Well, I first saw the robins in the next-door rowan tree at 1:30 or so, and they were still there until a few minutes ago, constantly flying in and out. In two hours, it looks as if they stripped that tree of at least 80% of its fruits. The robins will be excreting their seeds all over the place, but I guess most of them don't sprout, as we don't have rowans growing everywhere.

The German word for rowan is Vogelbeere, bird berry. This is a European tree, Sorbus aucuparia, but we have native species of Sorbus (mountain ash) as well, and I presume birds like them just as much.

It was a two-thrush day-;a Hermit Thrush, a species we don't see most winters, bathed in our fountain for a while.

Dennis Paulson
Maple Leaf, Seattle