Garden bird supremacy

After I have thrown out the bread in the morning, it's amusing (and occasionally infuriating) to see which are the alpha birds and which come lowest in the pecking order. A female blackbird was first on the scene today. Then a wood pigeon arrived and ran at the poor blackbird, chasing it off. A magpie was next and the pigeon took no notice of it. (By now the blackbird had pulled a flanker by sneaking in and grabbing a crumb which it flew off into the bushes with.)

Then, with a dark beating of wings, big boss crow landed and strutted self-importantly into the centre of the lawn. The magpie flew off at top speed, the pigeons flapped away to a safe distance, though they didn't leave the grass. Meanwhile, Mr Crow was busy stuffing his large beak with as much of Sainsbury's 40p white loaf as he could manage. I let him have a certain amount and then I assert my own godlike position as the hand that feeds them, and flap my arms to scare him into the air while there is still something left for the other birds.

All the while, a tiny wren was perched on the hedge, just watching.

The robin always waits his turn and bobs along to hoover up anything the others have left. That's when I throw out a treat of seeds and dried fruit - cranberries being the favourite - so robins, blackbirds and starlings can feed in peace.