A flock of robins is wintering in an orchard down the road.
A few of them regularly drop by to forage on a steep, south-facing slope near my office. I thought it was a sign of global warning that they didn’t fly south, but instead
robins live here year round. I had no idea!
Here’s a photo of a bobbing robin, with both feet off the ground.
Here’s a picture of a stotting mule deer, all four feet off the ground. (This is my edit of a photo from the biology department of the University of Regina in Canada).
Bobbing is a gerund of bob, and like many old words ’bob’ has many meanings. In the robin’s case, it’s
bob –verb (used with object)
2. to move quickly down and up: to bob the head
Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English bobben. )
The mule deer’s stot is from the same root as stutter.
stot –noun
1. a springing gait of certain bovids, as gazelles and antelopes, used esp. when running in alarm from a predator
verb used without object
2. to run with such a gait
Origin: special use of Scots, N England dial. stot bound, go by leaps, bounce; perh. akin to ME stuten to stutter
It takes a special word to leap straight up in the air.
Gravity and grave behavior keep us moored to earth, while all around us creatures are stotting and bobbing. There’s a lesson about joy here, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Hi Alice! Does this mean spring is around the corner for you? Love the photos! Stay warm. :>)
Nah, we’ve still got lots of snow!
While the map shows robins to live year-round here in Illinois, I never see them in the winter. I’m always excited to see the first one in the Spring because I imagine warm weather to be near.
So my questions is… Where are they hiding?
I’m with tina c. I never see robins in Michigan in the winter either. After some of this past months bitter temps, I think they may prefer to winter in Florida! (although it’s been pretty cold there too!)
Well, hope all of you (and the robins!) are staying warm!
This is from http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/ConfusingMigration.html, and it turns out robin migration is much more complicated than the map I posted.
Robins wander in the winter: Temperatures get colder as winter progresses. Robins need more food when it's cold and more and more of the fruit gets eaten. Robins move here and there in response to diminishing food supplies and harsh weather. If all robins wintered at their breeding latitude, there wouldn't be enough fruit for them all. So robins tend to spread out in the winter in search of fruit. Most hang out where fruit is abundant, but some take the risk of staying farther north where smaller amounts of fruit remain.>
Alice, thanks for doing the research on that. It explains a lot!
Have a great weekend!
I wish I could fly! I would get get so much accomplished with less time driving!! Love your photos and blog!! Thanks for keeping it!!