Got to learn to walk before you can run

[ColinM]

Note: the photo quality here is only average because there wasn't much light
          and I had to grab these when the situation arose, rather than take time to set them up


"Hey, did you hear something?"

"No. Where?"

"Down there"

[ColinM]

"Yes, there it is again"

"What? Oh,  I see"

"Quick, looks like dinner time"

[ColinM]

And so starts the part all parents remember well:
Teaching your kids how to feed themselves.

This family tried a few different approaches:

1) Find something to hold onto




Mmmm, not sure I can get at the nuts through the mesh.
2) Hang on, someone's pecked a hole in the base......maybe I can get at them there?




3) After many failed attempts, the persistent youngster finally works out how to get one out

[ColinM]

Of course, like all teenagers after a while they get over confident

4) Bending the rules




As they say:
5) Pride comes before a fall




One of the smarter brothers sat back and looked at alternatives

6) Plan B




But even that brought some new challenges

7) Plan B - with additional Yoga and neck strain

[John Geerts]

I like #5 a lot.

It's a bit unclear if he will manage to get it

[ColinM]

I like #5 a lot.
It's a bit unclear if he will manage to get it

Thanks John.
It's dog eat dog out there and I can tell you that he didn't catch it and that there is usually a pigeon waiting below to catch anything that falls on the ground

There's quite a hierarchy of beasts that come to visit the nut feeder. In terms of most dominant (the one that pushes everyone else away) to most timid, the ranking is

• Squirrel
• Great Tits and Blue Tits
• Jays
• Sparrows
• Pigeons
• Magpies
• Rooks

Of that list, several aren't very good at getting the nuts out, so rely on others to drop some. The pigeons make no attempt as they don't have the skills. But they use their size to bully the others.

It's funny to watch bigger birds like Rooks and Magpies fly away if they detect any movement from the house. The squirrel will push out any other animal but again is really jumpy and runs away if it sees us moving. But with the small birds I can walk as close as maybe 3m away and they carry on feeding.

[Peter Connan]

Great series, but particulalrly no. 5

[ColinM]

Thanks Peter.

#5 is fun, but for me #1 captures the bird most clearly.

Doing this work must have tuned my 'Jay Radar' in; we're away on holiday at the moment and saw a group of 3 on Dartmoor yesterday.

[ColinM]

And just to finish this set off, here's the final course of the Jay family's lesson in foraging for food
No prizes fro guessing "who's the Daddy" in this group.

8 ) Time to get to the table




9) Now you've taken all that time to find a nut, make sure you don't.....




10).....drop it.  Sigh - how many times do I have to tell you?!