Jackdaw v Magpie

The posh bird feeding station is still not attracting any small birds apart from sparrows, but the big boys are making their presence felt. I have just watched a jackdaw eject a magpie from the feeding tray and defend it against an attempted return. This surprised me, as of the two magpies are larger and I'd have thought them more aggressive, but no. Magpies drink a lot; sparrows occasionally take a quick sip, other birds don't seem to bother, but the magpies actually seem to relish the water, even sometimes dropping their food in and eating it from the bowl.

At the same time as the jackdaw and magpie were jockeying for position on the feeder, a wood pigeon has come in and made itself very much at home pecking away on the ground below the fence seed feeder, obviously clearing up the sparrows' leftovers.

And having said the other day that there were no collared doves about, I have just seen a pair, not in my garden but on the path at the edge of the coombe.