Things can change rapidly at this time of year. In the last two days, after a short absence, the blue tits have appeared in the garden in force again. In particular they have taken to the fat feeders as well as grabbing sunflower seeds. It is very striking how, when they take a seed, they fly to a sheltered spot to eat it before returning for the next but will perch on the fat feeder for minutes at a time. Both great and coal tits have also been in evidence.
At least one brood of starlings have been regular visitors to the feeder and today the fledglings got the hang of taking the food for themselves. Other broods must be less developed as adults were still taking away quantities of fat. The tits aren't so common at the moment, I don't know if this is because they have dispersed, if wild food is available or if pressure from the starlings has driven them off. Single blue tits are dropping in fairly regularly and a coal tit took fat away as well. The woodpecker seems to have become a regular visitor and still has a brood to feed. He definitely comes before the starlings in the pecking order and keeps them off the feeder until he has finished. The new feeder with perching rings is popular with the chaffinches and the goldfinches, the latter suddenly seem to prefer the high energy mix to the nyjer seed. With all this demand for feeding young ones the fat is going down very rapidly and I am putting larger quantities out on the ground t...
Comments