I visited my Brussels patch this past week and found a nice group of birds feeding amongst the leaf litter. See if you can find and identify the four species in the above picture! Our female Ferruginous Duck is back for her sixth consecutive winter and this winter-plumaged Black-headed Gull was a timely reminder that winter isn't too far off.
As a result, I hung a peanut bag on my balcony on Thursday afternoon, the first time I'd put any food out for my 'garden' birds since March, and expected it would take a few days for them to find it. Within half an hour, however, I already had these two Ring-necked Parakeets tucking in with a pair of Jays looking on. Amazing how they can suddenly appear where there had been no food for months on end, almost as if they were just sitting there waiting for me. The Jays have since emptied the bag completely in less than four days, surely stashing most of the nuts away for harsher times as I can't believe they were that hungry!
