I have a confession to make. I’m a foodie. One of the best things in my life is having enough to eat.
Alas! The Missus says I’m putting on a bit of weight. She’s no spring chicken herself, and getting a bit plump. She should look into the birdbath one of these days and have a look at her reflection.
It’s a terrible time to try to diet, just when the larvae of the ten-striped June beetles are surfacing. When the next heat wave strikes, the prawn-like grubs will sprout wings and that will be it. No more delicacies for me. As beetles, they will become the prize of raccoons and bats.
Anneli loves it when I help get rid of the grubs. This critter is putting up a bit of a struggle. I hate it when they fight back. It’s so pointless, and I feel like such a bully. There’s no escape once I find them. This one thinks he’s a boxer. Good luck with that, buddy.
He’s tickling my beak, but if he thinks I’ll put him down to scratch an itch, he’s dreaming. This fat “prawn” is so worth the razzing I get from the Missus.
Oops! I just caught my reflection in the sliding glass door of the deck. Hmm…. A tiny bit portly around the waist. Maybe I should have limited myself to just a few of those grubs. But they were so good, and Anneli’s yard is full of them.
But I’m still a handsome devil, don’t you think? I can’t just walk away from a feast. What would you do?
May 20, 2019 at 8:51 pm
I think that if that is the menu I had to choose from it would be quite easy to go on a diet.
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May 20, 2019 at 8:58 pm
Oh, for sure! Me too! Those things are so gross. But the robins just love them. The grubs can go very deep though. We’ve found them three feet down when we were digging a fence post hole. Then in the heat, they come up and start flying around like little helicopters, usually at dusk (just when I’m standing there waiting for the dogs to pee). One day, one of those beetles will land on my back and then they’ll have to put me in “the mental.”
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May 21, 2019 at 12:43 am
Wonderful. Pics and Story are first-rate, as all your posts are
Cheers 🥃
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May 21, 2019 at 7:08 am
Thank you, Hans. That’s very nice of you to say so.
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May 21, 2019 at 5:14 am
Oh man- the grubs look identical to our brown June bugs… how I hate both the grubs and beetles! I’ve never seen any birds eat the grubs of ours, but the armadillos do… they’re a bit more destructive than robins though, I bet. Here’s hoping the Robin put a real dent in your upcoming beetle population!
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May 21, 2019 at 7:11 am
Very small dent, I’m afraid, but I see that you know the grubs I’m talking about. These ten-lined beetles are a type of June bug. They’re huge and unstoppable. I lost a lot of my potatoes a few years ago when they ate them. I didn’t grow potatoes for the next two years, but am trying again this year after sifting a lot of the soil and feeding the robins.
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May 21, 2019 at 7:13 am
I didn’t know that birds can have potbellies, too! 😉
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May 21, 2019 at 7:39 am
I know! Usually they’re fluffed up if it’s cold but this is warm weather….
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May 21, 2019 at 11:38 am
🙂
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May 21, 2019 at 12:41 pm
Great photos, Anneli! Those grubs won’t quite fool anyone at my house. I think they would clue in pretty quickly they’re not eating a prawn stirfry! 🙂 ha ha ha.
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May 21, 2019 at 1:45 pm
If you don’t have them around your place consider yourself VERY lucky. They do a lot of damage.
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May 21, 2019 at 12:53 pm
LOL! Those grubs are pretty gross looking. I bet you’re glad the birds are there to get rid of them for you.
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May 21, 2019 at 1:46 pm
We need more birds!
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May 22, 2019 at 11:37 am
Nice shots Anneli.
It looks like a win-win for all concerned!
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May 22, 2019 at 1:20 pm
Thanks, Belinda.
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May 23, 2019 at 12:30 am
We can´t have enough birds in our gardens. Very nice pictures Anneli!
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May 23, 2019 at 9:59 am
You’ve got that right. I’d have dozens and dozens and dozens if I could.
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May 23, 2019 at 12:38 pm
Why so chubby?! Are you sure it’s a boy? Are the girls without the red breast? I can’t remember!
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May 23, 2019 at 1:05 pm
The females have a lighter rose-coloured breast. I don’t know why they’re so chubby. Usually they get quite thin from working so hard to raise the kids.
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May 24, 2019 at 4:02 pm
Oh, that’s what it is. I was born and grew up in Michigan, and the state bird is the robin. I remember coloring them in early elementary school haha.
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May 24, 2019 at 4:57 pm
They’re quite common here on the west coast, but we never see your cardinals out here and I would love to see one. Just once!
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May 25, 2019 at 5:45 pm
We had big cardinals in Michigan and have smaller ones in Arizona. Two days ago I saw a very pretty little female cardinal. It’s not an everyday sight, but I see a couple every year, at least.
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May 26, 2019 at 10:29 am
Lucky you!
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May 24, 2019 at 4:02 pm
They were probably always male in those days ;).
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May 24, 2019 at 4:56 pm
Of course. It was a man’s world back then. Also the brighter colour – they’re known for the red breast.
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May 25, 2019 at 5:46 pm
All the children’s poems “back in the day” used to address “Robin Red Breast”!!!
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May 26, 2019 at 10:30 am
That’s right!
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May 31, 2019 at 5:55 am
I love this, Anneli!
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May 31, 2019 at 8:30 am
I had to work at keeping my head grounded. I love real prawns, and these grubs have that prawn look….
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May 31, 2019 at 3:35 pm
They do! 🙂
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