The brief reappearance of a collared dove in our garden yesterday wasn't a one-off; today we've had three for much of the day. I'm very fond of them, although, despite not arriving in the UK until the 1950's, they're now numerous enough to count as an agricultural pest species. The scientific name for this bird is Streptopelia dekaokto, and they are supposed to chant "dekaokto" (Greek for eighteen - there's a legend I'll not re-tell just now), but I'm blowed if I can make that out of their not very sweet call!
Speaking of calls, I haven't heard any woodpecker drumming today, but we did have a female greater spotted visiting our feeders. Does that mean he's pulled, I wonder? Other birds seen today include immense numbers of blackbirds, and numbers of goldfinches and greenfinches. A wood pigeon has worked out that there is a twig that will just bear its weight close enough to the feeder in our front garden for it to reach it and gorge itself on sunflower seeds. It seemed insatiable, and eventually I tired of his greed and chased him off, opening the way once again for the usual sparrows, great tits and goldfinches.
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