Hello everyone
Well, we’ve enjoyed some lovely winter days recently, in amongst the grimmer stuff! The sunshine has encouraged a lot of birds to start singing. Led by the robins, the dunnocks, blackbirds, 
song thrushes, wrens and tits have all had a go! Also, the not so nice sounds have emanated from rooks, crows and jackdaws. I mustn’t forget the chack-chack calls made by the hundreds of fieldfares, as they race around the village skies. Today, (19th, Monday) the sky is a lovely blue all over, with hardly a cloud in sight.
In our garden, the ivy has been cut off from around the oak trees. This has had the effect of reducing the numbers of birds in the garden. Not surprising, I suppose, because ivy is a valuable source of food for the birds in winter, Never mind, it will soon grow back. The number of goldfinches, in particular, has reduced. The small birds would hide in the ivy, before flying on to the feeders.
Mike and Ursula, who live at Hembury Fort, have had a very unusual visitor to their pond — a shag, which is the smaller cousin
of the cormorant. It is, in fact, a lot smaller than the cormorant. It is greeny black, with a wedge shaped tail. In the mating season, the male sports a rakish crest on its head, very punky! This bird flew off in the direction of Dunkerswell, having presumably lost its way!
Walking up the lane this morning, we heard the drumming of the woodpecker, loud and clear. I have always believed that the woodies do this when making a hole in the tree-trunk for their nests. However, I recently read that the main reason that the male drums is to attract a mate. He’s saying “Here I am — come and get me!”
Alan Jones
