They're not to everyone's tastes and some gardeners might consider them their worst enemies. I know one of my neighbours hates them with a passion. He patrols his lawn and plucks the dandelion flowers from their stalks before disposing of them carefully. For slugs, he has devised an even more ruthless strategy: he collects them in a bucket and empties the hapless contents onto the road outside our houses so that they get run over!I see slugs and dandelions differently. Goldfinches adore dandelion seeds, and for me that's enough to make me look upon them favourably.
Because of the cheerful yellow flowers (which I secretly like), I can stand at the kitchen window as some of my favourite birds feed just a few feet away. They soon munch their way through a dandelion head and leave a scattering of down on the grass - minus the seeds. It's unquestionable that slugs are unpleasant creatures, but I've forgiven them this year. The reason? A pair of song thrushes has built a nest in my (slug-hating) neighbour's garden. When I look out of the window, there's often a beautifully-spotted thrush hopping across the lawn with a beak crammed full of tiny slugs in the manner of a puffin carrying sand-eels. I'm proud that my slug-filled garden is keeping song thrush chicks fed, and I like watching the goldfinches making short work of the dandelions. Rather than worrying about how to get rid of these pests, I'm hoping that the birds will do the hard work for me...
I seem to be very lucky with my garden, I think partly due to the location, we have cemetaries lots of parks and local rivers with the Thames not too far away.
I will just list the most often seen birds, Robin, Black Birds, Starlings, by the dozen, Dunnock and House sparrow Wood Pigeon, in the spring early summer we have lots of tits Coal, Blue and Great with plenty of young. Some years we have Gold Finch but plenty of Greens, Autumn/winter we have the Ringnecked Parakeets, in early summer they are mostly, I believe raiding the fruit trees in Kent!!
With occasional visits from Sparrow Hawks, and both Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, the occasional duck and the last two years Jays, add a sprinkling of Magpie, Crow and Rooks, what more could I ask?.
I enjoy photography and as I have a good stock of bird feeders with I hope, something to every birds taste my camera is always snapping away. I love my monthly newsletter from RSPB always something of interest, and you all do such good works.