dust bath

They do love dust baths Fran. Especially the baby sparrows. They are still all around the garden, tweeting away and chucking soil on the lawn surround. Into everything to find natural food as well as my offerings. some birds like sunbathing too. They squat down and hold a wing up to get the sunshine.

I haven't noticed it being used yet, but then I've not really been looking much, and it's not as if it's in clear sight anyway.

I've read that one speices - starling? - likes to perch over ant nests and annoy them, so that the ants crawl all over it, killing small parasites with their defensive acid - it was also suggested that the birds get "high" on this. the gardener said that I've got plenty of ants in the back lawn ...

The whole Hawthorn was twitching with sparrows at about 7.30 am this morning. Then the first lot flew over the garden. The next lot flew away between the houses and the rest stayed to feast on sunflower seeds and trawl the garden. The pigeon is still brooding in the nest in the hawthorn. I have also seen a blackbird with a well grown chick following. The blackbird belted it out all the time Chris was mowing his weedy lawn next door and stopped as soon as he stopped mowing. It was dusk anyway.

oh, that sounds good, Dorjac - did you get any pics of the sparrow swarm?

good that the pigeons still have eggs or babies to brood

I've not heard a blackbird here for a while - maybe I should try going to bed early enough to wake up in time for the chorus!

I can only see sparrows in the tree when they move. As soon as they land and stay still they just disapear. The whole tree was twitching. So a photo wouldn't show anything. There was a pigeons egg on the path this morning. Not long to hatching by the looks of it. So thats one less.

that's the same prob taht I have in trying to get pics of bees. while they're moving, hear them. as soon as htey land, no buzz and I lose them. I have peripheral vision, which means that I can see movement, but as soon as it stops, it vanishes.

shame about the egg. hope they've not got a cuckoo in there! i beleive that the firt thing a cuckoo hatchling does is get rid of the competition.