On the table...

We shoved the small metal bistro table into the shelter of the bushes, about 40 ft from the house, and every morning I sprinkle some robin food on it. However, as birds can't read the packet, they've all taken to it with gusto and the poor old robin hardly gets a look-in. Here are just a few of the robin food guzzlers, all taken with my lens on maximum zoom, which is why they are a bit blurry. Wish I could afford an expensive camera!

Blue tit and female chaffinch. Haven't seen any male chaffinches yet.

The squirrel - 0f course! This is one of this year's youngsters.

I took this one a few days ago, before the bad weather had all the other birds fighting for the food on the table.

Two ladies together - chaffinch and blackbird.

First goldfinch!

Last weekend I bought some Niger seed and a special feeder for birds with tiny beaks. Even the squirrel hasn't managed to break into it. It took till Wednesday for the bird I was hoping to attract to find the feeder, and here it is, a beautiful, shy goldfinch. I was thrilled to bits to see it.


I took this photo of the magpie as it really shows the beautiful turquoise blue coloured feathers on its wings. It's so easy to think of them as just black and white.


Another 'first' this winter is this female chaffinch. I haven't seen any since last winter's snows. This one could well be a migrant from Northern Europe.

Green woodpecker

I hadn't seen the woodpecker for some time but today he (or she) was on the lawn, drilling for ants. Any creature that eats ants is my hero. I hate the things. I would dearly love a pet anteater, but as that isn't possible, a neighbourly woodpecker is the next best thing.

Another hat trick

Magpie, squirrel and parakeet this time, and somewhere in the bushes all the poor little sparrows and blue tits were hungrily waiting till the big guys departed.

A foggy day in London town

The weather was vile yesterday, damp, cold and foggy, and this wood pigeon looks thoroughly miserable.

Tree rat

Grey squirrels are a pest and I'd like to send them all back to North America where they originated from. However, I shall make an exception for this one, as she really is quite cute, even when raiding the bird feeders. I suppose that she sees them as squirrel feeders!

Hat trick!

This is a combination of big birds that I've never seen on the bird feeders at the same time before. A jay and two parakeets. The little birds can't get a look-in at the moment. Not with the magpies and pigeons attacking the feeders as well.

Headlamps on

Haven't seen anything at all of the foxes for at least a couple of weeks, but I just happened to snap this one as it slunk past the bench, its eyes gleaming golden like twin harvest moons.

Camouflage

This time of year, when the parakeets are in the trees, it's a case of 'now you see me, now you don't.


And this one is so flexible, I'm sure it could win the Para(keet)lympics!

Patient Jay

The jay is annoyed with me because I haven't positioned the peanut feeder where he can easily get at it, and he is too large to cling to it like the blue tits do. So he has devised his own method.

First he looks at the feeder and works out what he's going to do...


Then he gives it a bash with his beak to set it swinging...

And finally it swings towards him so that he can grab a peanut.