The birds seem to be discovering the feeders in my back garden. We had several visits from a coal tit this morning which is the first that I have seen for a while. Another garden first for this autumn was a blackbird which foraged in the flower beds before sampling the dried mealworms in one of th ground feeders. It has taken experimentation over a couple of years to find the optimum placing for ground feeders where they can be seen from the windows while being attractive to the birds.
The magpies and the wood pigeons are far more likely to feed away from cover so I put a second feeder in the centre of the lawn to reduce competition with the smaller birds.
I haven't been posting much due personal matters but still have my eyes open. One thing that has struck me is the eastward spread of birds of prey. I have seen buzzards over Havering-atte-Bower but the big suprise in the past month as been a red kite over the M25 near Stapleford Abbotts in Essex. The skys still look empty by Chiltern standards though. A nice little spot last week was a goldcrest during a visit to Kew Gardens. I have downloaded the Merlin app which supposedly identifies birdsong. I have had little opportunity to try it out but a quck test in the garden showd that it correctly told me that I could hear jackdaws and a robin. I look forward to using it on the coast to see if it can distinguish the various waders for me.
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