And the birds seem to be much more timid these days, although Mrs Robin and another one still fly to the back step for a snack (not together). I still see the coal, blue and great tits, and the dunnocks. I think I've seen a couple of young robins too, and the starlings are enjoying feasting on the rowan berries.
As C said he saw a sparrowhawk in the front garden last week (it flew into the window, and then sat on the hedge to recover till it was chased off by magpies), that might account for the birds being more cautious. I had a feeling we had some sort of bird of prey around as I saw a dead pigeon with wings torn off on the grass one day.
I wanted to share this video of how quickly the sparrows flock in when they see the feeders filled up - but as you can see, they take flight quickly when they hear the train go by, even though that's a sound they must hear so often during the day. I've been trying to get a better video, but they're not cooperative. I wish that the sound of their wings came out better. I remember hearing a programme about sound recordists some years ago, and they did say it was a hard sound to capture - but can be quite easily simulated with flapping leather gloves if I remember correctly.
1 comment:
I love your new header. What a beautiful shade of blue. The video is quite entertaining. I can't help but smile watching those birds busily jumping around in the shrubbery. Looks like you have the start of fall color going. Having a bird of prey around is not really what we hope for when we put out feeders, but they learn quickly the habits of the feeding birds just by watching like we do. Someone told me that the one's they get are mostly likely the sick or injured and I don't know if that's the real truth but it makes it just a tad bit easier to deal with.
Post a Comment