Hunger games
by Claire Stares from on (#XBC8)
Langstone, Hampshire A pair of tiny goldcrests hover-glean, plucking spiders from the underside of leaves and branches
As the days have grown shorter and the weather colder, dwindling natural food resources have drawn the birds back to my garden. The dunnock that roosts in our unkempt bay tree pauses to sip rainwater from the base of an upturned coal scuttle, before scouring beneath the bird table for spilled seed.
I glimpse a foraging wren scuttling mouse-like through the labyrinth of ivy that covers the fence. A song thrush skulks behind the wood pile sucking up worms like spaghetti, while a trio of magpies take turns to sidle up and steal a peanut from the mound I have left by the back door for our visiting squirrel.
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