Fbg 6.7
Yesterday morning, when I went out to feed Midnight who was sleeping on the feather cushion on my swing, I was making a low clicking noise (I think I was quiet, it was 4:30 am), so that Midnight would not be startled this morning. Being a deaf person, I don't think about sound as comforting, or using sound to announce my presence.
Anyway, it worked. Midnight shot off the swing to greet me and nearly bowled me over. He was over affectionate yesterday morning and I couldn't move. I am stroking his head and making a fuss of him. He is now miaowing loudly at me, purring like a tractor. He wants affection before his food. I am trying to dish the food out, but he wants a few more minutes of strokes first. And even when I am dishing out the catfood, he is still loving my hands.
I come in for a hot cuppa, it went cold again.
Mr Heffalump (wood pigeon) comes in next. And flies straight to the bushy leaves where Mr&Mrs Bluetit brought their babies to yesterday. He is bobbing his head up and down, but cannot find any baby bluetits in it.
Next Mr Blackbird comes in, he also checks the same bush, decides there are no baby bluetits in it. So then he flies over to where Midnight is now on the swing grooming himself, gets very close and directs his anger at Midnight. Mr Blackbird was squawking and squawking at Midnight in a very aggressive manner. Midnight ignored him as usual.
Then Little Miss comes charging into the garden. This is still the first hour of the day. And also goes straight to the bushy leaves,and appears to be looking for the baby bluetits. She seems disappointed they are not there, and so goes to the bird table and begins to feed herself. Whereupon Mr Blackbird comes screeching in to land on Little Miss, but she deftly gets out of the way to under the bird table. And that causes Mr Blackbird to screech in a temper at her. Little Miss peeks over the edge of the bird table, and Mr Blackbird lunges at her, but overshoots and ends up half falling, and retreats to my roof where he carries on his screeching temper.
Mr Blackbird needs a course in anger management.
I did have a male blackbird a few years ago who absolutely hated sparrows and attacked and drove them aggressively out of the garden. But they all just did an about turn, and flew back in...
Then the sweetest thing happened. Mrs&Mrs Bluetit came flying in with their little family. The fatball bird feeder that Mrs Bluetit covets is on a long bamboo cane. The 3 tiny baby bluetits sat in a row on that bamboo cane, about a foot apart and waited quietly, just as if in a Chinese painting. Mum and Dad Bluetit was feeding them all in turn from the fatballs. They were three very well behaved baby bluetits on that bamboo cane. Then Little Miss came along and started feeding, from the fatballs, to the baby bluetit on the end of the cane who wasn't getting as much food as the others.
So, Little Miss (a teenage baby sparrow) IS feeding the baby bluetits.
The baby bluetits are now within the safety of the bushy leaves of the tree, and are being fed by their parents and also Little Miss.
This was going on all day, along with the usual shenanigans from Mr Heffalump, and Mr Blackbird who took every opportunity during the day to divebomb Little Miss. Her evading skills are getting very good. Little Miss was learning a new skill this afternoon. She appears to have noticed that Mrs Bluetit grips and also hangs upside down from the feeder I put out for the bluetits, whereas the other two feeders for the sparrows has twigs stuck in and out of it for the sparrows to stand on to eat. Little Miss was fluttering her wings as she practised eating from the bluetit bird feeder, like a bluetit. She got very good at it. Both the sparrow feeders are full by the way, so she has no need to do this.
Creative today is a kaleidoscope in Laboscope. Buttercups. Shadow and Midnight are the silhouettes.
Another cuppa needed...
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