Magpies and Jackdaws

Two jackdaws and two magpies on and around the bird feeder. Not quite at the same time, but within five minutes of each other. The first magpie took soggy bread from the feeding tray, jumped up with it to the waterbowl and dropped it in, eating it then from the water before drinking, then stretching up on tiptoe to get his beak in the seed feeder (unsuccessfully, I think). The second waited up on the top, pecking experimentally at the finial, before hopping down to take a drink as soon as the first had gone back to the fence.

The two jackdaws came for bread and flew away to eat it, taking turns nicely after they discovered that two big birds on one small tray wouldn't go... The jackdaw colony lives in the railway viaduct across the creek, in the gaps between the stones, so we don't often see them all the way up here. They range quite far in search of food, though, I think.

The sparrows are not the least bit bothered by jackdaws. Nor are they bothered by me and the dog, even feeding happily within a few feet while I was putting the washing out, but as soon as a magpie appears on the fence they all vanish. I watched this trick this morning - from a dozen or so sparrows there was silence. They were all in the red jasmine (beesianum) which climbs up the fence. I think that's why they like the feeder on the fence better than the new one. It's so easy to perch on the fence or vanish into the bush, and it is usually in the shade. The other is a bit exposed, six feet up and in the sun most of the time.

Collared Doves

I am not that fond of collared doves. When they are sitting quietly their call is a contented coo coo coo, but they shriek as they fly with a sound that grates on my ears like chalk on a blackboard. Having said that, however, I have just noticed that they are conspicuous by their absence this year - I can't recall having heard or seen any, and usually there are dozens of them about.

Royal Cornwall Show

I've just spent two days at the Royal Cornwall Show. It's a long time since I've been to a show of this sort, and the first time I've been involved in running a stall there. The weather was pretty good; it was cold, apparently, on the Thursday when I wasn't there, but it got sunnier and sunnier and hotter and hotter over the Friday and Saturday, although there was quite a strong wind all the time. At least it didn't rain, which was a bonus.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We weren't there primarily to sell stuff, although we did sell a fair bit, but mostly as a public relations exercise, talking to current members, trying to get people interested in joining our society, generally doing some fun stuff (play giant connect 4, test your dog's IQ, quizzes etc) and showing people we're human. I think it worked on all those levels.

One plus (perhaps) is that I have had to get up a lot earlier than usual in order to walk the dog, etc and take a 40 mile slow drive to arrive for opening time. In consequence, I have seen the sparrow breakfast feeding frenzy close up. My two seed feeders are now being refilled to the brim each morning and are empty by the next morning. Still no takers for the peanuts, though - apart from the sparrows, the bird count for the garden is now blackbirds (at least two), a magpie, a couple of woodpigeons and an occasional herring gull.

Pigeons and Peanuts

The new bird feeding station is proving 'quite' popular - not quite as popular as the old one by the fence, but popular enough that I thought I'd better pop in to our local hardware store for more seed.

They bag the seed and the peanuts in half kilos in plastic bags, and have them in an attractive pavement display in a big basket. When I arrived, the peanut basket was occupied by two pigeons, who had pecked a hole in one bag of peanuts and were taking turns to feed from it. They totally ignored me when I walked into the shop past them, and were not at all bothered by passers-by or traffic on the busy Fore Street of our small town.

I told the shop owner, who went and chased them off. He told me that one pigeon had learnt the trick a little while ago and was becoming quite a nuisance, but this was the first time he had seen two of them. Pigeons are highly intelligent and easy to train birds. I have no doubt that unless he changes his 'pigeon food' displays they will tell all their friends and soon come flocking for their peanut treats.

New Bird Feeder

The new bird feeding station arrived today. It has three hooks for hanging feeders from, a bird bath and a feeding tray, all on a long pole with a spike, and arrived in a small cardboard box for self assembly. I was supposed to be on my way to the Royal Cornwall Show to help set up, but I just had to put it all together and get it up before I left, in between laminating stuff I had to take.

'Im indoors helped me to stick it in the ground and anchor it to a fence post and it appears to rise up out of a bush, which is quite attractive. I can actually see it from the kitchen window without having to climb on the counter top, as well. I fitted it out with one seed feeder, water in the bath and some nice soggy brown bread on the tray, but for the time being I have left the old peanut/seed feeder stack over by the fence as well, as it seems to be quite popular.

I expected it to be ignored for days until they got used to it, but by the time I had come indoors and walked into the kitchen to admire it there was already one male sparrow helping himself to seeds. He then flew off but flew back almost immediately to try to breadcrumbs.

I had to go out then and didn't get back till eight o'clockish, so I don't know what has happened in my absence, although all the bread crumbs have gone - I can't be sure whether the level of seed has gone down much, but I think it has.

I still seem to be getting only sparrows at the feeders. I watched a female blackbird gathering up a mouthful of bread from off the gravel early this morning, and I have seen a male blackbird down there as well, so perhaps we will have a little more variety in the future. I don't mind if it stays exclusively for sparrows, anyway - they are quite fascinating.

Little Egret

There's a little egret in the creek this morning. In the winter this is not unusual, but at this time of year it is rare to see them here. Most of the year they are solitary, almost aggressively so, but at breeding time they all nest in the same tree. Their local colony is only visible if you happen to be passing along the Lynher by boat - from a distance it looks as though the trees are covered with big white (rather noisy) flowers.

I have often wondered about egrets' feet. Why are their feet bright yellow, the colour of sand in a child's paintbox, and their legs dark grey? Is it a disguise, so that on a sandy shore or riverbed they look like a couple of innocent reeds? If so, it isn't too effective in our muddy creek. Or do they wiggle their golden toes against the dark brown mud to attract little swimming things close enough to catch? I wonder...

Happy Birthday, Me!

Today is my 61st birthday. As I strode purposefully down the coombe this morning, carrying a stick but only because it's quite treacherously slippy in places after the recent rain, I reflected on the fact that this is the third spring I have delighted in since the one where I was saying to myself "Make sure you miss nothing - you'll probably never see this again." Not superfit, no, but I am getting around a lot more easily than I was, and I'm still able to enjoy the flora and fauna around me.

On the way back, walking along the stream where it flattens and widens into the creek, I became aware of almost stereophonic birdsong. A blackbird was singing his heart out in a tree about three feet from my right ear, and a song thrush was competing from the top of the fence on the opposite side, about fifteen feet to my left. While I can identify each individually, it was interesting to compare and contrast the two. The blackbird has a richer tone (and is louder) but the thrush seems to have a greater range of high and low notes. Both are beautiful. I am always amazed by the way that birds, who are furiously and busily feeding babies at this time of year, can still find time for a song. While I was standing listening to them, a robin came down to bathe in the stream just at my feet.