Apologies. Won't be winning a Pulitzer prize for the title. So the big freeze is here. The birds must be a bit miffed. Their inner
body clocks would have noticed the increasing lights signifying that spring is
around the corner. Time to find a mate and have some fun. Suddenly the wind
comes in from Siberia and attention switches from thriving to surviving.
I have a peanut feeder, thankfully,
squirrel proof and three dispensers of various seeds. One of which is exclusively for goldfinches.
No-one else seems interested. The peanuts are almost exclusively taken by my
friends, the tits; blue, great and coal. The occasional long tailed tits, as
well, noisy and les regular visitors with as the name suggests extremely long
tails. I say almost exclusively, as we’ve recently had an unusual visitor. A
female blackcap. A female blackcap like a female blackbird is actually brown.
Her cap that is. Sexist? Very possibly
but this isn’t the time to delve into the rights and wrongs of garden bird
nomenclature. This isn’t the Guardian. Now the blackcap, with, as the name
suggests, a black cap, is actually a summer visitor to the UK, but some do
overwinter and I have seen the male a few times this winter too but not
recently. Maybe the cold sent him south, like an ex-pat seeking warmer climes. Only
the female has appeared, standing her ground against the aggressive great tits,
these past few days.
As for the sunflower seeds, the great tits and coal tits favour them and
the robin is the most regular visitor to the other seed dispenser. The cover of
the packet promises all sorts of birds but it’s mostly the Robins that use it.
They are, of course, the UK’s national bird and very popular but they’re
actually very aggressive, bordering on psychotic, in their defense of territory
and to a lesser extent, feeding sources. Then there’s the dunnock. Easily
overlooked with their brown and grey plumage, I like them, they keep themselves
to themselves mostly and will take seeds too, but are generally happier feeding
off the ground. One of the commonest garden birds, there’s always a couple
around. And in summer, a few more. Female dunnocks like to have two men on the
go, in fact. And the males like to spread it around too, but that’s for another
time.
Another of my favourite, the tiny
and endearing wren, struggles in this weather, as they don’t take from the
feeders. They have to work very hard and will cover every nook and cranny to
find (presumably frozen?) enough insects to eat.
A treat for the blackbirds with the
ground frozen is some chopped apple. They will be on them within half an hour,
guaranteed. If not the squirrel will nab them.
So far, so normal. Nothing too
unusual, the black (brown) cap aside. A chaffinch comes from time to time, again
feeding from the seeds that have dropped to the floor. When I was young, chaffinches
were very common but here at least it is the aforementioned goldfinches which
are most prevalent. Likewise, greenfinches which came to my feeder every winter
in Glasgow, are rarely seen.
And the other rare visitor is the
striking greater spotted woodpecker. He comes to the suet feeder. Resplendent
in black red and white, his presence never fails to thrill and he seems to be
the only one interested in the fat. Interestingly enough, it isn’t entirely
unheard of. They are known to come to gardens feeders, what is amazing is the
fact that he doesn’t live near here. They live in woodland with mature trees,
the nearest of which to is about a mile away. So how did he know? Do they just
fly around on the off-chance? We call him Dan. Seems to suit him. Extraordinary thing, nature. Anyway bon appetit aux oiseaux…
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