Widow Skanky
Regular readers of this blog will know that among the assorted birdlife in our garden, one particular blackbird has staked out his patch. Skanky, whose tattiness belies his formidable powers of reproduction has managed with his wife to produce two, prossibly three broods such as the one pictured, all of which -with the exception of one chick- made it to fledgeling-hood.
Sadly, Skanky has been MIA for some weeks now. We’ve never seen a body, although by the length of time the greedy little bugger’s been absent, some predator or old age must have got him.
We assumed that another male would move in on Mrs. Skanky, but incredibly, not only has she carried on alone, but she’s laid another clutch of three eggs. Because there’s no mate, we can only assume that they’re Skanky’s Last Hurrah.
The old girl’s trying to rear her new hatchlings on her own, and to be honest, there’s nothing we can do to help, short of making sure that she has a good supply of food laid in, by scattering mealworms within sight of the nest. But we’re really unsure whether she can keep them alive until they fledge…
