Psilos
allotment birds |
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Tuesday
October 30th 2007 - "Surround sound" |
Throughout the summer the bird life around
the allotment has been very quiet. I stopped feeding back in May when
I realised that all I was feeding were the mice and the squirrels. Three
weeks ago I put my feeders back up and for the first two weeks nothing
much appeared. Then a cold snap in late October has brought many more
birds out of the woods. |
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Birds present at the feeders included a
couple of robins who were aggressively defending their territory against
one another, a pair of Coal tits who were emptying the feeders like
real pros, Bluetits, Greattits and a couple of female Chaffinches. |
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This gutsy little female tried many times
to come to the bird table to feed. She would sit by the fence and avidly
watch and make her way slowly closer and closer. Several times she almost
made it only to be frightened off by a magpie or a jay. I watched her
for some time and was happy when she finally made it. |
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Bluetits and Coaltits come to the feeders
and table readily but Greattits are very wary and are easily frightened
off. The bird below was one of the tamer ones. |
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Seeing many more birds using the feeders
was great but for all the birds that visited there were many more that
didnt. The Greater spotted woodpecker was about and the infectious bubbling
of the Nuthatch could be heard cutting across the raucous cry of the
Jay. None of these birds however appeared at the feeders. Hopefully
as the weather gets colder and food scarcer they will become bolder.
A small flock of Goldfinches and Long tailed tits also flew over as
well as a kestrel. At one point a scolding Bluetit also alerted me to
a very new bird that I have never seen on my allotment before. A female
Pheasant came creeping out of the undergrowth but her senses were very
keen and she sensed I was there and flew off, |
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In the weeks that follow I want to look
out for some new perches and new feeders that challenge both the birds
and myself. It makes me almost wish for colder weather! |
