Feeding The Birds

Small birds flock to the bird table and hanging feeder: blue tits, great tits, coal tits (I think) and nuthatches. They never let up. I'm seeing up to seven at any one time. This morning they were joined by a greater spotted woodpecker.

On the ground I'm seeing blackbirds, robins, chaffinches. a thrush.

The pigeons, of which there are plenty on the property, haven't found the feeders. For some reason they keep to the other side of the house, where there's an oak tree they like to peck around.

I haven't seen a single sparrow.

P.S. A starling turned up late morning and tried to kick the woodpecker off the hanging feeder- without success. A single starling? Where's the rest of the gang?

A Spring Appears

The ground is so saturated now that when it rains the water runs right off. This afternoon we had a spring appear in the lawn above the house. It comes bubbling up- with the force of a burst pipe- to feed a stream that races round the back of the house and out into the bog that is the lower field. The spring is a sight to see. We should dig a pool for it to fill and put up a nymphaeum.