from my homepage
The Adventures of a Mountain Coward 
So much better than a magpie waiting to scratch your eyes out. Sorry I’ve been watching too many B-movies over Xmas.
LikeLike
But actually you’re right – if it had been a crow, or a magpie or a seagull, they might well have been thinking about doing just that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice thing to happen re the robin, though still grim re the fall.
LikeLike
I tried to go out for my daily walk today but it snowed overnight (only about an inch) and then froze hard and it was too deadly to even get up the road. First time I’ve had to stay in ALL day! 😦
LikeLike
A wonderful experience! Too bad about the broken wrist however!
LikeLike
it was really nice – a great comfort while I was lying there 🙂
LikeLike
What a wonderful little friend you made there! It’s not a silly to think he was standing guard at all, as animals can sense distress and injury in people. There are all sorts of cases of animal intervention, such as a dolphin saving a man from drowning. Funnily enough, we had a close encounter with two Robins (although nothing as amazing as that) at our local RSPB reserve in Conwy today, and there’s no doubt they’re plucky little fellows and don’t shy away from people to the same extent as other birds. While we were standing very close to them and apparently conversing with them – possibly about the weather – Maddie (my daughter) told me that apparently a close encounter with a Robin means that the spirit of a loved one is nearby. I’m glad he brought you some comfort at such a hideous time, and I reckon that’s exactly what he meant to do. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perhaps Maddie’s right and my Dad was also watching over me!l Another nice thought 🙂
I have 2 robins I feed at my house – one at the front and one at the back. They’re pretty cagey when I’m outside but, when I’ve put crumbs down, I do my ‘robin whistle’ and, as soon as I’ve come in, they swoop down and feed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really think Maddie is onto something. And I’m certain animals have empathy as well, so it may well have been a bit of both.
Your robin friends sound lovely. We have a resident one here too that we’ve been encouraging into the garden since we got here a few months ago. We’re hoping to make a friend of him, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to master a ‘robin whistle’ like you! They’re special little creatures, that’s for sure. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m certain that very many animal breeds and individuals have empathy!
I looked out this morning and saw there were 5 robins in my front garden! Never seen them more than singly before! One had even mastered the hanging bird feeder which they don’t normally.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Five robins? That must have been wonderful to see! You’re honoured indeed! 🙂 Funny what you say about them mastering the hanging feaders though, as we’ve noticed that over the past year or so with our robin visitors. I guess they’re adapting, perhaps to some changes in food supply on the ground. A sign of the environmental times, perhaps?
LikeLike
One very unwelcome visitor I’ve been getting more or less every day is something like a kestrel or sparrowhawk chasing all my songbirds about. I’ve tried banging on the window at it but it insists I go outside to chase it off!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah yes, that’d do it. At least the songbirds should come back though when the prey bird has moved on. I guess that’s nature for you…
I wish you could have seen the reaction of our two cats the first time they saw a seagull on in our new back garden! It was as though they’d seen a dinosaur strutting around the lawn. The looks on their faces was priceless : ‘What the heck is THAT?’ 😀
LikeLike
That’s funny about the cats and the seagull. I remember when I was staying at Conwy Youth Hostel there were loads of them on the lawn – all drumming away for worms.
The songbirds do come back after a while but I hate seeing them being chased around by the bird of prey and all the while hoping they get away.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know exactly what you mean. That’s nature for you though, red in tooth and claw, so I guess everything’s got to eat, birds of prey included. But I’m a chicken, because I know it happens but I don’t want to see it!
We’d never seen seagulls drumming for worms until we came here, and we thought it was absolutely hilarious. 😀 It looks as though they’re tapdancing! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
you should get a video clip of it and put it on your blog (if you have that sort of phone – I don’t, mine’s just a phone!)
LikeLike
after I’d replied to you, I googled “seagulls drumming for worms” and found a great video on YouTube where someone had set a few-minute video of them drumming to that music Michael Flatley uses for his dancing – it was hilarious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny you should say that, as I’d had exactly the same thought. We’d love to film them and set it some daft music, or something from Riverdance as they also make me think of that. It is hilarious to watch, and I thought of you yesterday when we drove round a roundabout with two of them performing in the middle of it! I love the fact that nature can be hilarious as well as beautiful and brutal. 🙂
LikeLike
I’d have driven round the roundabout again just to have another look!
LikeLike
Guess what – we did! 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Super.
LikeLike
it was really nice – I thought about it for a couple of weeks afterwards
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice comfort for you but bearing in mind it was icy and cold I suspect a sitting or prone figure might represent a food source and be associated with past crumbs or if resting still for any length of time a handy heat source a few degrees warmer than its surroundings after a cold night with another one to come. Robins do have a strong curiosity streak though. More than most small wild birds. One of the few that will happily perch on your hand to feed over time as you’ve probably seen on wildlife programmes..
LikeLike
I’ve actually found Cumbrian robins to be very shy indeed!
LikeLike
What a nice thing to happen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
it really was – don’t know why I forgot to put it in my original post!
LikeLike
It was heartwarming. When you’re in pain on a sheet of ice, it’s nice to have some company.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes it was – much as I’m a bit of a loner, it really isn’t much fun lying there on your own at a time like that!
LikeLiked by 1 person