Hurray! Saw our first Greater Spotted Woodpecker in the garden today. It came to a fat ball that John has on a hook in the "front" garden. This is the garden that he can see from his office and so he monitors it well. I come running everytime he yells!
Agression levels seem to be rising amongst our feathered visitors. I don't know why - it's still very mild so I don't think food is getting short yet. Maybe they agree with all the forecasters who say we're in for a cold winter this year. Here's the list of fights we have seen:
1. Yesterday one of the male pheasants chased a squirrel and pecked its tail. It actually stalked the little devil before it attacked! This is good news really because the pheasants tend to feed below the bird feeders to pick up all the stuff that drops and if they keep the squirrels away we'll have fewer problems above.
2. Today there were two males at the same feeders and they both chased a squirrel away.
3. The coal tits only come one at a time to the feeders. If two land at the same time, one of them chases the others off. Sometimes they actually grab onto each other and fall about as they fight.
4. The robin will take up residence inside the mesh (we have some armoured "squirrel proof" feeders) and will fight off any one else who comes nearby. Sometimes he sits there for quite a while and the tits won't come when the robin is there. He tried to chase off the woodpecker, too, but the woodie held his ground. There was much flapping and exitement, but the robin retreated that time.
5. This afternoon there were three female pheasants on the lawn. Two of them had a face-off which included much head bobbing, pretend pecking of the ground, squatting with heads thrust forward and the ocasional lunge at the other. In the end they had a real squabble with lots of wing flapping and jumping up into the air. It all ended when the third female intervened. She's bigger and just ran into the melee and chased them off!
Here's a list of all birds seen in the garden so far. Only 20, not a very long list, realy, but it's a start:
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
PHEASANTS, GROUSE, QUAIL AND TURKEYS
Ring-necked Pheasant
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Common Wood-Pigeon
WOODPECKERS
Great Spotted Woodpecker
CROWS AND JAYS
Black-billed Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
THRUSHES
Eurasian Blackbird
OLD WORLD FLYCATCHERS
European Robin
NUTHATCHES
Eurasian Nuthatch
WRENS
Winter Wren
SWALLOWS
Common House-Martin
CHICKADEES, TITS
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
Gray Wagtail
ACCENTORS
Dunnock
SISKINS, CROSSBILLS AND ALLIES
Chaffinch
Eurasian Bullfinch
Time for dinner .... bye bye!
E-Mail: joanarnfield@gmail.com
