What a wet gloomy miserable day today. The rain didn't let up until just before I left Mums house. Therefore none of my photos will win any prizes today. All but one of them, were taken through the glass windows of the conservatory.
Mum wasn't feeling too good today either and spent a lot of time resting, so I spent quite a while observing the birds on my own in between doing housework. I noticed the male Blackbird (Mr BB) has started to feed Mrs BB whilst she broods the eggs. I had a very quick peek in the nest early this morning, and there are still three eggs present. Mr BB obviously isn't bringing in enough food to keep Mrs BB satisfied though, several times she left the nest to get her own supply.
The juvenile Robin from the next door neighbours garden, has decided Mums garden is a much nicer place and spent most of the day pottering around under shrubs. Occasionally an adult would perch nearby and the juvenile would fly to it, but not once did I see the adult feed it.
We're still having to be a bit careful about what bird food we put out and where we place it. There is still a rat running around, and next door neighbours humane trap has yet to work. Today Mum suggested I put some bird food on top of some soil that had been left in an old bucket planter.
I then sat at the table in the conservatory and watched all the action. Only one brave House Sparrow ventured down. It looks as if he is a dominant male (hierarchy dictates the larger and darker a male House Sparrows 'bib' is, the higher up the ladder he is placed).
It didn't take long for the juvenile Starlings to discover the bucket, but they didn't feed, they just sat there waiting for a parent to feed them.
Mrs BB herself, on watching all the commotion from her vantage nest point, decided to come down too and patiently waited her turn after an adult Starling.
The Jackdaws were the best though. All the other birds scattered when they arrived. At one point there were six Jackdaws squabbling on the bucket rim.
But of course, it didn't take long for Ratty to find the food either. Luckily by the time he worked out how to climb up the bucket, the majority of the food had been eaten by the birds.
I risked one outdoor photo of Mrs BB on the nest today. By opening the second conservatory door just a few inches, I can see her head just above the nest and took a couple of quick photos.
Mum and I have worked out that if we do venture outside, she doesn't mind too much but we have to pretend we haven't seen her and don't make any eye contact with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment