Tits! And other birds.
Shortly after Christmas I built a DIY birdtable kit and plonked it in the back yard*cough*square foot of conctrete. I put out some hanging feeders, seed, peanut feeder and breadcrumbs, and put some bread on the roof to attract things flying over.
At first the only visitors were pigeons (nice fat wood pigeons, not those nasty ratty city pigeons), who were shooed away in favour of prettier birds. Soon we had a robin, a blackbird and a pair of house sparrows. The blackbird now has a mate and is nesting about a foot away from our kitchen window! Other visitors I have seen to the table and various feeders include a coal tit, great tit, a house mouse (Bob), and just now a long-tailed tit! I like the tits - small and fluffy and undeniably cute!
I'm rather impressed that we've succeeded in attracting if not rare and exotic species then at least something more interesting than bog standard garden birds. I was not expecting anything more than pigeons, and the fact that we're getting birds hopping around when I can sit and watch them a few feet away in the kitchen is absoluteoy marvelous! I can only dream of what we'll attract if and when we finally get a decent house with a proper garden (with grass and trees and everything!).
EDIT: The title to the picture on the top right of this page made me giggle.
At first the only visitors were pigeons (nice fat wood pigeons, not those nasty ratty city pigeons), who were shooed away in favour of prettier birds. Soon we had a robin, a blackbird and a pair of house sparrows. The blackbird now has a mate and is nesting about a foot away from our kitchen window! Other visitors I have seen to the table and various feeders include a coal tit, great tit, a house mouse (Bob), and just now a long-tailed tit! I like the tits - small and fluffy and undeniably cute!
I'm rather impressed that we've succeeded in attracting if not rare and exotic species then at least something more interesting than bog standard garden birds. I was not expecting anything more than pigeons, and the fact that we're getting birds hopping around when I can sit and watch them a few feet away in the kitchen is absoluteoy marvelous! I can only dream of what we'll attract if and when we finally get a decent house with a proper garden (with grass and trees and everything!).
EDIT: The title to the picture on the top right of this page made me giggle.