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Are Robins Symbols Of Dead Loved Ones?

Over here Draheste, the old shepherd would 'cut' [castrate] after the full moon - it's supposed to reduce bleeding and swelling, and my Mum had the same superstition with crossed knives, and would get one of us kids to uncross them if they crossed while setting the table. Mum believed that crossed knives indicated a possible argument, and that if the crossed knives were uncrossed by the person setting the table, it would be on for young and old.
In south-West France, in the Countryside and in the old times and maybe still now, they make a cross at the bottom of the bread, which is wider than the Parisian 'baguette', with a blade and before cutting the loaf for the first time. There you go, complete diversion frome the robin superstitions!
I just read in a French new-agey Website, that seeing feathers of a robin (red ones, I assume) or the bird itself, bring some news. It's heralding change for the better.
 
I spent a lovely couple of weeks down in Guehebert, Draheste, with my two daughters and if there are places in the world that call you over long distances, Guehebert is one of those places.

Is there reasoning behind cutting the cross in the loaf Draheste? Does it save people from saying grace before eating any of the bread, or something like that?

As for Robins and news - we have 45 different species of Australian Robin down here - rather appropriate considering this is the birthplace of Rupert Murdoch...:banghead:...and as for his news heralding change, His news is a bit like changing your partner when dancing a reel. Nothing really changes.
 
About the crossing of the loaf, it might be the case. More of an habit, in my family, I think. They were not that religious and never said graces before eating. I've never seen that done in the cities, though.
Guehebert? Is it in Normandy? On google images, it looked nice and peaceful, in the Cotentin'peninsula. Far from UK's Christmas consuming frenzy!
 
About the crossing of the loaf, it might be the case. More of an habit, in my family, I think. They were not that religious and never said graces before eating. I've never seen that done in the cities, though.
Guehebert? Is it in Normandy? On google images, it looked nice and peaceful, in the Cotentin'peninsula. Far from UK's Christmas consuming frenzy!

I find that Family and their ways are unaccountable Draheste, and need to be just accepted.

It is in Normandy - a beautiful part of your Country Draheste - we had a farmhouse there for two weeks. The experience was brilliant with daily visits to the village to buy our bread - Frances idea of placing the products place of origins on any wrapping was novel for me, but much appreciated as we could see exactly where the chicken came from, the terrine and the wine as well. The only slight problem was my school boy French with it's Australian accent, but we made do.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38224444


A robin has "delighted" a cathedral's congregation by taking up residence in its Christmas tree.

Liverpool Cathedral staff noticed the bird shortly after the tree was installed. It is believed to have got into the branches while the tree was stored outside the building.

A spokesman said the bird was "nesting or at least sleeping in the tree" and had taken a few people "by surprise".

He added that the robin had become "a welcome addition to services".
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38224444


A robin has "delighted" a cathedral's congregation by taking up residence in its Christmas tree.

Liverpool Cathedral staff noticed the bird shortly after the tree was installed. It is believed to have got into the branches while the tree was stored outside the building.

A spokesman said the bird was "nesting or at least sleeping in the tree" and had taken a few people "by surprise".

He added that the robin had become "a welcome addition to services".

Just wait 'til he starts brawling :D
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38224444


A robin has "delighted" a cathedral's congregation by taking up residence in its Christmas tree.

Liverpool Cathedral staff noticed the bird shortly after the tree was installed. It is believed to have got into the branches while the tree was stored outside the building.

A spokesman said the bird was "nesting or at least sleeping in the tree" and had taken a few people "by surprise".

He added that the robin had become "a welcome addition to services".
I hope someone is feeding it!
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38224444


A robin has "delighted" a cathedral's congregation by taking up residence in its Christmas tree.

Liverpool Cathedral staff noticed the bird shortly after the tree was installed. It is believed to have got into the branches while the tree was stored outside the building.

A spokesman said the bird was "nesting or at least sleeping in the tree" and had taken a few people "by surprise".

He added that the robin had become "a welcome addition to services".

How utterly delightful
 
I came across this post whilst looking for a meme on the subject.

My nana died in 2004, my dads mum. He had always been close to her and had a fraught relationship with his dad and brother which has probably worsened over the years.

When she passed she had wanted her ashes spread at Hampton court palace over here in England. My mum said throughout their walk through the gardens there they were followed by a robin.

For about a year my dad has not really spoken with his brother or father and a robin now appears constantly when he is outside the house it isn't scared of him being close to it at all.

