The day is bright and sunny, but a bit on the chilly side and we’ve had a frost because the car is white.
Bin collection today and as I type, the guys are doing the rounds. In all the time we have been here, we have not known them miss one. We nod and wave as we thank them and say to keep safe. It’s one of the many things we take for granted and for those doing the job, a pretty thankless task.
The meters have been read and no issues, though we are up on both energy and water this week, but not by loads. It always fluctuates anyway and in comparison to this time last year, our consumption is actually down. The winter has been mild so far, but we think that harder times are on their way.
Watching the birds in the garden this morning as I was doing my exercises raised a smile. Portly and Breast are still in attendance, together with a couple of others and in the past have given us major chuckles as they try to get their fat bodies into our tiny bird table house.
When we replenish the feeder, we always scatter some seed on the roof, inside and around the floor to encourage the little birds. We have seen these two practically throwing themselves at it as they can’t get the dynamics right to gracefully fly in or balance, but today one had it sussed and was contentedly tucking in.
You can just see the mesh cone Hubby put in place to deter any rats and one pigeon has discovered that it’s just the right height for him to stretch his neck to the feeder. Not prepared to share, he fluttered his stand and the others had to make do with whatever fell out onto the floor. We have other feeders up too with little perches and the starlings in particular are keen on the fat balls.
I miss the variety that came into the cottage garden, but we have some regular visitors and they are always a pleasure to see.
Have a good day everyone and keep safe. Field trip for us this morning…… Bank business calls!
pensitivity101 
Good morning Di, lovely discripion of the birds, we love them too. Have a good “field trip”
Hi Willow! Hope things are improving for you.
We have had a really positive day, and had a walk this afternoon!
💜💜💜
We were admiring the gulls and the sandpipers today – lots of moon jellies washed up on the shore and the gulls were feasting… (yes on vacation at the ocean staying with my sister.)
We usually have a mass of starfish wash up on the beaches around March.
Your grass is so nice and green! I haven’t put out any feeders yet and I am not sure if I will or not. We seem to have hundreds of squirrels here, which keeps Brody busy running around the yard, but I worry I will be feeding only them, not the birds. I may put a hook on the eave in the front of the house and hang a thin line with a feeder in front of the bay window. This way I can see the birds but the squirrels can’t reach the feeders. We’ll see…
There are some bird feeders you can buy here that stick to the window glass. I love to watch them.
I didn’t know about those mesh cones. Do they do a great job of keeping the rats away? I was feeding the birds when I first moved here, but a neighbor had a ‘rat encounter’ (and she has cats. Those cats must be really lazy, but she said it was a really BIG rat too); and I immediately took my feeders down because I do not need rats hanging around. I’d love to be able to feed the little birds, as they looks so cold, perched in the neighbor’s hedge, with their feathers all fluffed up. We have wrens that stay around all year. Thanks for the update on bird happenings in the UK! 😀
We haven’t had/seen a rat climbing up the bird table since he put it in place, though we did have one climb up the old metal bird feeder ‘tree’ which has since been disposed of.
We’ve had 2 rats in the garden since we’ve been here, and both came from next door. They seem to have addressed the problem, especially since they got their puppy, but we still have pasta bait to put down if need be.
Are you joining the big bird watch this weekend? This is the link if you get the chance. I think every little helps!
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/?sourcecode=BWMITH0230&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppcad&utm_content=guide_request_various&utm_campaign=birdwatch2049&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-MoIXaqDpzYBWCBR_-h1EPcX7KobMcVYkhnoUphDn57MLk1IYe6vFQaAvFjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I always used to Geoff. We don’t get much of a variety in our garden, but I might this year.
It must be so nice to watch the birds feed, I love listening to them in the mornings, I do think febuary is going to be a rotten month weather wise, we’ve had such a mild january. Xx
We sense colder weeks ahead.