Every year, around this time, our garden is visited by a large gaggle of starlings, usually accompanied by this year’s fledglings. It’s as though they know our garden buffet is always well stocked and make a point of stopping by! This year has been no exception and yesterday morning a flock of between 15 and 20 birds appeared periodically. They’re such a rowdy bunch that they’re generally oblivious to our presence in the garden so I sat down on the garden path with my camera (just six feet or so from our feeding station) and simply waited for them to turn up. I didn’t have to hang around for long and they were soon tucking into the mealworms I’d left out for them.
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Of course the young ones are entirely capable of feeding themselves by now, but why feed yourself if there’s an adult nearby who will do it for you?!
With some tasty morsels on offer, other birds came by too during quieter moments, so I was able to catch quite a few different species. Several of the adults were looking a little ragged, after a spring of feeding their offspring. The young robins weren’t as brave as their parents, but I managed to photograph one of them hiding in the tree nearby.
Mrs Blackbird was particularly confiding, happily foraging close by. Mr Blackbird popped in too, but I wasn’t able to catch as good photo of him.
Every spring the local bluetits bring their little ones to feed in our garden and I caught this youngster sitting on our feeding station, demanding food with much ruffling of feathers. Meanwhile, one of the parents was looking distinctly frayed around the edges!
Finally, I spotted a dunnock, flitting through the flowerbed. These sweet little birds come and go almost without being noticed, but when you get a closer look their mottled plumage is actually very pretty.
Photos taken 27 May 2024