I think all our garden birds have bought cheap tickets to Tenerife. They don’t seem to be around nearly so much. There are some but they seem to prefer eating at ground level which is a real problem as Megan and I tend to work on the basis that anything that hits the ground is ours. In Megan’s case it is anything that hits the ground after she’d swung on the bird table but that’s another story. Anyway, I was watching out of the window and no sooner were our backs turned than the remaining birds were eating what we regard as our food. Now I know that my Mistress does feed us separately and the food out there is supposed to be for the birds, but it’s different to ours and I quite like it. On a brighter bird related note, it seems that the Muscovy ducks might be about to have some more ducklings. It’s either that or they have had an argument and don’t want to be seen near the pond at the same time. This time the humans are considering what actions they can take to protect the young long enough for them to grow up. It was tragic that they lost all ten of the last brood. However, unless they are prepared to put in place round the clock vigils on cold winter’s nights I can’t see there is very much they can do. The reintroduction of stocks on the village green might help with the children that cause a problem, but there’s still the cats, foxes and drains to contend with even then. Someone has already made a duckling cover for one of the drains, so that’s a start. I wonder if anyone has ever put a cat in the stocks. It’s an appealing thought.