Even though there is no food offered on my balcony (we’re not allowed to put up bird-feeders because the food that falls to the ground can also attract rats) I get visitors, and lately it’s not been just the usual crows and magpies and sparrows stopping by.
These photos were shot through the window as otherwise I scare them away.
The one above I suppose must be a blackbird…
But who or what is the one below? Can it be a very puffed-up Mrs Blackbird? Or what? (They were not there at the same time.)
Even though there’s nothing to eat but snow, they seem to like to come and sit on my fake spruce garland.
This one was eating/drinking snow - I saw him gulping it down. From what I could observe, I don’t think he tried neither the led-lights nor the plastic needles.
I like your birds, and birds appreciate a source of water in winter, so you could put out a saucer of water on your balcony. I use a ceramic 1 inch deep saucer (made to fit under a pot for a plant). Since they won't let you put out food, water is a great gift for your songbirds.
ReplyDeletei love the little fat fluffy one... so cute and sweet. i guess they eat the snow for water.... had not thought of that. if you put out water it will freeze, wont it?
ReplyDeleteJust now, water in a saucer would soon freeze... Maybe I should put out a hot cup of tea! ;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your puffed up bird pictures!!! He must have been very cold!!! Could they be starlings, maybe not...
ReplyDeleteYou did get some great shots. I wonder if Mrs. Black Bird is puffed up with pride...HaHa..Or maybe it's just "attitude" ~ It rained today, and my birds were scarce.
ReplyDeleteAdult female blackbirds have a yellow beak although not as yellow as the male. It could be a youngster but the pronounced markings on the breast would suggest to me that it's a song thrush.
ReplyDeleteLike Graham said above, I, too, think it is a thrush.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of birds around here, and sometimes one lands on my window sill to eat a bit of the muesli I have put there - it's my replacement for bird food because I have run out of the proper one.
My parents have a proper bird feeder on their balcony, and in past years it was always very popular, but this year for some unkown reason they seem to ignore it.
I think it's a fledgling blackbird. You can tell it's a youngster by the wing feathers (or lack of them) and young blackbirds have a very spotted breast just like a thrush.
ReplyDeleteThanks. My birdbook says the female blackbird has a brown beak and that was also the picture I found that most resembled the one I saw. I'm not an experienced birdwatcher though... I wouldn't have thought of it unless there had also been the very black male visiting!
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