Robin eating waxballs

Robin, yes: American robin, of course, not the original robin of Europe.

And the waxballs you may know as snowberries for their white colour when new. Five months after ripening, they are looking like snow on a city street after a month or two of grime falling around it: yellowish and russet. Still tasty enough to the birds, especially when the ground is covered in a metre of snow right now, and more falling today. But, whatever, he picked out the whitest ones to eat.

Robins often spend the whole winter in this city, so it's no big surprise to see one in mid-February But it was a surprise to see one right outside our dining-room window this morning.