We feed the birds, of course, for our own gratification as much as to help sustain the poor things. (Did you notice in the Telegraph colour section on Saturday the piece about the man who was worried about the apparently disappearing house sparrows? He trapped six, examined their insides, and then ate the birds, not to waste them. Horse-droppings in the old days containing grain and undigested seeds used to be a favourite fare. But the whole picture is difficult to piece together.) Anyway, back to the garden. Here is a list recorded two weeks ago. First, those which come to the fodder provided: crow, magpie, jay, rock pigeon, town pigeon, collared turtle dove, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, blackbird, starling, nuthatch, robin, sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch. Then tits: great tit, blue tit, crested, coal and long-tailed. Other birds which visit or even regularly fly around, without coming to the feast, are redstart, garden warbler, blackcap, wren, bullfinch, kestrel, gull, swallow, swift. As you might gather, this is not an Irish garden, but one visited in Geneva. You might envy in particular the woodpeckers and the frequent appearance of the jay. We do get some jays here, but not often enough for them to shed, as one did in Geneva, that unique little feather on the forefront of the wings, not more than an inch-and-a-half long, with alternating bars of Mediterranean blue and black, a joy to see. Garden owners here might add that they enjoy, regularly, visits from the goldcrest, and once in a blue moon a kingfisher. A sparrowhawk, too, doubtful addition.
A correspondent from the West finds the greenfinches a problem as many do. This woman cut off the perches from her feeders to make it harder for them to take away whole nuts. "As a senior citizen, I find the guzzling, bullying greenfinches more than my pocket can cope with at times." Yes, they not only guzzle but at times beat off other birds which want to feed. Don't know how to sort that out. It might be worse - you might have grey squirrels at the feeders too. Not even an oblong feeder with timber "roof" she writes, "will deter the greenfinches", a problem for most people. And magpies, she adds, are worse than the sparrowhawk and eat all the elderberries around her. A most engaging letter from Miss McCormick, Dooneen, Enniscrone, Co Sligo.