Squabbling Starlings

I can guarantee a noisy session when a group of Starlings descend on the seed feeders.



I always think of them as a brat pack, like little children who only what what someone else has.

Hungry Blackcap

The female Blackcap returned this morning. Obviously very hungry and more confident using the Birdfy feeder.



I wonder whether a male will also turn up one day.

Hedgehog Awakes

I was more than a tad surprised when I made my usual daily check for any activity in the Hedgehog house. On one of the coldest nights recently there was one investigating the house.



Yesterday I finally made my mind up to move the Birdfy Bamboo feeder to the back garden.



In its original position there were only three visitors - Male and female Blackbirds and a Robin. That confirmed my decision to move it to a position where a greater variety of birds are used to feeding.



The first to make use of the feeder in its new location was - the Blackbird.

Then There Were Two

The Pied Wagtail seems to be a resident these days. I have seen it in the garden every day until ...





... now two have visited the past couple of days. The lighting was poor and the photos are screen shots from a short piece of video I managed to take of them.

Magpies v Suet Cake

As well as spreading seed on the grass for the ground feeding birds I added an Insect and Peanut suet cake to see who would be interested. Most of it was gobbled up by a group of five Magpies.



The suet cake was put there at 9 a.m. and all completely gone by midday. The Pied Wagtail continues to visit every day.

Corvid Visitors

I sometimes see a Jackdaw pay a fleeting visit to the garden. A few days ago I spotted a couple of them on the lawn:



After a short while they were joined by a Rook.



Recently a Rook has been making early morning visits to the bird feeders.



It usually manages to extract a suet ball or suet log which it enjoys on the ground.



This morning I spotted a Rook which seemed to be self identifying as a Blue Tit as it clung on the feeders to get its share of what was on offer. Fortunately the camera which monitors the feeders caught the action:



I sometimes think they expend as much energy trying to feed as they get from what they manage to eat.

Then There Were Two

About a week ago the camera covering the bird feeders recorded some night visits from a very unwelcome visitor. The sort with brown fur and a very long tail. Fascinating watching the ease with which a rat can climb up a vertical post. Needless to say I then started to put the feeders away each night and provide Mr Ratty with his own special food safely positioned under a shed. After a few days I could see it had taken the bait and I disposed of one ex rat. Hopefully things are back to normal now.

On the more welcome front I see there are now two Magpies visiting the feeders. They are not very tolerant of other birds trying to feed at the same time. At about 3min 15sec in you can see how one deals with a Wood Pigeon.



Most of the bird sounds seem to be coming from Starlings who are not happy at having to wait their turn.

Jackdaw

Don't often see a Jackdaw in the garden. This one was recorded having a drink.



I was relieved to see that a trail camera had recorded a couple of visits by a hedgehog recently. Also there were a couple of visits by a fox.

Determined Rook

A small group of Rooks have become regular morning visitors to my bird feeders.









They usually end up unhooking the coconut feeders but I've not managed to video that as yet.

Rook at the Birdfeeders

A hurried bit of video taken in the gloom this morning when a Rook visited the birdfeeders.



At least it didn't try to unhook the feeder.

Intelligent Rook

I was reading The Weaver of Grass' blog entry about watching Rooks and it reminded me of this bit of video I took eight years ago.



Why struggle to get at the suet ball when a little effort makes the job a lot easier in the long run. A few days later I noticed all the feeders in a neighbour's front garden were on the floor. I guess it was putting its new skill to good use.