The first day of June! How lovely to usher in this blowsy month of early summer with Ellie and the boys.
The promised day at the beach was still to come, but first the boys had a very important job that they had been wanting to do since they arrived. They wanted to fill up the bird feeders. There are six feeders in total, plus a window-feeder and an open mesh tray for those birds which can’t use feeders. It takes time to refill everything. With both boys helping, it took even longer. But we managed it – and of course, the food that spilled on the balcony floor won’t be wasted.
I couldn’t possibly manipulate a camera whilst supervising large tubs of seed and peanuts, though I would have loved a snapshot of the concentration on the boys’ faces: pouring feed into narrow containers needs care and attention and they were both totally focused.
As soon as all was replenished, we retired inside to watch through the doors. We didn’t have to wait long before our small feathered friends were back, grateful, I’m sure, for the boys’ attentions. Ben and Evan love to watch the birds and we can stand so close here.
Evan is very good at identifying birds. (And reminded me sharply when I asked him to listen to a harsh croak coming from the bushes, that he already knew what a pheasant looked like and sounded like because I’d shown him one at our old house.)
And I reminded myself of how much joy there is in the simplest of things; the boys loved this small ritual.
But we were destined for another treat. As we watched – small hands smearing the glass, which will need a serious clean-up after this visit – we had front row seats for a spectacular buzzard performance. Wheeling and soaring, high and low but always in our line of sight, the buzzards stayed for long minutes. It was wonderful. And for the first time that I’ve seen, one landed on the top of the telegraph pole in the valley: a perfect spot for us onlookers. It stayed long enough that we could get a good look at it: yellow talons and curved beak; buff feathers and fluffy ‘trousers’.
I grabbed the binoculars – which of course meant that the boys needed to look through the binoculars too. I’m not sure that either of them could see anything through them – certainly not little Ben. But he loved to have them round his neck and was very careful with them.
Twitchers in the making maybe?
A Corner of Cornwall 