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dinosaurs surviving the crunch
Jan. 4th, 2023 12:55 pmI get so much pleasure from watching the birds at the feeders in the back garden.
I have two feeders: The Cage is a tube inside a very sturdy metal cage, which lets tits and robins through but not blackbirds and definitely not squirrels. The Cage contains a mix of fat bits, peanuts, seeds and mealworms. Then there's the Wire Tube, which contains fat balls.
Things have changed in the last few days—there is more aggression in the air! Before Christmas we occasionally saw three robins together, and I have to conclude that one of them was the offspring of the other two. Now, though, one robin is driving another one away. Presumably the kid is grown up enough to find his/her own territory. The blue tits (around four of them) are getting a bit more pushy, too, one will chase another away from the food. Haven't noticed this among the great tits, so far.
We had a visitation of long-tailed tits a couple of days ago—SEVEN of them! All clustering on the fat ball holder. Reminded me of a clump of butterflies, somehow. See, I think the Blue Tits are cheeky little East End barrow boys, and the Great Tits, their smarter cousins who work in the boutique on market street. Long tailed tits show up sporadically with a van and spread their wares out on the pavement, then vamoose at speed. I have not figured out where the Coal Tits fit into this world, but they are less frequent and less noticeable visitors. Think of a Great Tit, remove the tummy stripe, desaturate, and add a pinky-beige layer on Soft Light, and you have a Coal Tit.
Robins don't seem to live in quite the same world, but in an adjacent universe where aggression is the order of the day. They seldom take much notice of the tits.
We had new visitors today, a pair of Nuthatches, very smart and pointy with mid-grey tail-coats and orange tummies.
Other regular visitors include Backbirds, which seem to have forgotten how to partake of the fat balls, except for one smart female. One sparrow has figured out, this week, that The Cage holds food, and has taken some, but the sparrows generally eat from the ground where the messier tits have dropped stuff. (I have also taken to scattering an offering below the hanging feeders.) There are pigeons, of course, which don't do feeders. The Magpies are surprisingly timid about coming to the feeders, and I haven't seen one eating fat balls at all lately, though they used to do so last year (looking comically huge by comparison to the regulars), but there is a Jay that comes for a snack now and then. The crows stay on the lawn and don't seem interested in the feeders or the ground below. I do hope they are eating the slugs. (Beast found a slug in the gutter on the garage roof. They are surprisingly adventurous hereabouts.)
And there are of course, the squirrels, one of which demolished the peanut holder several days ago and sat ecstatically stuffing its face on the resultant pile of peanuts.
The hedge outside the dining room window is absolutely alive with birds at times, particularly around midday, which is handy because I'm likely to be in the kitchen then. It's quite fascinating.
I have two feeders: The Cage is a tube inside a very sturdy metal cage, which lets tits and robins through but not blackbirds and definitely not squirrels. The Cage contains a mix of fat bits, peanuts, seeds and mealworms. Then there's the Wire Tube, which contains fat balls.
Things have changed in the last few days—there is more aggression in the air! Before Christmas we occasionally saw three robins together, and I have to conclude that one of them was the offspring of the other two. Now, though, one robin is driving another one away. Presumably the kid is grown up enough to find his/her own territory. The blue tits (around four of them) are getting a bit more pushy, too, one will chase another away from the food. Haven't noticed this among the great tits, so far.
We had a visitation of long-tailed tits a couple of days ago—SEVEN of them! All clustering on the fat ball holder. Reminded me of a clump of butterflies, somehow. See, I think the Blue Tits are cheeky little East End barrow boys, and the Great Tits, their smarter cousins who work in the boutique on market street. Long tailed tits show up sporadically with a van and spread their wares out on the pavement, then vamoose at speed. I have not figured out where the Coal Tits fit into this world, but they are less frequent and less noticeable visitors. Think of a Great Tit, remove the tummy stripe, desaturate, and add a pinky-beige layer on Soft Light, and you have a Coal Tit.
Robins don't seem to live in quite the same world, but in an adjacent universe where aggression is the order of the day. They seldom take much notice of the tits.
We had new visitors today, a pair of Nuthatches, very smart and pointy with mid-grey tail-coats and orange tummies.
Other regular visitors include Backbirds, which seem to have forgotten how to partake of the fat balls, except for one smart female. One sparrow has figured out, this week, that The Cage holds food, and has taken some, but the sparrows generally eat from the ground where the messier tits have dropped stuff. (I have also taken to scattering an offering below the hanging feeders.) There are pigeons, of course, which don't do feeders. The Magpies are surprisingly timid about coming to the feeders, and I haven't seen one eating fat balls at all lately, though they used to do so last year (looking comically huge by comparison to the regulars), but there is a Jay that comes for a snack now and then. The crows stay on the lawn and don't seem interested in the feeders or the ground below. I do hope they are eating the slugs. (Beast found a slug in the gutter on the garage roof. They are surprisingly adventurous hereabouts.)
And there are of course, the squirrels, one of which demolished the peanut holder several days ago and sat ecstatically stuffing its face on the resultant pile of peanuts.
The hedge outside the dining room window is absolutely alive with birds at times, particularly around midday, which is handy because I'm likely to be in the kitchen then. It's quite fascinating.