I have just been watching several blackbirds on my lawn. They have learned about the wasteful habits of the starlings, who scatter food items with complete abandon on to the grass from the bird table above. The blackbirds wait until the food frenzy overhead is in full swing, and move quickly in to hoover up the discarded bounty. In between times they go in for a spot of jousting between themselves, hopping rapidly to and fro, making feinting lunges at one another, like jet-black miniature knights of old. Every now and then one of them will pick up a dead leaf and wave it at its adversary like a flag. Unlike the starlings they almost never seem to come to blows. When not so engaged they go endlessly around the garden flicking over leaves and other vegetation in the hope of finding some hidden food prize.
At this time of year finding enough food to stave off starvation becomes the number one priority. In recent days I have had to double the number of feeding stations around the garden. Needless to say the costs of feeding a small army of ever-hungry birds rises steeply. In fact Dave Pope has been known to say that ‘his’ birds cost more to feed than he does! Beyond black sunflower seeds offered ad lib, and fat balls, on grounds of cost I try to limit my feeding efforts to wholemeal bread and table scraps as available.
Regulars at the feeders include blue, great, and coal tits. While a small flock of about five long-tailed tits are regularly around, I have not seen them at the feeders. Last year I had over twenty greenfinches in the garden, but this year there are only two or three. Chaffinches are omnipresent, and while most of them feed on the ground around the feeders, on discarded seeds, a few have learned how to use the feeders. Some hover clumsily before the ports to snatch a seed, others have learned to use the perches. Interestingly it seems to me that the females are quicker learners than the males. You may remember that last year both Dave and I had bramblings at the feeders. To date this year I have seen only one, a yearling female.
As already mentioned the bawdy starlings are the most noticeable bird table feeders, jabbing viciously at any, including their own kind, who would stand in their way. Even the wood pigeons and collared doves are ruthlessly shouldered aside. The flock of around ten house sparrows seem to keep an eye on the starlings, and whenever they appear in the garden, the sparrows also turn up. They don’t have far to come. For years now a colony has been resident in the ivy-covered tree in my front garden, and their numbers have seemed to remain fairly constant. Good news in face of the decline that has been documented nationally.
Birds which are regulars in the garden, but which do not visit the feeders or the table include wrens, which fidget their way along the shrubbery, or the wooden fence, constantly seeking out the enormous amount of food they need to keep them going. Robins do visit the table but are much more likely to be seen in the shrubbery.
Overall I do think there has been a steady decline in the bird population of my garden, mirroring the situation nationally, and this despite (or because?) of the fact that it backs on to a farm. Notable and much missed absentees are song and mistle thrushes, while I only occasionally see old shufflewing – aka the dunnock – moving jerkily around the quieter parts of the garden.