Thread: The shrub thingy beside my hovel

My late wife started feeding the local bird life here in our yard about twenty year ago. She fed the seed and a little bread and raw meat for the magpies and crows. They were all fat and healthy.
When she died I weened them of it as it was very expensive.
But a lot of the birds like the Plovers, Lorikeets, Leatherheads and some crows and the sparrows continued to live around my trees and yard.
They are not frightened of me when I am out and about and the Plovers follow me around and introduce their young when they hatch.
The only ones that ask for food now are the three crows and then only occasionaly. The slice of bread I break up for them is the one I eat, a nine seed multigrain.
I like to think that they have stayed on is because they like me.
The wild ducks and whistlers from the lake at the end of the street also still come in to graze and pick in my yard.
One could never e lonely when surrounded by mates.

PS: I have little Sunbirds and every couple of years Willie Wagtails that build nests in my back room.
I think they feel safe from preditors raiding the nests.
When these blokes are in there nesting I provide water and seed for them untill they have raised the young and moved out.
Watching all these young develope and grow at close range is fascinating.

A few years ago my late old neighbours were planning to go on a cruising holiday but Willie Wagtails built a nest on their open window. With young there they could not lock the window so they cancelled the holiday.

Some more!
I don't know if we're a bit weird but we have names for most of them I.e. the King parrot & his bride of two years, who visit regularly, are "George & Victoria". We don't feed any parrots as they get enough from us by way of our fruit trees. Yesterday we threw a dozen or so mandarins from the tree into the compost. They all had 50 cent piece size holes in them. We've watched a Greenie chew a hole in the bottom of an orange, slowly eat his way into it & finish it with its head completely inside. Good with the bad I suppose!