This morning I spent some time studying the various avian eating activities.
Garish goldfinches;
red-breasted robins – Ron or Ronette;
daredevil dunnocks;
squabbling sparrows;
great tits all balanced precariously on the feeders swinging in today’s cooler east wind.
I was fascinated by the various grips. The great tits grasped the mesh grid;
a goldfinch gripped the perching bars;
sparrows clutched whatever was handy, sometimes causing them to do the splits;
dunnocks fluttered their wings for fear of fdropping off.
Sometimes the flapping was quite frenzied;
sparring sparrows are especially vicious.
Ron, or Ronette, is shown above on a rare visit to a feeder.
Normally he or she, like bigger birds such as pigeons, collects spillage from the ground below.
When the stations are particularly crowded, even the sparrows wait their turn in the blossom trees above.
Jackie continued her considerable work in the garden, and reports that Nugget made several fleeting visits.
She photographed a young spider
from which Edvard Munch surely gained inspiration.
This evening we dined on the Culinary Queen’s wholesome chicken and vegetable soup with bread and butter, followed by flavoursome mixed fruit crumble and custard.