Robin in the sun
I like Nottingham, and our old house has a lot going for it, including many memories. However, I have to admit that I no longer like staying there – I prefer the heating and the one floor convenience of the bungalow. I also like Peterborough. It’s not much of a town and it often ranks low in surveys, but it feels comfortable to be back. Nottingham has far more facilities, but I didn’t really use them much. There’s no point in swimming pools, theatres and big shopping centres if you don’t use them.
One of the unexpected pleasures of coming back to Peterborough is going back to the Military History Group. Although it’s nearly 40 years since I went to a meeting there’s something familiar and comforting about it.
Male Blackcap eating from floor feeder
So it was good to get back. We collected the bird food that I ordered to the wrong address, and put out peanuts and mealworms. The mealworms have been popular, the peanuts have mostly been ignored. This was a surprise as they have been popular in the past. Maybe the birds just need a day or two to get used to them.
The header picture is one I took this morning out of the kitchen window. I’ve never been able to take a picture of a kite from my kitchen before. I have seen buzzards from the back windows at Nottingham, but they are quite a way distant, as they tend to hunt over the golf course. Sadly, my picture lacks context, but by the time I got the camera into action I couldn’t get house roofs and the kite in the same shot.
Male Blackcap eating sunflower hearts
We saw a different black cap a couple of times this morning – one with a chestnut brown head – a female. Julia saw her with the male and then I saw her on her own later. Although we aren’t getting many birds, and although we seem to be offering food they don’t eat (which can be adjusted as we go on), things seem to be going quite well.
Magpies on neighbour’s roof
Kite, almost over the garden
It is so good that you are settling back
I have found that rolled oats are very attractive to some birds here. Every time I make porridge I take a small handful of the oats out.
Do you wet them or serve them dry?
Dry. Otherwise it would become porridge and then they’d probably want a little milk and honey and that would be a step too far.
I’m now thinking of breakfast again . . .
I have never found a satisfactory combination of feeds for our garden. In the end, I settled for sunflower hearts and sunflower hearts. They always go well. Perhaps I would attract different birds with different feeds, but it never happens when I try it.
When we fed in Nottingham we ttracted goldfinches with nyger so I used it on the farm and it drew them in – everything else went for sunflower hearts or peanuts. I think you need the birds to be in the area – if we don’t have goldfinches here we won’t get them in the garden. After all, they have thousands of acres of weed seeds to feed on within a few hundred yards.
💕
🙂
It sounds like you are enjoying seeing the locals show up at your house. It will take a while for them to get used to feed going out there.
We tried a bit of cooked pasta this morning – never again. They scattered it rather than eating it. Took bit of cleaning up after it froze too. Julia was not happy with me.