An early morning dream
Aug 5th, 2008 by Birdy Trish
It’s strange how wildlife has so many different species and each has different temperaments.
The wren is so nervous and shy - you will never change it being nervous.
The thrush lets the blackbird take the food from under its beak. I have never seen a thrush take food from a blackbird and I never will.
The shy deer sprints away if it hears one rustle of grass
Their behaviour is ingrained in each species. It is part of them.
Then we come to the squirrel. The grey squirrel is back in the garden. It is a thug with not one ounce of fear in it.
It used the home made wire I put found one of my birdtables as a ladder to climb into the birdtable. It sits on the fence relaxing near the birdtable. It’s slow, deliberate movements are so relaxed it makes me tense and annoyed.
I’m not going to spend my time trying to outwit the squirrel with my present bird feeders. I tried last year. I give up now , this moment, and am going to sort out buying a squirrel proof bird feeder.
Although I’m not sure which of the food it’s eating from the bird table as there aren’t any nuts there.
I’m going to have to get a squirrel proof bird seed feeder.
I have a little dream that one day I will not have any squirrels, rooks, crows, ravens, hens, and pigeons coming to the garden and the feeders.
I have a little dream that one day all I will see at the feeders are wrens, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, thrushes, blackbirds, long tailed tit, coal tit, robin, dunnock They will fill the bird feeders with colour and chirping. They will be able to feed in peace and won’t have to fly off when the big birds or the squirrel arrive.
All will be peace in the garden.
Tags: bird-feeder, garden
“PEACE IN THE GARDEN”
How wonderful it is to wake in the morning with birds twittering and the gentle buzz of the bees about the flowers. I can tell you that my wife and I are often woke at 5.00am by chattering magpies, who sound like a broken gearbox on a damp morning. The dogs tend to accompany this grating bird “song” with a odd bark and the cats scream out into the new day. We look at each other and huff a sigh of annoyance at this bi-daily occurance, turn over and grab at the covers to shield our ears, until the din subsides, and settle in for another few hours.
I can tell you though, that the excitement of an early morning drive in the Aberdeenshire countryside allows a sneak preview of the vast array of wild life we have in the fields around us.
Last Sunday, we were driving to a car-boot at around 07.45am, as we drove down a small hill and round a corner with hedges either side we were met, in the middle of the road, by a mother deer and her young one, a little further on we had to slow again for a mother peasent with seven young, yet another two hundred yards on and we had to stop for four hares, sat in the road and not wanting to rush away. We have Buzzards, Kestrels and Sparrow Hawks circling overhead at various stages of the journey, all making the thirty miles an absolute pleasure.
Foxes are a pain, at our property and many of our chicken have met with this cunning foe. Having said that I hold no grudge, we all have to eat and seeing a trio of them in mid spring time, playing on the bales is a sight to see.
We have feeders at various locations and bird boxes, in which we have seen a pair of blue tits raise a clutch of five young. We also had a glimps of a heron, in our back garden, making off with our goldfish and young carp.
The joy is in the small birds as they flit around the feeders and shoulder each other out, to get at the best seeds. Our best fun is when the swallows glide out of the barn and “dive bomb” the cats. They do get so close and the cat does not like it at all, retreating under the car for a sulk.
You set a wonderful image, and are so right about the birds you mention. If people just take a moment out of their hectic lives and look around their own gardens, or neighbourhoods, they will be surprised how diverse the wildlife is. Just one feeder will create a world of difference and open the door to an experience that very few could not find interesting and joyful.
Thank you Trish, for a snap shot of your wild life. We should all remember that so many lives depend on our behaviour, not just our children but the animals and birds that live with us.
Andy.