It occurred to me today that we’re probably helping to keep a whole range of bird species alive at the moment. To be frank, after hearing last week that several of our top 10 garden birds are in serious decline – apparently the population of house sparrows alone has reduced by 50% in the last 10 years. I reckon that’s a big worry. I sat at my desk this morning, looking down from the room into the garden below and saw:

1. A group of jackdaws fighting over a peanut feeder
2. A squadron of goldfinches tucking into the niger seeds – thanks for the tip Bill (M) – you’re right – they love them!
3. A wren hopping about in the hydrangea chomping “stuff” (who knows what, it was too small for me to see).
4. A gaggle of sparrows on the bird table being shoved off by a group of starlings behaving like teenage girlies. I caught sight of a movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed a starling hanging over the gutter above my head watching me with his beady eye
5. A magpie mooching around under the peanuts, presumably not fancying his chances vs about half a dozen jackdaws
6. A buzzard sitting on the top of the telegraph pole eating something – a mouse or a vole or hopefully a rat!

Yesterday, I sat at my desk in the office and watched a pair of blackbirds systematically stripping the berries off the hawthorn, while some more were on the floor tucking into the last windfall apples. I noticed a woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatting on the trunk of the apple tree too.

To be honest, this list, impressive though it is, actually represents a tiny fraction of the birds we see here – I’ve not even mentioned any of the tits, the robins, the thrushes and the other finches OR our newest sighting and definite resident – a sparrowhawk!

We do make a big effort, two bird tables, two peanut feeders, two niger feeders, a fat ball hanger, plenty of water and lots of shrubs and trees with berries. We get through about 50 kilos of peanuts each year, 60 kilos of wild bird mixed seed and we’ve just added a 25 kilo sack of niger to the order too, along with buying the fat balls in boxes of a hundred. I’d say it’s a pretty good “bird restaurant”.

I’d been eyeing up these red berries for a few days thinking I’d photograph them and then, guess what? One or more of our bird friends decided to make them lunch for today so they’re now all chomped and manky. However, I decided even in their manky state that they’d make a great pic and our extended family would make a good subject for today’s shot.

S'funny I should mention Bill M today, it's complete coincidence that we met him today last year!