WHAT ADULT BIRDS DO.

I got comprehensively shat upon today by, not one, not two, but, three seagulls.  I had ambled around a harbour and decided to explore an offshoot of it, since, I found the route I was on blocked off to a circular walk.

There was very loud angry squawking overhead.  I heard a 'whoosh'.   Instinctively, I jerked my head, just in time, out of the direct line of shit travel.  There were a few plumps and I found myself  well and truly spattered, (dark blouse, trousers and coat) with the white stuff.  I looked up to see very angry birds attempting to mob me. It was the cue for swift decisive action.  I turned and quickly retraced my steps.  I shot one last glance over  my shoulder and saw several young seagulls at the far end of the path I had been on.  There was no doubt about it, I just experienced an aggressive example of what adult birds do, to protect their young.

THE NEW TWITTERATI

We have now got the bird feeder stand sorted; the old peanuts that got saturated through the prolonged wet weather have been disposed of; the seed feeder that was not so well secured,  has been retrieved from the ground, refilled, secured back in situ and, hopefully, will withstand a bit of weather. 

Late morning,  I saw a few small birds feeding - chat with hubby follows:-

Me:  There were some small birds at the feeder, the first for a while;
Him: There haven't been any lately;
Me:   Perhaps the feeder is a bit exposed;
Him: Could be;
Me:  Perhaps the birds need to know the food is available.
Him: Okay, I'll put a message on Twitter!

                                                             

IS IT SERENDIPITOUS?

The excretions from a bird that is flying above, landing on your head, is said to be lucky; is it also serendipitous? It is not any of those things when the muck lands on the freshly washed laundry hanging outside on the line to dry, or, on a newly washed parked car. 

It raises the question of why some obscure events are said to be lucky, yet the same or similar happening is anything but desirable when occurring slightly differently.

 

One very wet day, when it was raining forceful tapfuls of water, someone asked me if it was as wet outside as my coat suggested. "If it’s there to see, yet is is", I said. In truth though, yes it was horribly wet outside, but I had walked under a fully laden hanging basket of flowers when I was going in one direction, and the darn thing plumped its own puddle of water onto my hooded head. On my return I walked as far out as possible to avoid said basket but it swung and plumped another puddle onto me. 

Now the question here is, was that serendipitous, or what?

The majority of the lighthouses that I have seen have round towers, this one stood out because it is a castellated square tower lighthouse.

Further on, along the natural cliff strata, sea birds had taken up their bijoux residences. Fulmars, not the most pleasant bird characters to cross, were staking in their real estate claims. They are related to the Albatross family and other bird life wouldn't want their 'sticky torpedoes' to land on them.

This settled couple look as if they wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose.

But, this one is not too happy at being left alone:

Close to the coast line the Guillemots bobbed around on the water and a number of Fulmars flew above.


Wandering much further on, these stacks came into view, shrouded in a light sea haze.
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In the Sandstone cliff face, we saw 'Guillemot Tower'.... was there going to be room for newcomers? It looked a very overcrowded.

THE FEEDING POST

The wee garden birds and the not so wee ones, have not been visiting my garden bird feeders in any number and I have been puzzling about this. Could it be, I wondered, the change of feed. The local shops were out of packets of seed as so many people were putting out food. So, in the depths of the Arctic blast we had, I went to a local farm shop and bought about 20 kilos of their ordinary bird seed mix. Could the seed really have been totally different...surely, bird seed is what it is. The peanut house, which holds a kilo of nuts was not going down very fast either. I had not changed my nut supplier.

Perhaps the birds were well supplied with the thoughtfulness of all the other people feeding them and they did not need my offerings. I continued to wait and watch. The other morning, I believe I was presented with the true and not so palatable answer. As I gazed through the window a sparrow hawk flew close by; close enough for me to see a small bird being carried in its claws.

INVESTIGATING BIRD FEEDERS

We investigated the bird feeders this morning. I can almost hear you ask, "Investigate bird feeders?".  It's not that we want all the feathered friends in the neighbourhood to flock to our garden, share and share alike, I say.

It seemed curious that the lovely new peanut house didn't seem to attract bird life, the four perch seed feeder seemed a forlorn perching place, and the fat balls just weren't disappearing. That is until today.  I saw a bunch of blackbirds or perhaps they were crows, nibbling at the minute bits of fat balls left in the almost empty nets.

In between heavy snow falls, we decided it was time to put out some more fat balls and refill the seed feeder. On checking the seed feeder with a smaller one, we discovered that the access to the seeds in the four perch feeder was restricted, meaning therefore, that the birds could not get to the larger seeds in the mix. They had piled up at the bottom of the feeder, and were going nowhere. Those seeds were shaken out on top of the new snow. For now, the small seed feeder with a single perch, (but two nibbling access points) is out while the other one is cleaned and dries off. We shall probably modify it.

This afternoon The birds are back, doing their gripping little perch dances, and exploring the food stores that we have left out for them.

EATING LIKE A BIRD

Last Spring, I could not keep up with the pace of bird feed that was consumed.  The parents had shown their fledglings how to forage for food,  also, where other sources of food might be available.  Those young ones learned fast and without a doubt, took the easy option.

This hard Winter, the birds seems to have been quite fussy.  The peanuts are nibbled down more noticeably at a pace, while the contents of seed feeder, admittedly a double length one with four perches, decreases more slowly. Two fat balls still hang intact, in their nets.  One was a quarter nibbled. On the strength of this observation, I bought a peanut 'house'.  It has a roof that overhangs that is supposed to keep the nuts relatively dry; there is a tray for tiny bird feet to cling onto or stand upon.  

All the bird feeding  containers are hung from a fence in an area that  has some shelter from a bush and an even taller stone dyke.  The feeders do wave about a little bit.  But then, if I had a bird table, unless it was concreted in to the ground, it would constantly be blown over.  I think, on balance, the present options are the best ones.  I have yet to see the new peanut feeder used as the new meeting place in town. I wonder if the birds prefer their peanuts to be wet and soft?

I guess that there are many people putting out food for the birds, they therefore, can afford to pick and choose whose gardens and feeders they grace their presence with. Starlings, which we saw plenty of before the depth of Winter, who would usually chomp their way through fat balls, do not seem to be either ravenous or plentiful in our immediate area.  Even the seagulls seem to have all but disappeared for now, likewise, blackbirds.  We did have some visits from green finches in early November, and robins too just before the really cold snap.