Pick Up My Magic Sticks

Jul 25, 2020 | Covid-19 Diary, Dead Water

I went to sleep last night to the sound of rain on the roof; it was still raining when I woke up, but there was also airport noise, which was an unwelcome intrusion. It was amplified somewhat by bouncing off the low clouds. According to the app. on my phone all the flights in and around Edinburgh at the time, three of them, were operated by Ryanair.

My mood was brightened by a lot of activity at the bird feeder. I mentioned at the beginning of June that I’d stopped using the ‘wild bird’ food mix that the jackdaws all scarfed, and switched to sunflower seeds. Since then the effect has been dramatic, and I’m getting increased numbers of small birds to the feeders now. This morning I had greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinch at the feeder, with blue, great and coal tits, all including juveniles. We also had a sudden influx of juvenile blackbirds and there’s a juvenile raven that’s been around a lot.

Finches have been scarce since the harsh winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11, and there’s a disease hitting greenfinch numbers in particular. It could be that the upswing in numbers is a cyclical resurgence after a series of mild winters; I suspect lockdown has had something to do with it, though.

Finches make a lot of mess, and I was steeling myself to go out in the rain to sweep up after them, when a young fox came by and hoovered up most of it (pic on Instagram). Sucker for punishment that I am, I went out this afternoon and restocked on sunflower seeds, and bought another bird feeder to join the rest.

Later, I added another 650 words to the work in progress.

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Music: the death was announced today of Peter Green, founder of Fleetwood Mac, and one of the great British guitar players of the 1960s blues boom. Most of that stuff doesn’t do much for me now, but Green was special. His life went off the rails somewhat in the early seventies, but he re-emerged to find his audience hadn’t forgotten him, although Fleetwood Mac had changed beyond recognition.

Fleetwood Mac. Black Magic Woman from 1968.