With the darker mornings and some foggy mornings this past week, the birds have been arriving slightly later at the feeders and Bird table. Some of the days have been very chilly and the birds have been eating more than they have done over the past months.
The starlings and feral pigeons are still using the bird bath to drink, but they don’t seem to be using it for bathing as much, as I guess it’s not such good weather for doing such things and there’s been plenty of rain to have an impromptu shower.
 

The starlings are making good use of the suet log and I think the pigeons are still eyeing it enviously as a couple will sit in the branch nearby and try to work out how to get on it. My picture this week shows the starlings. They seem to be a few squirrels around and about and on the colder days one has been coming to help itself to some of the peanuts. I know that can be looked upon as rodents in some respects but, love them or hate them, they are still part of nature and can give some amusement with their antics. The funniest sight back in the spring was of one removing a whole suet fat ball from the feeder and running across the garden and putting it somewhere else. I’m not sure whether it ever came back to eat it or whether it was taken by other birds or animals, but that did raise a small at the time.

Last week I mentioned that seagulls were trying to land in the neighbour’s garden but a couple of days ago a very large seagull landed on my lawn, as I had put out a few scraps of ham on the bird table having dropped a slice on the floor. It came down wandered about, took the ham and flew off, but unfortunately came and went too quickly for me to get my camera anywhere near the window. The magpies are here a bit more now and I often have one in the garden first thing in the morning or later in the day, when the blackbirds are also still around.The sparrows are still coming as a group on the seed feeder and blue tits, great tits and robins are coming onto the suet log and sometimes my other feeders. A very nice sight this morning looking out my window was of a wren hopping along the top of the fence and disappearing down into the bushes. I hadn’t seen one for several months so it was good it put in an appearance for a mention in this blog. The crows are still flying about but generally not landing in my garden but the jackdaws have been coming as a group of generally four or six birds.
With all the Christmas preparations taking place I’ve made sure that I have a plentiful supply of a range of foods for the birds over the Festive period, as with colder weather the demand soon increases and if the weather turns more wintry, deliveries could be an issue. I would dread to think that they had come and found that food was in short supply, With the shortest day not far away now, I have to make sure that the last food of the day is out on the bird table well before 3 o’clock as on the dull days the birds will have disappeared by then, although on a brighter afternoon one or two might linger a little bit later.

Written by Margaret Emerson Armchair Naturalist 10th December 2020