To help me focus more on my writing I set up a new desk in the only corner left in my room. This corner also happens to have two windows looking out at the crab apple tree right outside my room.
Since Christmas, and especially during the recent snow, the birds have been a little more active in their search for berries and the crab apple is the perfect food bank for hungry blackbirds, fieldfares, blue tits and pigeons looking for a quick meal. This has also meant, however, that I have been distracted by the birds warring over ownership of the tree... writing procrastination at its best! While I did not get any photos of the fieldfare and blackbirds chasing each other around the tree, thanks to the many branches of the tree and the frames of the window obstructing my camera's view, the birds spent many hours chasing them around the tree and I spent many hours watching them instead of writing.
This lovely green woodpecker showed up one morning and stayed long enough for me to snap away from my room and through closed windows without scaring him.
The blue tits have started clearing out the nesting box on the side of the stables. They picked up something from inside, flew to the crab apple tree and dropped whatever it was they were carrying before returning to the box.
I was also privileged to watch a kestrel eating his latest catch on a fence post across the garden. Typically, this savvy bird chose the only post with a tree obscuring my view!
And then the snow came. And with it the birds came in earnest to eat the berries from the crab apple tree. This pigeon seemed unconcerned with the war between the blackbirds and fieldfares taking place around him for days on end. He just sat fluffed up and chilled, eating berries when he wanted and not at all bothered by the displays of aggression.
The Battle for Crab apple.
Fieldfares
Blackbirds
Who would win?
On day one of the battle, it seemed the blackbirds had control of the berries.
They were so confident, they even brought their females to feast.
The fieldfares, however, bided their time, waiting on the edges for the blackbirds to show weakness.
The silver birches gave no refuge to fleeing birds.
Gold finches took advantage of the momentary peace to weigh their options.
And still the pigeon took what he wanted. A goliath not worth fighting.
The fieldfare took advantage of the blackbird leaving the north side of the tree open.
Driven away from the tree, the fieldfare settled for a breather on the dead tree before flying off to call in the reserves.
He returned only to find the blackbirds, or rather the weather, had sabotaged the berries. They were frozen, making them difficult to swallow whole.
Perhaps a ground assault would win the fieldfares some berries.
It seemed a compromise had been reached. The fieldfare had the north side of the tree while the blackbird got the south side.
Angry Bird (AKA Blue Tit) followed the gold finch's plan and used the temporary truce to explore the battle tree.
Bird butt!
The fieldfare was not impressed with me taking photos of his butt!
Battlefield tracks.
The sparrows were not the least bit interested in the battle for Crab apple Tree.
The starlings too, weren't interested in the tree but rather in the poor freezing earthworms under the snow.
While the starlings minded their own business, the blackbirds turned on each other.
With the temperature dropping, the birds called a truce and left the battlefield before dark descended and owls took over the skies.
