Very Small Birds

The garden is full of young birds and harassed parents. These two blue tits are part of a family of four who are pursuing their poor parent....

....around the feeders demanding food. The parent - I think it's the mother - is fortunate that we do try to maintain a well-supplied bird table but it must be exhausting for her.

The sparrow families - probably the first of two or three broods they'll try to rear this summer - are a little older and can largely look after themselves, so the parents are at the stage of been able to enjoy their young, particularly at communal moments like the daily dust bath.

Some birds are driven to fairly desperate measures to keep their young fed. This is the male of the more dominant of the two blackbird pairs who regularly come in to the garden, and he has learnt how to come to a spoon of food, particularly as I select for him his favourite tidbit.

It's a pleasure sitting in the kitchen at breakfast watching all the activity outside, but we're very aware that this is also the time of year when our resident sparrowhawks are also busy with their young.