Youngster

This fluffy young collared dove is watching Bonny The Bantam in the back garden.  We have several pairs of collared doves around, as soon as I fill up the bird feeders, they are there!  

I tried putting Bonny in with the big hens when we moved them back next door, and it seemed to be going okay but after a few days she had a bloody comb and had lost quite a few feathers and was looking at death's door.  So, she is back in the garden!  There is nothing she can damage really, and she is much happier.  She has been attacked so many times, that her fear and hatred of other birds is probably well justified.  If any bird bigger than a blackbird dares to land in the garden, she rushes at it, feathers all puffed out, squawking and blood lust in her beady eyes - attack being the best form of defence!

She really would like to be a house hen, Ollie does his best to keep her out, but she keeps him in line with a sharp peck now and again!