20/05/2016, The birds and I.

The nicest thing about working in the garden are the little birds toddling about with me.There was a tiny red-bellied one,it got so accustomed to me, often pottering almost by my feet,I would throw it fat juicy worms. Bird brain? This little mite had its thinking cap firmly on. It knew the food was where I was. My friend stayed with me for two months last spring and she said she had never seen anything like it - any bird so close to a human. She herself has a beautifully kept garden, both herself and her husband spend hours and hours keeping it the nicest patch on the allotment. I love eggs for breakfast,mostly boiled,sometimes scrambled. Any guests who stay at my house say no-one makes a better scrambled egg than I do. And for my guests I often serve it with streaky bacon. Usually what I eat, the birds eat,except, of course, the meat. They do love smoked mackerel,of all things,it disappears before I say Mrs Robinson. But lately I have been thinking - is it fair to the birds that I give them scraps of my food,do they nibble at the eggs out of love or out of necessity? I suppose I will never know. As long as they clear the plate,so to speak,I should not worry. And I do buy every autumn at least a 5 kg bag of dry worms,another big bag of seeds and at least 40 balls of suet mixed with nuts,and by the end of May there is nothing left.