I was going to call this Garden Birds, but on looking out of the window the only wildlife is a squirrel upside down on the peanut bird feeder. Since Brandy (my cat) died I seem to have transferred my "caring for animals" mode largely onto the wild birds in the garden. They now have six different types of feed and a birdbath.
The blackbirds are territorial. One of the males, or sometimes one of the females, hides in the bushes or among the disordered pots on the patio keeping watch. When another blackbird arrives and starts to eat they are fiercely chased away. The lesser birds don't seem to have the intelligence to realise that if they flew in quickly, grabbed a mouthful and flew out again they could get some food. They land, and then spend too much time looking round to see if it's safe which is their undoing. I think that the lesser birds, who look very sleek and elegant, are probably the brood from last year, and the chiefs, fatter & less beautiful, are their parents now trying very hard to get them to find their own territories.
The robins are also normally territorial with only one at a time ever seen in the garden. However, that has a new twist at the moment. We have three robins, two of them flying together fast & furious like Starwars fighters on the Death Star in what is presumably a mating dance. The third one eats very peacefully and ignores the pair.
The finches & tits arrive in several small groups, not all at once in a large community as the books suggest they will. These groups consist of two or sometimes three great tits usually with one or two chaffinches, seven or so long-tailed tits, two or three bluetits together with a couple of coal tits, an occasional pair of bullfinches in the early morning sun, and one or a few greenfinches - possibly part of the huge group of over twenty five that were perched in a wild plum tree one evening a couple of weeks ago.
When it was very cold for a few days we also had a greater spotted woodpecker on the peanuts at the end of the garden, but I guess he or she can find his or her insects when it's warmer.
I never understood about pigeon pie & why anyone would bother until I saw the woodpigeons. They usually arrive with three or four together, but can be solitary or with eight or so. Despite their size they are peaceful, and don't chase each other or other birds. We don't have as many collar doves this year, I've not seen more than two at once. I know they're a favourite with the sparrow hawks who appear very occasionally.
And finally the squirrels, normally one at a time, but sometimes three. Upside down on a feeder, they prefer the peanuts & the sunflower seeds some of which they then bury in the lawn. Will this lead to sunflowers growing in the lawn when spring comes ?
