I live just outside Delgany, Co Wicklow, close to a woodland area, and we have all types of birds visiting our bird table and nut/seed holders. To my surprise this week we had two new callers, a pair of jays. They visit every morning in particular, along with lots of other more common birds; in fact at around 8 a.m. each day, the feeding area is like Heuston Station. Will they now stay for the winter and nest here in the area? And do they move on during the summer? Their call is very distinctive, and the jay is quite a large bird. One appears to be slightly larger than the other; could this be the male?
Mrs Vivian Gleeson, Delgany, Co Wicklow
Jays are quite plentiful in north Wicklow, and will come to bird tables in well-wooded suburban areas. They eat vegetables, fruit and nuts, but also mice, small birds, insects, slugs and snails.
At the end of October I planted crocus and tulip bulbs in pots of compost, but within a couple of days I found the compost disturbed and thrown about and the bulbs gone. The pots were in a part of the garden where I feed the birds and which also attracts a pair of collared doves, blackbirds and magpies. I also thought I saw a mouse there during the summer, or could it be a fox?
Nora McDevitt, Monkstown, Co Dublin
Field mice are notorious for eating bulbs and seed such as peas, but would not cause much disturbance of the soil. Magpies will turn over soil with their beaks or scratch for food, and they would eat bulbs. Foxes eat fruit but there is no record of them digging for bulbs or large seeds.
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo. email: viney@anu.ie. Observations sent by email should be accompanied by postal address, as location is sometimes important to identification or behaviour.