It was a game we played on long car journeys – looking for a ‘plush coo’, a cow with a particularly mottled red and white hide which looked smooth and thick, like the upholstery on an old-fashioned sofa. I saw a plush starling this morning, a youngster with a rich velvety plumage that wasn’t quite buff or grey. It was sitting on a branch working assiduously through its feathers and at that moment it seemed impossible that it would grow up to be a starling.
Almost the last visitor of the day was the horizontal female woodpecker, working at the base of the peanut cone. I’m not entirely sure why she always hangs on the same side, she comes in on the north side, but clings to the west, facing the house. At least this gives me the chance to spot her scarlet tummy.
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 