Home alone

Woodpigeon

I've concluded that the coughs and sniffles are the usual Spring overlay of allergies onto asthma but I'll still stay in full lockdown until next week just to be on the safe side. Not for the first time I envy people who live very close to prime birdwatching spots!

Start of the day was a dozen house sparrows hunting for aphids on the roses and boysenberry near the living room window. A couple of cock sparrows had a rummage round the window itself, picking off spiders. I hope they missed the zebra spider, I was getting quite fond of that.

I noticed the female coal tit quietly coming into the garden at lunchtime and slipping back out just as quietly, unlike the male who makes both a noisy entrance and noisy exit. He came in slightly later than usual, nearly quarter to four.

Been a week since I've seen the long-tailed tits, which I hope means they're busy nest-building somewhere. The jackdaws have given up on nesting in the chimney pot because they get too much hassle from the woodpigeons. There's no animosity there, it's just the woodpigeons' favourite singing perch.

The rooks have definitely taken over the crow's nest and the magpies seem to be tidying up their old nest.

Collared dove