Moving in

Say hello to the new neighbours.

Each year Jackdaws end up scattering soot and muck around fireplaces as they set up their nests in 'unused' chimney pots. We once rented a small cottage which had a bricked up chimney. When a bird fell down the flue there was no way to rescue it or help it escape, that was difficult to deal with.

They are persistent however and keep throwing sticks into position until they have a firm base on which to nest. What you see here is the tail end of the nest builder and the foreman/forewoman/forejackdaw in charge of the hole filling.

This is taken from about 70 metres away, so rather than mess around I've simply created a silhouette.

I nearly forgot. Two dog foxes, having a territorial tiff, were running at me full pelt this morning, when they suddenly spotted the human. One went left, one right, a great sight.