Feeding The Birds (3)

This afternoon Jackie and I drove to Hatchet Pond where

a small family were enjoying feeding the birds. Turns were taken to carry the youngest child, while another delighted in tossing the bread.

As always, the gulls, on the bank and in the air, squabbled over the crumbs.

A pair of persistent donkeys silently clamoured for their share. There is nothing more insistent than an animal fixing you with a still and patiently pleading expression.

A couple of cormorants on the far side of the lake were more interested in fish.

Ian returned later in the afternoon and we all dined on Jackie’s splendid pasta Bolognese sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese. Jackie and Ian finished the Chardonnay, while Becky and I consumed the last of the Malbec.

39 comments

  1. We were given stern lectures about feeding the ducks in Romsey. That bread is bad for their little insides and not nutritious to them. Yet we watched swans being fed at Palace House and a number of other places.

  2. I have also read that birds should not be fed bread–it’s like empty calories for them. Lovely photos though. The one of the birds soaring over the water and the reflections is really wonderful.
    It would be hard to resist those little donkey faces.
    The title of your post made me think of the song from the original Mary Poppins movie, which as a child, always made me want to cry. OK. Just played it–so, not just as a child. 😉

    1. You are right about the bread, Merril. In some areas here there are notices asking people not to do it. My great aunt Mabel was Julie Andrews’s governess. She had been given the records but had no player.

  3. This: ‘There is nothing more insistent than an animal fixing you with a still and patiently pleading expression.’ perfectly expresses my relationship with my dog – or rather my dog’s relationship with me as his food server 🙂

  4. Oh, I love the donkeys and the birds, Derrick! Splendid photos! And the photos with the birds and donkey in the same shot are sweet! 🙂
    I love that families with young children still go on bird feeding walks at lakes and ponds! We did that as children and we did that with our children! 🙂 Good memories!
    Your birds in flight photos are a joy to behold!
    Yes, animals have a way of giving people THAT look when they think you have food! 😉 😀
    HUGS!!! 🙂

  5. Now that’s an overload of cuteness! Such endearing pictures that tell so many stories of the small family, the youngest in the small family, the gulls, the persistent foals and the cormorants in the distance.

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