It's a kind of magic...

So here they are... Oak, with crow and jay; hazel with crow and robin; poplar with pheasant; yew with crow (a very shiny one - may be magpie) and ash with spotted woodpecker. The feathers tied on with sheep's wool found in a field.

In all honesty: I don't know what they are for or why I did this. It was pleasing to sand them and when I rubbed on the oil, they were all beautifully smooth. There was a satisfaction in that. Maybe I would like to have them in a frame. A sort of peculiar work of art.

While I was rubbing on the linseed oil and attaching the feathers, SoB and Daisy came out to watch.

Two blue tits hung around for a while. One with a punk rocker hairdo and the other neat and sleek. The great tit Black Crown was up in the tree, but there's been no sign of Grey Crown for a week or more.

SoB ate a large worm. It took about three minutes. He wrestled it and spent half the time subduing and killing it, pecking bits off which he ate. At one point the worm made a charge for his feet and SoB leapt back, like Wuji does when the toy touches his toes. Instead of giving up, he attacked. When the worm was dead, SoB eyed it carefully and repeatedly with both eyes to make sure. Then he tried to eat it. But he couldn't grab hold of an end and so it would not slurp down like spaghetti. It took five or six attempts before he got the worm in position. Then down it went. He stood tall. As if surprised.

When I had packed up, I watered the plants and Son of Bob reappeared. He hopped around my feet and then I heard his subsong. He broke off a couple of times to catch and eat small insects. Then he perched on the fence and I moved closer so we were just a few feet apart. He sang and sang, bill shut, tail tapping in time to the tune and throat feathers fluffing. At various points, he lifted up his right leg, holding it against his body and standing on the left. Nearly all the time he was singing, he seemed to be looking at me, though he was also aware of what was going on - earlier he'd had to chase off some trespassers.

It was magical. It must have been more than five minutes and could have been fifteen.

This was the next morning.