I missed yesterday’s blog entry…between sickly hedgehogs and a 90th birthday cake…and it wasn’t as though I didn’t have anything to write about. For the first time I saw the reed bunting doing something that I imagine would be part of its behaviour close to the river, in other words amongst reeds. There is a clump of flowers beneath the apple tree with tall stalks and purplish flowers along one side. The reed bunting was hanging onto the stalk and moving up it almost horizontally. It appeared to be stripping off the flower petals.
Spikey was let go at close to dusk and when I checked this morning his bowl was empty. He’s had the last of his medecine, so I’ve gone back to the hedgehog meal, which seems to be very popular.
It is amazing the difference that a small shift in the temperature makes. It is much colder today and there were a mob from the hedge motel and a ring dove on the grass before I’d reached the house. They worked up and down the lawn, then disappeared only to reappear at odd intervals, just making sure that there wasn’t anything left. Satisfied, three or four would pile into the small water feeder for a shower. Once they’d got out, the blackbird would appear, seem to inspect the water and then hop across to drink from the motel water tray.
The song thrush has reappeared for the past couple of days, not to feed that I can see, but to drink. It has a wonderful speckled breast, fawn, brown and chestnut on cream.
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 