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Still Quiet

The few blue tits that were coming into the garden seem to have deserted me. The level in the seed feeder has been constant for the last few days and the goldfinches have still to rediscover the nyjer seed. The dunnock is still in evidence either taking fat from the ground tray or searching among the sunflower husks under the feeders.

In the surrouding areas I am not seeing much except for corvids and pigeons. Even the pheasants that were in evidence a couple of weeks ago have vanished.

It was a wonderfuly clear crisp autumn morning today made all the more remarkable by largely empty skys. On the way to work the clear light made a young fox by the railway line between Neasden and Willesden Green stand out in a handsome bright red. Coming home in the dark a muntjac was in the road between Latimer and Ley Hill but evolution seems to be taking its course and the survivors are the ones that run away from cars.

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Returning to the Garden

High summer and early autumn is always a quiet time for birds in my garden. I no longer feed after my summer holiday as I have ended up throwing away far to much mouldy fat or seed. Normally I would wait until November before putting the feeders back out but a party of long tailed tits appeared in the front garden today so I think that it might be worth while trying a single fat bar for the moment. For the past couple of weeks I have seen a lot of roadside signs saying "beware of deer" in places where I wouldn't normally see them. Last weekend I decided that they might be justified when I encountered a herd of roe deer in the road between Ley Hill and Latimer. While muntjac are seen often enough the roes tend to be shy and this was only the third time that I have had a good look at some in all the years that I have lived here.

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