Sunday 15 February 2009

Starling families


Starlings are, I believe, the first birds to raise a brood each year and this morning, up to 20 descended on the garden and raided the bird feeders. As the adult birds whistled and squabbled to be first on the suet ball, the babies queued up, vibrating their wings, beaks open. In this picture, taken with my little pocket digital camera as I sat at the kitchen table, you can see two flapping babies perched above the adult on the feeder.

A dunnock was waiting in a nearby tree and as bits of suet dropped onto the tray, it hopped on and snaffled them.

As the starlings fed, a fine, full-furred fox trotted into the garden to have a go at the cat biscuits which, overnight, got attacked by a mouse that had, unbelievably, got into the cat's food cupboard without being eaten itself. Sadly, it wasn't Olive. I do hope she's still alive.

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