I think there are a lot of things in life we don't understand and never will but I do believe that there is something after life and that our lost ones are never far it just depends on how sceceptable and open you are to it x
 
I love it! :)

My family love robins.

edit - cue posters complaint that as they can't be bothered with Facebook they can't see the video: 3, 2, 1...
 
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edit - cue posters complaint that as they can't be bothered with Facebook they can't see the video: 3, 2, 1...

I don't do FB but I could watch the video no problem. No sign up necessary folks! And it's really worth watching, just click and enjoy.
 
Lovely - I hope she takes a snack for him next time. I've heard about this happening by robins getting accustomed to people in their own garden over time, but a complete stranger...
 
It's only just occurred to me..and as far as I've noticed from comments beneath it, hasn't to anyone else...the delicious added synchronicity in that video encounter with the robin.

The mother and son's surname: Robinson!
 
Robins are highly territorial and males can be very aggressive with others males intruding into their territory.

Does anyone remember that wildlife film of 2 robins fighting to the death by a stream? One drowned the other, but then...I can't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but the ending is a real shocker!
 
These accounts of robins and other avians having been to the fore again this week, I'm making my annual psychic prediction of the Grand National winner based, this time, on synchronicity and reading the entrails.

I stuck my finger on the list of runners and it landed on Uccello Conti. Like most horse names is gibberish but it literally means "bird accounts".

It's a sign, I'm telling ya...
 
My husband died after 10 years of iselet pancreatic cancer,We did everything together camping,hiking,most of all we loved nature.We did everything we could to be out in nature and around wildlife.on April 1st of 2016 he finally was taken by his cancer .This year has been the worst year of my life .I planted a rose garden as a memorial to my sweetheart .The garden stays blooming all the time it's beautiful and that's not easy in west Texas,though it seems to just stay beautiful,it attracts cardinals,finches, Blue jays,mourning doves.But the unusual thing is a pair of Robins that are there all the time and don't seem to fear anyone.I'd like to think that's a sign of our relationship how close we were and he is still watching over me.Though I never heard of Robins being a sign of loved ones who had passed.
 
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My father (who was known by all as Popa) passed away in March this year after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. In the days that followed I must have asked him hundreds of times to please send me some kind of sign that he was OK and still with us.

A few short weeks later my wife, youngest son and I noticed a Robin following us around our garden. "That's Popa keeping an eye on us" I said and thought nothing more of it. One week later I was mowing our lawn and noticed the Robin walking near to me on the lawn. "Is that you Popa?" I asked and the bird flew away. A few minutes later he returned and and landed in a nearby bush. I asked out loud, as I tapped on the handle of the lawnmower, "if that IS you Popa, come and stand here so I can take a photo of you to send to Claire [my sister]".

The Robin instantly swooped down next to me, landed on the lawnmower handle and allowed me to take 3 photos of him before he flew away. I sent the photos to Claire and told her the story. Needless to say she burst into tears when I told her that Popa was OK and still watching over us.

The little bird is still a regular visitor to the garden and I always thank Popa for calling in to see me.
 
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My mum died a month ago, and since then I've noticed robins several times since then - and I don't think I'd ever seen one in the wild before.

Perhaps the most significant time was last weekend, when my sister and I were at mum's house, clearing up the garden to move towards selling it. All day there was a little robin flitting around the bushes, and looking at it now maybe it was mum just keeping an eye on us, making sure we weren't digging up all of her plants :)
 
My father (who was known by all as Popa) passed away in March this year after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. In the days that followed I must have asked him hundreds of times to please send me some kind of sign that he was OK and still with us.

A few short weeks later my wife, youngest son and I noticed a Robin following us around our garden. "That's Popa keeping an eye on us" I said and thought nothing more of it. One week later I was mowing our lawn and noticed the Robin walking near to me on the lawn. "Is that you Popa?" I asked and the bird flew away. A few minutes later he returned and and landed in a nearby bush. I asked out loud, as I tapped on the handle of the lawnmower, "if that IS you Popa, come and stand here so I can take a photo of you to send to Claire [my sister]". The Robin instantly swooped down next to me, landed on the lawnmower handle and allowed me to take 3 photos of him before he flew away. I sent the photos to Claire and told her the story. Needless to say she burst into tears when I told her that Popa was OK and still watching over us.

The little bird is still a regular visitor to the garden and I always thank Popa for calling in to see me.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156320372857729&set=p.10156320372857729&type=3

My condolences on your loss.

Members are reporting that your Facebook link goes nowhere. Having no account with them, I am unable to verify this.
 
