Ebay - "It's not a bug, it's a feature"

Those who saw my earlier posting about the effect of bid retractions on ebay   (if you bid £10, maximum bid £20 and someone else bids £25 and then drops out, YOUR BID IS INCREASED TO £20 even if there are no other bids on the item)

I queried ebay about this.  Their first reply was a standard one that didn't even bother to read my email (just bunged back a standard answer on how to bid).  Their second reply was clearly more concerned that I had cancelled my bid in protest at their mechanics rather than any concern that people bidding for valuable items could be duped in this way.

However, it did also list when you are allowed to cancel a bid, so read carefully if you are worried about this particular problem. 

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Bird alarm calls

I now know what a robin alarm call sounds like...

Two robins in the mulberry tree making an awful lot of one short repeated note.

Wondered what it was, then looked by the point in the ivy where we think their nest is.

CAT

Went and chased off the cat.  Alarm calls instantly ceased.

I do hope the babies are okay.  The cat wouldn't be sniffing around there if the eggs hadn't hatched.

(We can hear the baby blackbirds in the hedge where the roses are, but that's harder for a cat to get to)

Richard's loaded the supersoaker by the back door.

I've been watching around ten minutes now (and chased the cat off once more).  The parents are clearly nervous about approaching the nest again.  They keep flying to the ivy and then backing off again.  I can see one now, with a beak full of food, but he's waiting in the mulberry.

I think I'll go and wash the dishes.  That will put me in a position where I can watch the garden for half an hour and hear any alarm calls, while still getting some useful work done.

PS.  If you have a cat, and can face keeping it indoors for a month, this really is the time of year when baby birds are at their most vulnerable.  I'll bet whoever owns this tabby has no idea that it's out hunting baby robins.