June 16 2001

Well well well ! ! ! I think this calls for a small celebration or even a big one. Two more baby blackbirds have appeared out of the bushes and are now feeding themselves off the ground quite openly. So now there are 3. They are quite happy mixing with all the sparrows which numbered about 15 yesterday when I saw them. At times when I look out I can see all at the one time, the parent blackbirds, 3 young ones, 6 chaffinches, about 10 sparrows, an intruding blackbird who collects food and then flies out, 2 colored doves, a wood pigeon, a robin and a young one. (The young Robin is called a juvinile) The swooping in of the magpie usually puts an end to all this collective feeding much to his delight I'm sure. He then goes around collecting the choicest pieces for himself or his family, because he carries away quite a lot at times. He also buries a lot of stuff. That's an act of forward planning on his part. I don't know if he ever comes back for the buried food or even if he would be able to find it again if he wanted to. The Back lawn is ideal for this burying. First he looks for a good spot. This will usually be where some moss is growing and I have plenty of that. He then picks away some of the moss to expose the ground below. He then picks up the piece of food and pushes it into the ground and then he replaces the moss on top of the food. All this sort of activity requires a high level of intelligence. I know some would say "no, that's not intelligence. It's in the birds nature to do those things. He is programmed to do them." However, those who would say that should be prepared then to see ourselves in the same light, and argue that we are not intelligent either, but that everything we do is in our nature so to do. Well, who knows...