Garden Bird Watch

I filled the feeders, then headed in to watch the birds for an hour with a cup of coffee. Gingie took his place on the kitchen windowsill. It was nice to see him today after seeing only his sister Madam Ginga yesterday. 

The running total between 10.47 to 11.47 was:
19(!!!!!) pigeons
6 hedge sparrows
2 blue tits
2 woodpigeons
1 starling
1 dunnock
1 grey squirrel
1 ginger cat
1 black cat

I think the 19 pigeons plus two cats didn't help with the bird numbers. Normally, the pigeons are scared off by the foxes, and this lets the smaller birds get a look in. But I had a bit of a lie-in today and I think I missed the foxes' breakfast. Without their presence, the pigeons feasted for a whole hour and the small birds dipped in and out when they could. I saw the squirrel chase off three pigeons from the plum tree (go, squirrel!)

Gingie left near the end of the session to say hello to the black cat sleeping on top of the shed. 

In the afternoon, Fred and I walked to Herne Hill and back, nattering about the state of the world, as we do. We drew no conclusions, except that we were glad not to be students renting in London (I read an article about that yesterday – I don't know how they/their parents do it). We also shared a few memories of growing up with a background of Terry Wogan. I was very sad to hear that he'd passed away. His Eurovision commentary, in particular, was hilarious.