Small Bird Report

In the previous Small Bird Report - here - we were having a battle to make sure the smaller birds were getting some food. Mainly to keep the starlings off, the grain on our bird table is now protected by 13mm x 13mm galvanised iron mesh. The first bird to find and negotiate one of the three small apertures in the wire was a female sparrow, followed by one of the robins, but we were thrilled....

....to see the return of the coal tit whom we hadn't seen in weeks but who had obviously heard that the table was now relatively free. It quickly found its way in, leaving the watching sparrows even more irate. Sadly, as things busied up, and after a final go at the peanuts, he stayed away.

We have a very select clientele at our feeders. At any one time there are up to ten house sparrows, two or three blackbirds, two dunnocks, several starlings, a blue tit or two, the occasional chaffinch, usually a male....

....and a couple of robins. Unfortunately....

....we are also visited far too frequently by the crow family. The jackdaws clean up any food on the ground while the rooks smash their way in to some feeders using their fearsome bills.

We have two bird baths and have been careful to make sure that we replenish the water after the temperature overnight has dropped below freezing and most water has frozen. The sparrow enjoying himself in this picture was so keen to have a bath that he climbed into the birdbath before the previous occupant, a female blackbird, had finished.

We've had to say a sad farewell to all the small birds who have given us so much pleasure over the winter as we have just moved house. However, we have not gone far, so perhaps news of our new location will filter back and some of our feathery friends will rejoin us.