Watch The Birdie
Birds feature large in our garden all year round. We have several feeders located all over the garden, which serve various different purposes throughout the year.
The feeding station situated at the front of the garden, adjacent to the Catio, is filled with suet balls for the robins, niger seeds for the goldfinches, and black and white sunflower seeds for all the tits, dunnocks and wrens. Strangely, we rarely see thrushes, and blackbirds never visit.
Our Catio, a mesh enclosed, open-air patio, is full of runways and hidey-holes for our seven cats, lush planting for me, and comfy, lounging areas for all. The felines benefit from the outdoors without risk of escape, and the birds can safely enjoy the garden beyond.
The two British Shorthairs, Harold and Maude – those of you of a certain age will recognise that combo from the film of the same name - spend hours stalking the birds from their platforms, camouflaged by the lush foliage, chuntering away fiendishly. The birds, blissfully unaware of their captive predators, peck away to their hearts’ content from the feeders, and we never get tired of watching the show!
Around about December time I would hang birdfeeders from the rose arch, filled with peanuts and mealworms, for the parakeets and starlings. But pigeons played havoc with the gravel below, so I recently relocated the feeders to the fernery at the back. Here, the feeders are suspended from the branches of the ancient lilac, which overhang brick paviers.
As I was working quietly away in the greenhouse, I became aware of the comings and goings on the feeders, less than two metres away. By moving the feeders to the back, I realised that I had my very own hide, to observe close up, without disturbance, all manner of bird activity!
Over the last few days, I’ve watched the antics of the boisterous parakeets, furtive jays, chattering starlings, tits darting back and forth, and I’ve seen a nuthatch for the first time. More by luck than judgement, the squirrels cannot reach the feeders, and the pigeons haven’t realised they are there yet! And all the while, I am aware of the robin, singing quietly away in the apple tree nearby.
The garden may well be dormant, but life goes on in feathered form. Large and small birds coexist happily with this arrangement. Our cats are occupied and we are endlessly entertained. Happy New Year to you all.
Love, Caroline