I thought I had posted on this thread early in its existence but it seems not.

A relative of mine was obsessively fond of robins; friends and family would make sure that every Christmas card revolved around the theme. That was easy enough to manage. She would also add robins to the pictures in her house for the Christmas season, however incongruous the subject. Spray-on snow would also be freely applied.

She lived to a good age and died, quite suddenly, the day after a particularly happy birthday. Her daughter was hit hard but found comfort in the feathers which seemed to appear indoors and out in the weeks after. I don't think they were ever robin feathers but she took them for a sign and they helped the grieving process.

I did wonder how far the cats were helping with this process but they at least refrained from any major act of visible butchery during the period.

Years before, I can remember the superstitious horror with which my grandmother had regarded the visit of a sparrow via the chimney. It took the menfolk some time to see it safely on its way but she saw it as an omen presaging a death in the family. When the Grim Reaper held off, she came to the conclusion that the sparrow's visit referred to a Mrs Taylor, whom she hardly knew but used to see occasionally in church! It was several months later!:)
 
I've been seeing a robin in my garden regularly over the past few weeks, which is unusual because I mostly associate them with the cooler months. They don't migrate, obviously, but do keep a low profile in summer and yet here the little guy is, cheeping away. Nobody I know has died recently, however, he's just bigging himself up. I also saw a juvenile robin for the first time, which look noticeably different from the adult variety.
 
I know I wrote ages ago about my not entirely beloved mother in law coming back and haunting me for three days as a pigeon. She knew I loathe pigeons. I forget but think it was in the time just after she died but before she was buried. This thing sat on our back windowsill and glared in mercilessly at us in the living room for three days. You couldn't shoo it away. It came straight back. It was fearless. Christlike, on the third day, it vanished. Never to be seen again. She had always been nosy and longed to be a fly on the wall in our house...

She used to love robins and get all sentimental about them, convinced she had 'her own' robin in the garden. I heard something years ago on Radio 4 about them being really vicious little birds, who are incredibly territorial. So it figured that she liked them. But it wasn't a robin - a pigeon. Terrifying.

I once saw an owl sitting in the road, staring right into my eyes, it seemed, with the headlights on full beam, one night driving down the country lane between two villages. It happened to be in the road right by the farm where my mum was born. So it seemed omenlike. I remember telling a friend about it, straight after, and she said something doomladen about it.

A week later, something happened to delay me on the same journey and at the time I would have been around that point, a car on the opposite side, lost control, skidded off the road and the driver was killed instantly. I set off after hearing the sirens and not long after it happened but there was already a roadblock. I could see where the accident had been, though - right where I'd seen the owl.
 
Sometimes encounters with animals that stare into your eyes in remote woodland areas have been posited to mean a cover image for an alien abduction planted in the brain of those seeing the owl or deer or whatever. Make of that what you will!
 
... I once saw an owl sitting in the road, staring right into my eyes, it seemed, with the headlights on full beam, one night driving down the country lane between two villages. It happened to be in the road right by the farm where my mum was born. So it seemed omenlike. I remember telling a friend about it, straight after, and she said something doomladen about it.

A week later, something happened to delay me on the same journey and at the time I would have been around that point, a car on the opposite side, lost control, skidded off the road and the driver was killed instantly. I set off after hearing the sirens and not long after it happened but there was already a roadblock. I could see where the accident had been, though - right where I'd seen the owl.

I just have to ask ...

Owls are quite territorial, and they stick to their respective hunting areas.

Rural roads provide convenient 'kill zones' for small prey venturing out from vegetative cover. This is a big reason injured owls are commonly discovered on or along roadways.

Given this pair of factoids ...

Isn't it plausible that the later / doomed driver lost control of his / her car in response to encountering the same owl you'd seen a week earlier?
 
I just have to ask ...

Owls are quite territorial, and they stick to their respective hunting areas.

Rural roads provide convenient 'kill zones' for small prey venturing out from vegetative cover. This is a big reason injured owls are commonly discovered on or along roadways.

Given this pair of factoids ...

Isn't it plausible that the later / doomed driver lost control of his / her car in response to encountering the same owl you'd seen a week earlier?
Oh blimey, I have never had that thought before.

But I dunno. I drove that stretch of road daily for a few years - and never saw on owl just stood on the road, in the centre of the road, ever again. Although I did see barn owls flying over the fields all round there. And on other roads, I do see the same owls over and over, round here - soyou are right about them being territorial.

