This photo is anything but conventional. Yes that is a robin, yes he is indeed sitting on a horse and yes, I took this picture. The title of this blog post however, seems not at all fitting for the scene and may have raised some eyebrows so let me clear a few things up. This lovely bird has been inhabiting my backyard for the last month or so. He takes his customary post on the fence, on the tip of our pine tree or on top of the weather vane like in this case and keeps watch literally from early morning to late at night. To me, this was rather puzzling behaviour until I finally realized that he must have a nest with eggs/young chicks in our neighbour’s yard and has taken his guard duty to protect his babies very seriously. I have seen him scare away any other bird that dares to step foot (flight?) into our yard. I find this so heartwarming, especially at a time when our city has been ravaged by floods and humans and animals alike are all suffering the consequences.
