'The DSM' Editorial - Feathered Friends

One of the things that has given us pleasure since moving to rural France has been the incredible selection of birds we see around us. Heron, Hoopoe, Kestrel and Buzzard, to the aeronautical antics of the Swallows. We have an owl who perches on a tree stump each evening in the summer - it stares at us and we stare back. 

This winter, in the fields surrounding us, there has been a constant visual display from clouds of birds twisting, turning, landing and taking off in their thousands. When in the garden I heard what I thought was the roar of a French fighter jet, turned out to be an enormous flock of birds taking to the sky simultaneously. 

As I drive down the lane near our house hundreds of birds fly out of the hedgerows on either side, and I feel like one of them as I drive in their midst. 

Anna, my wife, asked me to build a bird table, I think she had seen Dick Strawbridge make one and if it’s good enough for Dick.... 

So, after constructing a bird table I attached it to the tallest post I could find (to guard against cat attack) and bashed it into the ground outside the kitchen window, at the front of the house. Premium bird seed was liberally scattered on the table and we sat back and waited for the ornithological show to commence....and we waited. 

We had even set up Anna’s telescope¹ in the kitchen to get a close up of all the various migrating birds that would stop off for a short break on their journey. Nothing, not a dickey bird landed to sample our wares. The seed even started to grow and the table became covered in a mini lawn. It was never like this on Spring/Autumn/Winter Watch.

After about ten days of rejection, Anna suggested we try moving it to the other side of the house. Like Jesus telling Peter to try casting his nets over the other side of the boat, the deed was done and....BOOM! Tit central. 

Those little fellas can get through a fat ball in under 24 hours. I didn’t realise bird watching could be so expensive. 

Like the rumble between the Sharks and the Jets in West Side Story, it is constantly kicking off between the Blue tits and the Great tits as they fight for the table. 

But the feathered friends which have brought us most pleasure over the last few months are the four chickens we bought in the autumn. They scratch around the compound all day come rain or shine, are very friendly, contribute to the compost heap and to see the pleasure on Anna's face as she shuttles back and forth to see if they've laid another egg is priceless. I see her lift the egg aloft like lady Liberty and I know it's going to be a good day. The only down side is our cholesterol levels must be going through the roof.

1 The telescope was acquired when Anna had the urge to look at the stars at night. Needless to say we couldn’t be bothered to read the instructions and never found out how to use the thing properly. It takes up a large area of our sitting room and we have to move it every time we want to draw the curtains.