Robins. Maybe.

Two years ago, my first spring in America.
A conversation:

Me: What are those blackbird-like birds with the red breast called?
Beloved: I think you mean robins.
Me: No, I know what a robin is, this is the size of a blackbird, or a starling.
Beloved: I think you mean robins.
Me: *glares* Do you know the ones I'm talking about? Big? Red breast? In our yard?
Beloved: *smiles* I think you mean robins.
Me: NO! I know what a robin looks like! They are cute and chubby and tiny! These are BIG birds. They sit in our front yard and yell at me!
Beloved: I think you mean robins.
Me: *stomps off in a huff*

Some detective work proved we were both wrong. Or both right. What I call a robin is Erithacus rubecula - the European robin. What HE calls robin is Turdus migratorius - and related to the trush. And they are back.
In full force.
Last week I saw the first two, and now they are everywhere. Including on the roof of our neighbour. And they yell, boy, do they yell.
They are also very territorial and if my reflexes weren't so awesome (or if they were actually vicious) I'd have the scars on my head to prove it.

But not today. This one had a lot to talk about with the one on the other side of the road in a tree. Maybe they were discussing a pre-nup or maybe they were just catching up after a long winter away.


Edit to add: this HDR stuff is addictive. I replaced the original photo after some playing around. Now it looks like an illustration from a childrens book which suits me just fine :)