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| Blue Tit spoiled for choice - peanuts or seeds |
I don't get many male blackbirds in my garden and cannot recall seeing one eating from the feeder. They do, however, hop around on the ground, eating insects from the lawn and picking up seeds that the birds on the feeding station have dropped to the ground.
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| Male blackbird keeping an eye out for cats |
I haven't always had an interest in knowing the identity of various birds but since I bought a bird feeding station, my interest has been piqued. It's not always easy though. One that is easy to identify is the woodpigeon. It's a big bird, looks like a fat feral pigeon, but has a band of white around its neck. It appears to be a polite bird, seems to get along with all the other types of bird (probably because of its size, it is not threatened by them). I have never seen two Woodpigeons together though, unlike the feral pigeons that we all know can become a nuisance by their numbers.
I found a bag of white and wild rice mix at the back of the kitchen cupboard the other day that had gone past its 'best by' date and so I cooked the whole lot up in a large pan (without salt, of course) and put some in a dish on the feeding station. I froze the rest which I can thaw out and feed to them as and when. I also have several round fat-balls which I made last winter in the freezer and which will be fed to them when the weather turns cold and the fat will not go rancid.
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| Magpie waiting its turn while the Woodpigeon eats rice |
In the below image there is a Great Tit looking down from the top, a Great Tit on the fence, and three Blue Tits on the feeders. Just after that, a female blackbird arrived.
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| Woodpigeon, Great Tits, and juvenile Blue Tits all eating in harmony |
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| Woodpigeon, Great Tit, and female Blackbird |