Magpie

Up really early this morning to record the dawn chorus at our back garden gate, leading into the woodland behind. Beautiful singing, robin, blackbird, wren, garden warbler among others - but I shan't be able to hear how the recording worked out until later on - it was rather windy and drippy so I hope that won't obscure too much of the singing.

Spent some time then watching one of our local magpies, a regular visitor to our garden. He's lost one leg, but seems otherwise in good enough shape. It occurs to me that magpies, being intelligent and resourceful birds, probably cope better with disability than maybe some other species would. We had thrown out some scraps yesterday, so he had plenty to peck at on the ground, hopping quite well though occasionally having to partly open one wing to restore balance. But on other visits he has flown up to the fatball feeder and is able quite successfully to hang on there long enough to grab a morsel, and generally also to dislodge some other bits, that he can then at from the ground. And at times his mate has helped in this, though he was on his own this morning.

A number of blackbirds have also mastered the art of holding on to the fatball feeder. They can't manage to stay there for long, and there's a lot of wing flapping going on, but they manage to get a feed, again dislodging enough to then feed from the ground. Like the collared doves I mentioned yesterday, this is all learned behaviour: birds adapting to a new environment . . . but of course, it's that ability to adapt that makes these birds successful garden birds to begin with - they need to be to a degree generalists and exploiters. The species most at risk in these changing times are those that occupy a precise ecological niche in which diversification isn't possible. This includes, of course, those that find it necessary to migrate.