As was to be expected, it didn't take the local starlings long to discover the feast we were providing at our new house, so we now have to watch their abysmal bird-table manners. Fortunately, our predecessors in the house....
....left us some bird feeders including this one which seems perfectly designed to be accessible only to the tit family: this particular blue tit is thrilled with it.
Over the last few days we've had more and more species arriving, including this female blackbird who has a pale bib, and a very smart male which we assume is her mate. Although they haven't come into the garden yet, we have also seen a pair of song thrushes feeding just across the wall in the neighbouring playing field.
At the cottage we were accustomed to hoards of sparrows at the feeders, many of which took up residence in the sage bush in the back yard, conveniently placed so they could be immediately on hand when food was put out. So far the number of sparrows here has been modest: we confidently expect this to change.
No self-respecting garden is without a pair of these little birds, the unassuming dunnock. They are one of my favourites, being a cross between a bird and a mouse yet with bundles of personality.
Lastly, we were thrilled to find a pair of greenfinches in our garden yesterday morning. We were eating breakfast so sat and watched them.
Our small birds are once again beginning to make serious inroads into the domestic budget - we went out and bought a sack of grain the other day which our obliging local hardware store delivered the same day, along with a gas cylinder and three bags of compost - but the birds are worth every penny for the pleasure they give us.
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