Chiltern Birder

Yet more snow overnight burried the ground feeder tray and once retrieved it seemed to be of more interest to the tits that to dunnocks or the robin who insisted on using the hanging feeder. Don't these birds ever read the feed catalogues? In the front garden we had a mistle thrush perched on the quince taking from the fat feeder which made a change from the regular blackbird. Since the snow came the starlings seem to have moved elsewhere.

Thursday night's heavy snow made access to the village difficult to say the least and I didn't brave the journey to the station. Unlike many though the wonders of the internet meant that I didn't have a day off but I could keep an eye on the bird feeders which are visible from the laptop. I think we had a full house with regard to the regular tit population. Blues, greats and coal definitely came to the feeder, long tailed were in my neighbour's tree and as I turned to look once something flew away which I think was a marsh or willow tit. On the ground the dunnocks were out in force and there always seemed to be a robin around and there was the occasional small group of starlings and the odd chaffinch. So far neither the goldfinches nor the woodpeckers have returned. In the front the fat feeder in the quince was frequented by a cock blackbird as well as regular great tits. With a clear sky today, but too cold to start a thaw, the clarity of every possible view was amanz

I was working at home this afternoon and at lunchtime I noticed that the starlings had discovered the fat feeder at the front of the house. They had it spinning like a top on its hanging chain as they tried to get at the last pieces of fat on the bottom. When the finally moved on the coal tit was back pretty promptly. They are lovely neat little birds and now that they are coming to the front I get a far better view from the kitchen that I have ever had before. The great tits have also been attracted at the front although I didn't see any there today. At the back blue and great tits have been coming to the feeders as well as chaffinches and dunnocks, robins and wood pigeons to the ground feeder.