It's all go in my garden at the moment, lots of fledgling activity going on now. An explosion of House Sparrows has taken place, everywhere I look I can see little youngsters hopping around and the Robins have finally fledged, leaving the ivy that grows up my neighbour's garage to take up residence in the dense conifers. The Starlings have young too, little grey things that are very demanding, beaks wide open as they scream out their begging calls.
During all this the Robin parents have become more and more confiding, one still a little shy but the other coming down to hop around my feet as I sit in the garden and watching attentively as I refill the feeders. Their favourite food are suet pellets and as an experiment this morning I tried crouching down near one of their perches with an outstretched hand, a few pellets in my palm. The bolder bird was very interested and fluttered from perch to perch, looking alternately at me and my hand, before hovering with fast wingbeats in the air in front of me, building up courage. After repeating this a couple of times there was a quick dart and a pellet was grabbed, then taken to the chicks in the conifers. I kept still and the bird returned and after a little gathering of courage took another!
After a couple more visits I put some pellets and other food in the ground feeder tray and left the birds in peace, but I have been out a couple more times with another handful of pellets for a little more hand feeding... the feeling of little Robin feet touching down on your fingers is rather cool!
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