Tuesday 9 July 2013

The birds and the bees

My partner was kneeling at the back of the pond, doing something to the pond filter, when his knee started vibrating. He shifted it and to his amazement, several bumble bees flew out from underneath. He had been kneeling right on the entrance to their nest which has been cleverly positioned in the roots of a plant. Last week, the white hebe bush was in flower and it was completely buzzing, absolutely alive with bees. Now the purple hebe is out, and the honeysuckle too, so the bees still have plenty of nectar.


Don't they have a splendid doorway?


Now for the birds. There is a huge flock of starlings roosting somewhere not far away. We often get more than thirty in the garden at once. The suet balls are very popular and they can strip the feeder in ten minutes. Here is a bunch of them queuing for their turn.


The collective noun for starlings should be a clamour, not a murmuration!


Last but not least, here is a cure ring-necked parakeet swinging on the peanuts.



2 comments:

Jackie Sayle said...

I agree with you about the collective noun for starlings.

Neil Lambert said...

Oh wow, Lorna. Are wild parakeets indigenous to the UK? Never realized they were... always thought they were native birds of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand?