Moment

When we renovated the patio we moved the bird feeders. We suspended them on a bamboo pole which is held up by two upright bamboo poles in a planter in the middle of the patio. This seems to have benefits and drawbacks. The small birds love it. It’s in a direct line from one of the bluetits nesting places so it’s been able to feed all its little ones easily and the little ones themselves have recently been popping out to have a go at feeding themselves. All very cute but it has also encouraged the local pigeons to strut around on our new white patio waiting for bits of bird food to land in a convenient place and at the same time leaving unsightly and unhygienic droppings everywhere. We may have to review our plans for the bird feeders in the long term.

In the meantime the squirrel has been trying for a week, unsuccessfully, to get his paws on the birds food. The bamboo poles are smooth and slippery and not easy for him to climb. This is the moment when the squirrel made it to the top of one of the bamboo poles for the first time. He can now access one of the feeders but the other one still eludes him. It has a domed lid and he keeps slipping off it. Very amusing to watch but not easy to capture on camera so I guess we’ll both just have to keep on trying.