Birds on the balcony

I feed the birds on my balcony!  I have a bird table and loads of hanging feeders.  Throughout the winter I had chaffinches, a robin, sparrows, bluetits , great tits and blackbirds all enjoying the seeds, suet pellets, dried mealworms, fruit and stuff I put out for them, but now I just have the occasional bluetit, no chaffinches, no robin, not even a blackbird, but there are several pairs of sparrows, a couple of starlings - pigeons and crows!  The crows, big as they are, have managed to master hanging on the feeders, and the pigeons do their best to get onto the table, under the little slated roof, though mostly they just forage around below the table picking up what’s been dropped by the other birds!  It’s great sitting in the living room  which is behind the French windows.   This is a view from the sofa, on the left, and  of course I can watch the birds, and try to take the occasional photo!  Not so bad when the doors are open but I really do need to wash the glass soon!  You can hardly see the sparrows on the feeders through it! 

The bluetits like the coconut full of solid fat and seeds, but unfortunately, so do the greedy starlings who mange to hold on at the top and lean out over the overhang  to get their beaks into the shell.  It’s quite an acrobatic feat!

The balcony rail is a good perch and I often have a couple of pigeons, a starling and some sparrows resting there.  The pigeons often settle as if on a roost, looking like they are sitting down rather than standing as this one’s doing here, peering through the open door.

The starling got camera shy and turned it back on me.  I’d never really looked at one close up before but the “stars” for which it is named look like little white spots, on its sides.  Hundreds of them roost at night in the “crown” on top of the church tower.

I’m hoping that the other birds come back later in the year.  It is so lovely to watch them.  The chaffinches are aggressive little so-and-so’s, but the sparrows, although they have the occasional little spat, are generally quite placid.  The male chaffies always amused me when they came to feed as they always announced their arrival with a tweet!  I can’t say I’ve noticed the other birds doing that, though there are the odd chirps, tweets and occasional squawks going on most of the time as they appear to be talking to each other!

All is quiet out there at the moment, as it’s dark  - only the full moon looking in right now – but as soon as it gets light the activity will start again.  I’ll probably have to top up a feeder or two tomorrow!

Talk again soon.