We have always been lucky to have a variety of birds in the back garden. I put bread out for them, and in the past I have also added various seeds and fat balls on the feeders. However, this year I bought a huge sack of specialist bird seed, and we decided to put some out in a small bowl on a glass-topped side table that sits on the grass next to the patio area.
Whether it was the ease of access to the seed, the lockdown making the birds feel safer, or the recent change in the weather conditions, I don’t know. But the bird life in the garden has exploded, with birds arriving in numbers and varieties never seen before.
As well as the usual Wood Pigeons, Robins, nesting Blue Tits, and Blackbirds, there are some days when the grass is literally covered in birds of all sizes. Sparrows, Wrens, Starlings, Greenfinches, Collared Doves, Thrushes, Long-Tailed Tits, Jays, Magpies, and even on one occasion, two large Seagulls. Some noisy Crows like to visit early in the morning, and I could do without them waking me up.
It is a real delight to see them all though, even if I need to refill the bowl at least three times a day. Many have become so used to me being out there, they no longer fly away when I appear. And they all tolerate Ollie as he patrols around, knowing he will not chase them or harm them.
With the weather set to stay warm for a while, I really hope this influx of bird visitors continues.
Good to hear 🙂
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And they are still coming. 🙂
Cheers mate, Pete.
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Great work, Pete! its so important caring for the birds. Thanks also to Ollie “the bird whisperer”. 😉 Best wishes, Michael
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Ollie doesn’t trouble the birds, as he is looking for squirrels to chase! 🙂
Thanks for reblogging, Michael.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thats a very bood behaviour, Pete! Lets hope he will find some squirrels. Yesterday i had found this vidclip https://www.instagram.com/p/CQTZUJwoX52/ . Lol Best wishes, Michael
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Thanks for the link, Michael.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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I do love birds, all except the crows. They always feel like the bad boys of the neighborhood.
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They come to our garden very early, squawk a lot, then don’t come back. They are very intelligent, so I don’t mind them at all.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I would love to send ours your way. 🙂
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oh how lovely. i love seeing birds come by. we have a variety of seeds and i see quite a bit that come and go but i don’t know their names. 🙂 🙂
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I haven’t yet seen any I didn’t know the names of yet. All of those listed are very common birds in Britain, Wilma. But it is good to have all those different types visiting over the course of a few days.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m enchanted by birds! Love that you’re enjoying such a variety of species! How lovely, C
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I sat watching them in the garden last night. The brave ones came right up to my chair, and ate seed that had fallen under it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love that, how wonderful! 🦜
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I bought some of that specialist bird seed and the wood pigeons kept hoovering it up, whatever tiny wobbly platforms I used! Crusts thrown out on the lawn are swooped on by herring gulls.
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We rarely have gulls here, Janet. The wood pigeons do eat more than their fair share, that’s true. But they make so much mess, the small birds cear up everything that gets scattered on the table or the grass underneath.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sounds great Pete. The word has gotten around! 🙂
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Yes, it’s like ‘rush hour’ out there most days. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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We have some lovely little songbirds here Pete and I love watching our hummingbirds.
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Hummingbrds would be an exotic delight for me, Kim.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Our lives are not complete without a garden bird’s visit – even if it’s to a window sill.
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We have a Greenfinch on the front window all day. It keeps tapping the window as it sits on the sill. I think it can see the reflection in the glass, and believes it to be another bird. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Great!
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One small success in the garden for a change. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Frankie Toland is upset with you. He needs to have small birds around to tell him things!
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Yes, I charmed them away from Frankie with my new seed, David. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am so jealous. I had to stop putting out food for birds because of bird flu and I now miss the birds.
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I honestly never thought of bird flu, Shaily. I have fed them ever since moving here, but this is the most ‘successful’ year yet.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s wonderful that you have so many birds and such a variety. We have a lot here too and I never tire of watching them or listening to their various calls. We have hummingbirds as well during the summer, such amazing little things. I am always in awe of birds. They are very smart.
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I have long been jealous of America having hummingbirds. I have only ever seen them on television.
Best wishes, Pete.
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My serenity is important and the birds help…..chuq
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Yes, they do calm the ‘fevered brow’, chuq. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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😎
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Pete, do the Squirrels eat the food as well? For us, we have a nice variety of birds as well, especially Hummingbirds, who have really taken to my feeder…
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The squirrels eat the bread, but not the small seeds. You are lucky to have hummingbirds, there are none in Britain. It’s probably too cold for them.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have held off doing bird feed due to Squirrels but perhaps I will give it a try…we have so many here, would be nice to invite them over for a bite to eat more often!
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Kudos! Warmest regards, Theo
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Back to basics seems to have been popular with the bird-life, Theo. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love bird watching, this reminds me I wanted to look into getting a bird feeder for the backyard. We get a lot of cardinals!
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We have an elaborate feeder, but they used to avoid it. For some reason, they prefer a bowl of seed on a table, BB.
Best wishes, Pete.
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To deprive your birds of a backyard feeder is a cardinal sin…
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Then I must get one! This is the sign I needed lol
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I love birds.
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I’m sure many of them are nesting nearby, and that the same ones come back every day, Peggy.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Lovely!
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Strange how they so rarely used the feeders, but seem happier to eat from a bowl close to the house. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I would like to do that but Sophies cats have proved to be excellent at bird murder sadly, have had to get bells put on the collars! I daren’t risk putting any food low down.
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Yes, it’s probably the ease of access, as you mentioned. We have three feeders in our backyard. We also put out birdseed in three or four terracotta saucers. The birds flock to the saucers—even though they get challenged there by the squirrels, who can’t get to the specialized “squirrel-proof” feeders.
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For some reason, the local squirrels ignore the seed. But they do come and grab chunks of bread off the lawn.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sounds delightful! Cheers, Jon.
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It is very cheerful to watch, Jon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love watching the birds too. We have a bird bath in our garden, and every morning we watch them all having a splash.
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I have a stone bird bath that I have never set up. After 8 years, I should get around to that! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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You should. I’ve spent much time looking at little feathery bodies having a wash, lol.
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This is a lovely story, and as a fellow bird lover, I applaud you work in making ‘friends’ with the birds round your place! I live in a different country, on the opposite side of the world, and though some of the regular birds you have, I have quite a few unknown around where you live. Watching and listening to the birds around my place brings me much enterainment, and even joy!
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I love to see and hear them, Carolyn. In London, we mostly had feral pigeons and seagulls. They are not so entertaining to watch.
Best wishes, Pete.
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