Before I could reach the top of the steps this morning, there was a wood pigeon, a ring dove and three chaffinches working the grass. They are making the most of the early morning sunshine and the chaffinch is a handsome chap, with brightly coloured plumage, but the garden is so dry that I am going to need to put the sprinkler on. So far we haven’t been hit with a hosepipe ban.
Lunchtime, and there is a group of jackdaws trying to muscle in on the smaller birds. I shoo them away and the wood pigeon belated raises its head momentarily before its beak returns to the lawn.
The sprinkler is an old and battered one which needs to be moved around. One group of determined sparrows flies a loop around the hedge motel to avoid the ‘rain’ and move from one feeder to another, but when I position it to drench the rosebed it sweeps across to the other side of the garden and hits a coconut feeder that I put up a couple of days ago. It is a three-quarter nut and since it went out one or two blue-tits have investigated it, but without noticeable enthusiasm. Inevitably, the feeder fills with water, but before I move the sprinkler on I tip out the water and as soon as I’m out of the garden, a starling perches on the edge of the coconut and begins to peck vigorously at the contents. Perhaps the fat mixture needs softening before it is acceptable?
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 