Let me introduce you to Mr and Mrs Robin and their two children. They live at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. Mr (or Mrs – I can’t actually tell male and female robins apart) came to greet me when I was standing by one the lakes yesterday, watching the ducks. He (or she) hopped over to within inches of where my hand was resting on a railing and looked at me with something akin to desperation. “Do you happen to have any food, lady?” Then, Mrs (or Mr) Robin popped up on to the closest fence post and also gave me a pleading look, “Please!”.

Luckily, I did have some seed in my bag so spread a little on top of another fence post. They were there immediately, picking up two or three seeds and flitting into a nearby tree. And then I saw the reason for their desperation – two ravenous fledglings were nagging them for food. Truth be told, the fledglings were probably old enough to feed themselves and did, in fact, pop down and peck around a bit. But Mum and Dad obviously still felt obliged to feed their youngsters if they could. I was very pleased to help out.