Actually, that was just a ploy to get us onto the subject of birds...
Today my garden has been teeming with birds. I don't know why there have been so many; it's not as if I have put out any new and particularly attractive food for them. Because I was conscious that there was a greater than normal amount of bird activity today, I decided to list the different varieties I spotted:
1. Robin - very annoyed by the influx of interlopers to "his" territory
2. Blackbird - chirping furiously - also apparently considers my garden to be his
3. Thrush - looked panicky; evidently startled by the masses of other birds today
4. Bluetit - tiny and acrobatic, perching delicately on the flimsiest of twigs
5. Great Tit - several of them - the most frequent visitors
6. Dunnock - shy and wary, flitting around mostly on the ground underneath the bushes
7. Collared Dove - a pair, as usual. They're a very devoted couple!
8. Goldfinch - a huge flock of these; maybe 20 at once, which is really unusual. Normally only see 1 or 2
9. Jay - a very wary and nervous visitor. Swoops in for a quick take-away morsel
10. Magpie - probably 4 or 5 - noisy and aggressive as ever
11. Wood Pigeon - dozens of them, as always (surprised they haven't attacked my cabbages - everything else has!)
Most of these were in the garden simultaneously, or within a very short period at about 0930!
Other birds I frequently see in my garden (but not today):-
Chaffinch - there are usually plenty of these around
Greenfinch - occasional visitors in Winter
Nuthatch - only see these three or four times a year
Green Woodpecker - more often heard than seen
Spotted Woodpecker
Wren
Starling
Jackdaw
Long-tailed Tit - usually arrives in a flock of maybe 10 or 12
Sparrow - not sure which type (probably House-Sparrow)
I don't know what kind of bird that is...but, it's very cute!! I'm a Robin :)
ReplyDeleteThe color and tail look like a catbird or mockingbird as I think it is called officially. They are very smart, and will actually dive bomb the back of a cat when it is around their nesting area. Cheep thrills?
ReplyDeleteFabulous bird list. some of the little birds here are so shy and fast I haven't been able to identify them. I was going to make a joke about blue tits in winter but I decided to be lady like this time.
ReplyDeleteNo idea what the bird is almost wagtail-like but not!
ReplyDeleteWe get most of the birds you have mentioned although the collared doves started as a pair a few years ago and now we have lots. Amazing that they weren't introduced to this country until the 1960s. We've never had jays, green woodpeckers or nuthatches though which I would love!
You're ahead of me, envious of your Jay, woodpecker and Nuthatch spots. I have to get to the local woods to see them, never ventured into the garden as yet.
ReplyDelete