On Big Birds and a Bad Omen.

My bird feeding facilities are suddenly being invaded by large numbers of bigger birds coming in from the fields – most notably wood pigeons, jackdaws, jays, magpies, and pheasants. This is a real nuisance because the little birds which roost, nest, and generally live in and around the garden are having their food snaffled by outsiders.

One consequence of this is that it’s costing me a lot of money in peanuts, seed, and rolled oats. A second consequence is that yesterday I witnessed a jay being attacked several times by one, two, or three substantially smaller blackbirds. The blackbirds won every time, and I suspect their adversary might have been guilty of taking an unhealthy interest in one of their nests somewhere nearby (jays are known for taking both eggs and chicks from nests, and blackbirds are tough little beasts and don’t like it.)

One of these days – if and when I’m in a better mood and can be bothered – I might take the trouble to explain my theory that if you live in the countryside and feed the small woodland birds conscientiously, it might result in more avian deaths than would otherwise be the case. (But don’t hold your breath waiting.)

On the subject of bird feeding, I might add that when I went out to top up the feeders at twilight this evening it was rather cold by late May standards. It’s an interesting fact that while I find cold days unpleasant, I find cold twilights more than unpleasant. I find them disturbing. They almost scare me, you know. They do. So now I’m entertaining a theory that my noted gift for precognition (which I never knew I had) might be warning me of an impending nuclear winter. But I can’t think what use a warning would be so I’m probably wrong.