Garden Birds…
I’ve been fascinated by the birds in my garden and how they have adapted to life here. We only first started thinking “wildlife” where the garden was concerned last summer and it began with a few plants and a simple seed feeder with a couple of sparrow visitors. Now the garden is thriving and we have regular visitors through the seasons! Over the year the bird feeding station has had a lot of change and now supports a bird table, two seed feeders and a water station. Today I spent a while in the garden after work and snapped a few of the regulars…
The Woodies… © Lisa Cullingworth, 2017
Meet The Woodies – Over the winter months a male wood pigeon became a regular visitor, at first he made several comical attempts to ‘land’ on this feeder so I started putting out a plate of seed on the ground. When I got the table he couldn’t work out how to get inside but he soon discovered that the upper feeder was accessible to him and this is now his preferred place to feed…after watching him slipping uncomfortably on the roof for many weeks we adapted the roof with a couple of little ‘steps’ to provide a flat surface which he seems a lot happier with. He brought a female along at Christmas and both were regular visitors for months …the only way I could tell them apart was by their feeding habits (she would eat from the ground and also even get into the bird table!!). More recently though we noticed he was on his own a lot more and we suspect that he has a new female (in the photo) – this second bird feeds side by side with him on the roof and is extremely nervous of any movement and freaks at the slightest sound!
Starling and House Sparrow…© Lisa Cullingworth, 2017
Starling and House Sparrow…© Lisa Cullingworth, 2017
One of the latest additions to the garden is this starling, pictured with a regular house sparrow visitor (a very unlikely couple, but often seen feeding ‘together’, I’m convinced something is going on with these two haha!!). There are a group of 7-8 starlings that raid the table for worms each morning but this one seems to come back at intervals through the day. I’ve never seen a starling with these markings before and unfortunately these photos taken through glass and zoomed in do not do the beauty justice! The colour is almost silver with what looks like black eye-liner around his or her eyes – such a stunner! I understand that it may be a juvenile, but the other juveniles are black with pale and iridescent flecks!!
Moments before I took these photos I was sitting in the garden and they were wary of landing, so when I went inside to get my camera I looked up and saw them both peeking in to see if the coast was clear!
Jackdaws…© Lisa Cullingworth, 2017
I’ve yet to see the jackdaws visit the garden but they always make themselves noticed vocally from the roof top opposite, such beautiful birds with amazing eyes. I think the one on the right is the ‘young’ as I saw it demanding food earlier although being so grown up I think it was soon put in its place and told to ‘get lost’!!
❤ ❤ ❤
A Reflection of your Heart 