It's a very enjoyable time of year for those of us who have the good fortune to be able to sit indoors and watch the small bird goings-on outside - or, as has been happening over recent days, the very small bird goings-on. The garden is full of fledglings. This family of blue tits has at least four siblings, one of which....
....reckons that harassing a parent for food is more profitable than looking for a meal itself, not that....
....the other three are always on the best of terms.
A recent arrival in the vegetable patch is this young robin, sometimes attended by a parent but quite capable of looking after itself, seen here surrounded by a snowstorm of petals from the rowan.
We think that we have two blackbird families in the garden, the males so busy collecting overflowing beaks full of food that they don't have time to squabble over territory. This is one of the fledglings, looking extremely well-fed.
We've lost track of how many generations of families the sparrows have reared - at least two. The young are all over the peanut feeders and are even picking fights with the greenfinches, which are normally very aggressive but are so busy finding food that they ignore the bullying. However, someone needs to explain to the young sparrows that the nyjer isn't for them, it's for our precious goldfinches and the siskins, both of which have disappeared from the garden.
STOP PRESS:
No sooner was the above written than two siskins appeared and took over the nyjer feeder but....
....not without a determined counter attack from the sparrows which, at one point....
....defeated both the siskins. However, they fought back and....
....sent the sparrows packing.
It's a very enjoyable time of year for those of us who have the good fortune to be able to sit indoors and watch the small bird goings-on outside - or, as has been happening over recent days, the very small bird goings-on. The garden is full of fledglings. This family of blue tits has at least four siblings, one of which....
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