There was an adult thrush assiduously working its way along the bottom of the garden, bringing the snail shells to the small steps to smash them and extract the meat. Then it would hop down to the lawn and begin to search for the open beak awaiting it…this was where the problems started. Wherever the… Continue reading What do I want to be when I grow up?
Author: baebell
More-or-less retired academic in the lively arts.
Hello, hello…
The weather has been angry again this weekend, with unrelenting wind, the occasional shower of hail and fierce rainstorms. Now that there is a break in the onslaught and a few hours of sunshine, some of the birds have been returning to the feeders that had been absent – at least at the times that… Continue reading Hello, hello…
When you are still…
The cold, wet weather has returned after the briefest of pauses – there is a warning for strong winds this weekend. In a lull in the breezes yesterday, I was putting out the seed on the lawn and was climbing the steps, when Mother brought the phone out to me. A ring dove had flown… Continue reading When you are still…
Not bad for November…
We’ve had several days of wet and windy weather and the temperature is now cold. The winds blew quite fiercely for almost two days without let and the lawn is covered in hard, green cherries. Miraculously, the tiny greengages have clung on, although whether they will swell and ripen over the next couple of months… Continue reading Not bad for November…
Sometimes it all gets silly…
Ball, ball bouncy, Blackbird’s in his bath. Thrush is breaking snailshells, Down the garden path. Spikey’s in his woodpile, The doves have fought again, Ball, ball bouncy, Let’s have a game. This is a mangling of an old rhyme.
Cunning matches youth…
This time it was sparrows, parents and dependent youngsters and the more mature juveniles, able to feed themselves, who were scrapping over the coconut feeder. A parent would park a fluttering fledgling, still using its wing beats to steady its stance on the thin branch above as much as to engage with the adult, and… Continue reading Cunning matches youth…
Waterworks and acrobatics…
How many sparrows can you get in a water tray? It has been scorchingly hot today and I had to refill the water dishes twice, after the starlings had sprayed it in all directions – the lily of the valley plants close by are appreciating the attention. The families of sparrows and there were close… Continue reading Waterworks and acrobatics…
Dodgy foreign food…
It is fascinating to see which ‘supplementary’ foods the birds take to with enthusiasm – or indeed are prepared to try at all. I’ve tried occasionally with fruit that has gone over – the blackbirds go demented if given an overripe pear, hurling the halves around in order to peel off the skin – but,… Continue reading Dodgy foreign food…
War and Peace…
A few days of unsettled weather – winds stripping more of the green cherries from the tree and shredding the peonie flowers, whilst thunder threatens in slate grey skies – and the birds seem to have picked up the uncertain temper of the times. Whilst an every increasing flock of sparrows, parents and fledglings, and… Continue reading War and Peace…
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 