Fledglings

For the past three years we have had birds nesting in our garden. This year they seemed to have found new abodes. I'm pleased to report though that the number of birds visiting the garden has not diminished. This is due to the bounty of food that is on offer to them in our garden.

Last week I decided to have a bit of bird watching fun and put some dried meal worms out on the mesh tray. I only put these out for a treat as a bit of a bird feeding frenzy occurs. Usually the first to appear are male blackbirds and robins. However this year the starlings have got whiff of them and nobody else was going to get a look in.

I don't normally have starlings come to the garden. They aren't seed eaters and have only been interested in the fatballs when snow was on the ground. On this day the meal worms were attacked, gobbled and strewn all over the place. Once they had been devoured it was onto the fatballs. If starlings were humans they would be the loud, pushy bullies who barge their way to the front of the queue. If they drove cars they would be the ones speeding down the motorway and then winding down the window to chuck their fast food wrappers out.

There was a good reason for the starlings to be stocking up on food – they had brought the kids along. If you think it is only the adult starlings who display such loutish behaviour think again. The juveniles sat on the lawn barking at each and anything else that came along. Parents are treated with a similar, noisy disrespect. The dull brown feathers of a fledgling starling contrast to the adult's glossy, metallic sheen.

Meanwhile...patiently sitting on the fence were the sparrow fledglings. Not causing a fuss but just making sure Mum and Dad knew they were hungry when they went from feeder to fence.

Unlike the juvenile starlings who demanded to be waited upon the sparrows soon learnt how to get fed quicker through their own actions. Dropped seed from the feeder above was the perfect training in self-sufficiency for one young sparrow.

Later in the day in the haze of the early evening sun one bold sparrow fledgling decided to copy Dad by clinging onto the fatball holder. The juvenile still distinctive with its yellow bill. A helping hand was still required when it came to feeding. With the pair of them flying off that was the end of the day the fledglings came to the garden.

 

Wild Bird Wednesday