That creeped me out as it stared right at me and only flew off at the very lasts second. It never happened to me before or since. And it was right next to my old family farm - family left in the 1930s.

It is possible it was an owl that didn't know the Green Cross Code. ;o)

ETA: Husband hadn't either til a few weeks back when he also saw an owl just standing in the middle of (a different) country lane round here. Usually, if they're not moving, we see them stood in hedge tops or on trees.

Mind you, last year my son called me upstairs to look out the back window as he'd seen a huge brown owl on our washing line. It was still there when I got upstairs.
 
So many folklorish and pseudo-scientific snippets here:

We humans have long been aware of the seasonal changes in bird populations. But just taking note of the comings and goings of our winged friends hardly answers the question of what they're up to.​
For centuries, speculation has risen to the task with sometimes comical results. Aristotle declared that summer Redstarts annually transform themselves into Robins in winter. He also thought summertime Garden Warblers change into Blackcaps. These miraculous transmutations were treated as a matter of fact for hundreds of years, and not just on the authority of Aristotle. Observation seemed to coincide with the explanation in this case: Redstarts migrate to sub-Saharan Africa at a time when Robins, who breed farther north, come to winter in Greece. Since the species were never completely present at the same time, the explanation seemed plausible.​
More fanciful was the story of crane migrations. The Common Crane breeds in the marshlands of northern Europe and Asia and makes yearly migrations into Turkey, Iraq, and even down into Sudan and Ethiopia. But, as early as Homer's Iliad, we find the strange notion that cranes are annually at war at the far ends of the earth with Pygmies. In Homer's epic, the Trojan army is compared to the​
shriek of cranes down from heaven
who flee the winter and the terrible rains
and fly off to the world's end
bringing death and doom to the Pygmy-men
as they open fierce battle at dawn.
Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder reports an already ancient factoid that these pygmies fight the cranes with arrows while mounted on goats and rams. They must spend a good three months of the year eating the cranes' eggs and chicks; otherwise, they would never survive the terrible onslaught of the birds, Pliny tells us.​
Along with transmutation and migration, was a belief in hibernation. Aristotle claimed swallows and kites had been found in holes in the ground, and again, his authority kept this belief alive for centuries.​
We find this idea still viable in a sixteenth-century History and Nature of the Northern Peoples by Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus. A woodblock print from 1555 shows fishermen pulling up a net-load of hibernating swallows from a lake. The passage on swallows bristles with elaborate pseudo-information. The swallows congregate in vast numbers in fall, and sink down into the mud and water, packed like sardines. Inexperienced fishermen, Olaus said, will try to warm up these swallows and revive them, but they soon die. Experienced fishermen just leave them undisturbed.​
These explanations lasted because the facts of bird migration are very elusive. With radio transmitters, radar, satellite tracking, and other high-tech devices, scientists have finally uncovered some of the mysteries surrounding the birds' astounding movements across the globe. Early explanations of migration may've often been very wrong; but basic human respect for avian instinct is as old as the Hebrew Bible. Jeremiah observed that:​
Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons
And the turtledove, swift, and crane
Keep the time of their coming.
Source (Richard Armstrong, at the University of Houston):
https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2228.htm
 
I think I've been trained by a blue tit!

After years of not bothering, this winter we started putting up bird feeders in our front garden, as we can watch the birds out the window. Over a few weeks I noticed I get the selfsame birds every day - half a dozen sparrows, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits (tits a plenty), half a dozen wrens, but also a couple of blackbirds, wood pigeons, and the odd starling, as well as 3 robins. (First we just saw one, then two, now three). The robins are indeed the most aggressive birds - even trying to fight off birds four times their size, at the feeders.

After a week or so, I got in the habit of going out say every other day to refill the feeders. Then a blue tit started appearing on the window ledge, or on some branches right by my window, and pecking on the glass! At first, I thought he was eating insects between the glass and the plastic surround thing. But sometimes, if on the branches, he is just pecking in the middle of the window's glass! And so I trot out to feed the birds. And he may visit again once or twice in the morning, but I',m convinced he's trying to 'train' me to go out and feed them!

This one isn't my mother in law.:bf:
 
Ever since the heavy snow of the past couple of weeks, there's a blackbird in my garden that has been guarding the bird feeders and making sure no other birdies get any seeds. Even the robin, who is a mean little bastard (but cute!) and normally wouldn't take that shit, has been chased away. It's ridiculous, one blackbird can't eat all that anyway. With any luck the Spring will give him other things to think about.
 
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