Companionship

The creatures in the garden, who come for the fare I leave out, give me great pleasure. I was saying to someone that my pleasures are cheap, but I wasn't counting the cost of peanuts and sunflower hearts; suet pellets and mealworms.

Mind you, the lovely Thrush seems to take very little and is a source of much joy. Yesterday I watched as she carefully dropped leaves into the water in the tall stone urn. When the Magpies called, she scurried to the back to hide in the leaves. When they left, she came out, stood on one foot, and regarded me for some time. Eventually she hopped down to check out the fallen seeds, and was made a little nervous by the industrial feeding of the starlings, who dive in like velociraptors and depart in a squeaking burr of concentrated flight.

One of the Squirrels will risk proximity. She has evident nipples, so she's feeding a family. Not surprising that she needs all the resources she can muster.

In the park, I was able to ascertain, having seen the Song Thrush in my garden, that the pair in the park are Mistle Thrushes: they stand very upright, are happy to be far from cover and have little white corners to their outer tail feathers.

A Robin now looks out for me, waiting for suet pellets.

Today I saw two Crows in the Brave Three area - and I think that one was Droopy and the other Three. Droopy, if it was indeed Droopy, was feisty and had a go at a Seagull who was keen on taking the food. Then she flew down to attack a Pigeon who was nowhere near the food. The Pigeon was knocked to the ground, but stood up and walked off - as though this were an inconvenience rather than a threat.

Mrs Fluffy took the food instead of Mr Fluffy. She is more pragmatic than he. He, with his trailing robes, seems like an aged king with a touch of dementia. She his still clear-thinking Queen.

Divo sometimes invades their territory if they are not there. I know that if he does, he'll be chased off the food at some point and they'll be too distracted to eat it. So I walk alongside him and turn up to his patch. He runs along behind me, but will stop if I turn to look. Like that game we used to play, where you walked up to a person who had their back to you and you had to stand still as a statue when they turned round, or you were 'out'.