Stories from my office window

Like a lot of people, my office has moved to my dining room table this year. It’s a bit chaotic and multi-functional (see- ‘dumping ground’), but it’s 20 paces to the kettle and I have a fantastic view from the window.

Now, it’s not quite the glittering vista over the Moray Firth to the Black Isle and the snow-capped Ben Wyvis I can see from my bedroom window, or even the small but increasingly wildlife-friendly back garden you can peek at through the net curtains in the kitchen.

No, it’s more of a car park, a couple of non-native conifer bushes doing their best to be a hedge, and a few scraggly trees.

But, and maybe this is just because of how long I spend directly in front of it, I have seen some pretty great stuff from this window!

The first snowdrop of 2021 which popped up in the front garden.

I’ve watched amorous pigeons courting on the roofs of my neighbours’. The elegant bow and tail fan from the male, and the disinterested fly-off from the female. It’s funny to think this is probably happening on my own roof too. I’ve only ever thought of myself as sitting in the audience, but all the world’s a stage and all that…

There are a few hooded crows that like to hang around here too. Investigating things that fly out of the bins on windy days, and splashing around in the puddles after rain. After the snow I watched one sit on the hot air vent on a roof, steaming itself. It must have been enjoying the warmth. They are beautiful birds and ones I appreciate all the more for not growing up around them.

A few times I have noticed a thrush skulking around under the bush, its stooped demeaner and evidence of a violent snail buffet leading me to identify it as a song thrush. I’ve got my eye on a likely looking tree it might choose to sing from as the weather warms up.

There was a week when I was treated to a pair of goldcrests in the conifer hedge! Goldcrests! Just steps from my front door! They are insectivores, and were picking through the tiny flies and gnats in the hedge. I took many pictures of these tiny visitors.

The local starlings do circuits of the trees, roofs and telephone wires. They seem to be nesting in the gutter above my bedroom window. You can hear them bashing around in the morning, and when they fly off a flurry of feathers and moss falls past the window. I like it when they copy the sounds of the bin lorry, squeaky brakes and everything!

In late Autumn, I was particularly pleased to see greenfinches on the rosehips. They’re not a bird a see often, so it was nice to spend a month or so with a local flock.

I’ve put a feeder up by the front door. I wasn’t sure how much use it would get in such close proximity to the house, but it has been a real hit! Coal tits, blue tits, great tits and robins make regular appearances, and the clean-up crew of blackbirds, dunnocks and woodpigeons are never far behind to gobble the spilled seeds. I like to watch the birds torpedo in from across the carpark, eyes fixed on the feeder, and land so delicately. Sometimes the smaller birds cling to the pebbledash walls which makes me smile.

Once, a sudden hush fell, and then there was a sparrowhawk, perched in the tree. The crows didn’t mind, and they sat together, but the smaller birds hid themselves away. I text my partner, who works from the spare room above, and we watched it together from separate windows until it flew away.

The photo I took vs the photo I wish I had taken!

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be calling this corner of table ‘Work’, but watching the seasons change from here, and paying attention to the “ordinary” birds has certainly brightened up my WFH!