Yummy Blossom

Ollie dog and I walked for an hour to collect 'her' car from the garage. The nineteen-year-old Volvo estate sailed through the MOT with just an advisory for a tatty number plate.

We had a short walk at Hooks Marsh after lunch. A swan climbed out of Seventy Acres Lake and chased us. Ollie hid behind me. I photographed this wood pigeon feasting on wild cherry plum blooms.

In response to queries from Technophobe and loisbiz, thanks to both for their interest, I've added a montage to extras. Pigeons will eat more or less anything. Farmers, gardeners and owners of bird tables will testify to this. Their favoured natural diet consists of buds, shoots, seeds, nuts and berries. Our local wood pigeons have been clattering about in the ivy feeding on its berries and flocking on the lawn eating leaves over the winter. Wood pigeons will occasionally take larvae, ants and small worms.

I'm fairly confident that the bird in my image was after the juicy young shoots and flower buds rather than insects. In my montage the image top right shows a bloom in the bird's beak.

I noticed in a recent blip from DarkEyedMary that she protects her daffs from pigeons with upturned wire baskets. :)