The Sigma is back. I heard him at dusk about 6 houses west. From 6 houses away, he’s as loud as the Robin on the wire above my driveway. His “Sunset Song” is neither Yank nor Dixie robin and it takes a long time to repeat, if it ever does repeat. His song is definitely robin and still exuberant, although its very different than the other robins also reporting sunset. Some of his peers try to match or imitate his song as if attempting to converse with him, but he continues as if he doesn’t hear them.
The Non-Conforming Robin has been following me around the yard, like he did last year after all of his peers and family migrated. He still keeps a closer than the couple who nests near but tries to make it look like he’s not following me. It might have something to do with me throwing them a worm or insect now and again. He still likes to sit under my truck and prefers the same places to sit, usually certain vantage points on the gutters.
Last week I saw him taking nest building notes from the older robin, repairing last year’s nest on the downspout. It’s the second year in a row that they returned to the east downspout instead of alternating to the more exposed west downspout. It might even be his parents, that he’s taking notes from. Later, the Non-Conforming Robin flew off with a female that showed up and I saw him gathering some nesting materials, but I couldn’t tell which way he flew off to see if he has a nest or if she stayed. He’s almost a year old now, I think he’s catching on to the couple thing.