The Old Man
I first saw him in June 2018. A male blackbird standing dejected with what looked like a broken leg. In front of him was his very healthy fledgling, constantly begging for food. He kept turning his head away, not able to provide the begging chick with what it wanted. So I started feeding 'dad' at a distance and it wasn't long before he became my constant companion. Where I was, he was. Initially just in the garden until one day I heard tap, tap, tap on the kitchen floor and there he was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Funny at the time but at a later date in an effort to come and find me, he had come through the kitchen, hall and dining room hopping along a persian runner, as if to say "come on, where are you?".
The Old Man (last year after second brood).