Birds at the window

(Nimue)

The flat I’m currently in has some metalwork that can take window boxes, and bird feeders. I put what I could into the available space shortly after moving in. Last summer I had herbs, strawberries and insects out there. It took the birds a bit longer to catch on, but this spring I’ve had a steady supply of visitors.

My main visitors are blue tits, great tits, robins and magpies. The tits favour the hanging feeders, while the robins and magpies go after whatever I’ve left in the window boxes for them. Often it’s sunflower seeds. So long as I don’t move, they will all come in when I’m just a few feet away on the other side of the window, which always feels magical.

One of the magpies came by as I was typing this. I don’t have a phone camera, so getting good shots has been tricky – so far we’ve had some magpie-ish blurs. The smaller birds are so cautious that we won’t risk alarming them by moving with a device.

I’ve had a couple of bits of shiny plastic dropped into the window boxes. My guess is that was also the magpies.

(Typing briefly interrupted by a visiting robin!)

It feels like a meaningful way to connect with the local wildlife. I’ve taken a space that was lifeless, and created some habitat and resources. I’m growing a few things that I can eat, and I’m providing food for my bird neighbours, and resources my insect neighbours can use. It’s a very small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but it’s what I can do here.