This morning, on stepping outside to go and feed my garden birds, a cacophony of sound filled my ears from the direction of the nearby river creek– not from the impatient, hungry flock of Pigeons waiting on the wires! On looking in the direction of the noise, I could see a mass of Canada Geese either taking off, or landing on the water and they were, unsurprisingly, the source of the noise! Well, how could I resist the thought of telling you and the opportunity of getting some pictures of them? I couldn’t, so was soon back inside the house to get my camera, then jumped in my car and scooted off down to the side of the road nearest to them. Once there and safely off the road, I was able to set up my car as a potential “hide” by opening the passenger side-window, as well as keeping the door open so that I could still sit down and get some shots of them either flying overhead, landing, or taking off. I was not disappointed and small flights of birds kept arriving overhead and then, once they had circled to get in line with their “approach path”, they came down and alighted upon the, by now, crowded waters. Everything went well and the birds settled down either to rest or prepare for their next flight.
After about an hour or so of watching them, the cold was starting to take effect and with no further signs of any “take-off”, coming from the resting flock, I decided to take my leave. I then took the short drive back to home to see what birds might still be feeding in the garden, but all was fairly quiet, with the pigeons watchfully eyeing every one of my movements to see if any more food was going to be doled out. They were out of luck for today, so will have to wait until tomorrow when I go into action again! My Nyjer seed feeder needed only a small replenishment earlier, but my resident Goldfinches were not in evidence and so not much has been taken at this time. Hopefully they haven’t taken their leave and we will see them again before too long. You may be experiencing a similar lack of activity around your own feeders, but what activity you do see I hope will bring you some enjoyment. Stay safe and well.
Cheers,
John Baldwin
