Small Bird News

The explosion in sparrow numbers has continued, to the extent that we've now had to stop putting out our extra-special, high-energy, vitamin-and-mineral-rich seed mix to discourage the parents from having what is probably a third or fourth family this year. We've also....

....had to give up on the fat balls because, although we built increasingly elaborate cages designed so only the more acrobatic birds could benefit, the sparrows....

....soon proved they could find a way round any barriers.

So we're largely putting out peanuts, and here we do have designs with which the sparrows can't cope, yet, though....

....they're still enjoying the older designs, which I am loath to abandon since....

....they attract birds, like this greenfinch, which probably couldn't cope with feeding upside-down.

Birds enjoying the peanuts including this a siskin on a brief visit, only the second we've seen in the garden, though there are plenty in Dunrobin woods. We have also seen a very fine male bullfinch, who flew off far too quickly for me to get a picture.

So, sadly, there'll be very little seed put out until the sparrow hawk and winter have started to thin out the sparrow population.