The birds have been well fed in our garden for several years though protection from pests is a constant battle. The hanging seed container gets unwanted visitors like squirrels and yesterday a baby mouse had climbed up the post around 10am and was brazenly eating sunflower seeds. The seed tray on the ground also gets squirrels but more recently woodpigeons. These are persistent and last night there were 3 of them, one on each neighbours roof and ours. Smaller birds have no chance as they buzz them or just push them out. Now I’ve got a cover that goes over the seedtray when they arrive. It takes the fun out of it as the visiting small birds are getting fewer. The squirrels have got fewer as well and I wondered if someone was relocating them. After seeing the mouse hygiene steps are being put into place.
The woodpigeon is a very plump bird with a small head and its wings are noisy in flight. They’re very aggressive between themselves and have frequent wing flapping battles. The male is quick to make amorous bowing and rotating movements to any female but when it comes to food the male pushes the female out till he’s finished. Despite this aggression they’re shy with humans and leave at the smallest movement, but soon come back. When they are nervous they make a small sideways edging movements that get bigger till they decide to go. They always completely clean all the seeds and any very small bits and will try to swallow pieces of bread that are far too big. Brassicas and other gardeners delights are favourites and young cabbage can be decimated. Their drinking habits are unusual for a bird as they are able to suck whereas most birds collect water in their beaks and tip their heads back. As well as flying, walking is one of their activities enabling them to investigate every area of the garden. Despite their size they get into tight positions and will repeatedly try to get to unattainable food. They have a range of sounds from a low grunt to loud cooing. They hide in trees and find different stealthy ways to approach protected areas. Although a problem they’re amusing and interesting birds. It’s still raining.