IT was quiet in the pub as I wandered in but the Three Stooges, aka Rog the Oil, Mickey the Mighty Atom and Ivor the Landlord, were lined up at the bar.

Mickey and Rog were engaged in their favourite pastime, arguing. It seemed to be about the location of a cottage in the village (again). All I could hear was “on the bend”, “yes, next so the old lady Smith’s place”, “ oh right, had a son called Frank”, “no Freddie”. Blimey, I might need to get a detailed map.

Anyway, behind the bar Jules plied the drinks, funny how the glasses are always empty when I arrive. However, I wanted to raise a thorny issue. In a few days, Rog will retire and no longer be Rog the Oil. We have to change the name to reflect his new status, but what could it be?

We all suspect he won’t be Rog the Retired for long, or he might be Rog the Expired pretty quickly. His better half, the lovely Dawn, has a long list of jobs and his motivation to get out of the house is pretty high. He might work at a builders merchant, so Rog the Cement or Rog the Plank spring to mind. He also might help out with a new bathroom shop in Wadebridge, so maybe Rog the Bog? We’ll see what develops after the big day arrives.

Speaking of arrivals, those big thrushes, the fieldfares and redwings, are here from Scandinavia.

The fieldfares are especially handsome, with their grey heads, and will chomp their way through our sloes and hawthorns at a rate of knots. The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, as “feldware” or “traveller of the fields”. That’s a cracking name if ever there was one, because all through winter they will be prominent in our fields and hedgerows. I for one welcome them.

• Fred Knobbit is a nature blogger. He grew up in the Pennines in Lancashire on the edge of an industrial town but is now safely in Cornwall. You can read his archive at www.bodminblogger.com