Shall we give our garden birds pet names?

Birds. We walk past so many of them every day. For those of us lucky enough to have a garden, we see them all the time. I’d like to think that if I spent the whole day watching for birds outside my window, I would probably see hundreds of them flit in and out.

There’s no two ways about it. I find them amazing. They swoop in. Stop for a little snack, munch away, sometimes potter about and then dash off! Watching the birds helps me to slow down. It makes me laugh too. Without beginning to sound slightly crazy…my birds give me some of the same feelings that my friends do!

So with this appreciation, I decided to give my garden birds some pet names. Meet Barrie, Dynamo and Ally.

 

Barrie is my resident Blue Tit.

He is pretty smart and knows exactly where the bird food is. In fact, he’s worked out his flight path so well that I can watch him bounce around in the leaves before swooping in to nab some sunflower hearts. My neighbour has a couple of feeders too. I’m biased but I think Barrie prefers my setup… he can’t get enough of the food. I have seen him come around 2pm each day for the last few weeks.

 

Dunnocks are normally shy little birds.

Not Dynamo though. Dynamo always makes me smile! Sometimes when I watch her, she seems a little nervous, often flicking her brownish wings anxiously. But… now that I’ve watched her enough times, I know that she’s not nervous. She’s just biding her time.

Slowly creeping around the soil, perching amongst overgrown hedges and waiting to pop her sharp little beak into the ground feeder! Mealworms? Yes please!

 

I don’t often get to see Ally. When I do, I feel so relaxed. It’s something about his jet black plumage.

But what I like about Ally the most is his beautiful song. I wake up to him every morning. He’s made my alarm clock redundant - Ally’s peaceful morning song is bliss and a pleasure to wake up to.