More home thoughts

Spadgling

We're into that difficult time of year when a lot of bird activity is quietly conducted under cover of leaves and the more usually boisterous elements are quietly skulking their way through post-breeding moult. If I didn't offer a well-stocked pantry the year round I'd suspect I wouldn't see half the birds in the garden.

I had been wondering about the breeding success of the pair of great tits. Judging by the very well grown juvenile that's finally made its way to the feeding station there's been plenty enough pickings along the railway embankment to keep a family going. This may explain the lack of young blue tits despite tantalising noises heard as I walk down the road, the parents still pop in at least once a day.

Spadgling

The garden is full of a new cohort of young spadgers, this group being escorted by a couple of female sparrows. The young goldfinch that's been a regular is now nearly in full adult colours, only the pepper and salt colouring of the white patches on its face show its age. I'm getting four adult goldfinches at most in the garden these days, ten years or so ago it was routinely in double figures.

Goldfinches

The male coal tit's been a regular in the garden this week, sounding very full of himself on arrival. The female called in this morning. She's looking a bit ragged and streaky in moult. When I first spotted her I wondered what on earth she was.

The herring gull – lesser black-back combo's floating around the school playing field again this evening. The first young jackdaw of the season was amongst the half dozen strutting about the field. I keep trying to get a photo of one of the adults, it has a particularly pale grey nape that's very striking. The young jackdaw was making a nuisance of itself with the woodpigeons, which included a very young bird barely out of the nest.