Autumn comes early

Autumn comes early this year. The wash out of a summer ended with a few warm and sunny days and now, all of a sudden, warmer clothes are in order. Flashes of brown and red have appeared in the trees and stray leaves begin to fall.

The birds are back, despite the influx of cats of which there are five in all.  Greenfinches, blue tits, great tits, goldfinches, coal tits and great tits join the blackbirds, the dunnocks and the robin.

On the home front, I bought a new fridge and a freezer and hopefully, the man who does most of our jobs will sort us out a new front door. The old one is worn and scratched and is now, basically, an embarrassment. 

Predators

Cats have invaded our garden bringing danger into our untidy little piece of paradise. Our neighbours on one side have had a couple of fairly passive cats for years. These cats wear bells and so the birds are forewarned. Now the other neighbours, always an edgier proposition, have suddenly whipped two fully grown brass necked creatures out of a hat. One barred, the other a Burmese, they stalk the blackbird and the dunnocks through the undergrowth and sit underneath the bird house where a pair of robins have nested. They climb the elderflower tree and sit on the shed roof underneath the feeders. The tits and the finches fly out of their reach but they hide further down the tree and wait to pounce.  How will the little chicks fare with such predators? It sends a sharp chill through my heart.

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