Robins nesting already?

[Pigeon feather]

I saw a robin pulling moss out of the liner on my hanging basket this morning then flying off with a beak full and was wondering if this was normal behaviour for this time of year

[Ruth Daniel]

They do start very early but what a day to pick eh?
When we had Robins nesting in our garden they seemed to have a few attempts in various ares so it could be that your Robin is just trying out different spots for his nest!

[Pigeon feather]

Thank you Ruth for your reply, yes I thought it very odd as there is still snow on the ground too! I had a pair successfully rear 5 youngsters in my garden last year, would I be right in assuming this is the same pair? the nest box is still up and cleaned, though it was going elsewhere with the moss, also I noticed as it was collecting there was another singing loudly in the tree nearby, I take it this would be the male as if I remember correctly it is the female that does the nest building?

[ron1863]

Robins build several nests and mate with more than one female, so I suppose he will have to start early as he has a lot of work ahead of him.

[galanthus]

Wow, you'd think they'd spend their hard to gather energy trying to keep warm and feed more rather than build a pad today My robin paired up around 3 weeks ago, however, they won't be using my lovely old dog's hair to line their nest this year

Still, this post has encouraged me to switch the nest box bird cam on in hope today