Feed the birds? Of course you do!

Yay! It's Sunday. Some people go to church, others to football matches (and some people argue that this is one-and-the-same), and I blog.
Today I would like to tell you about our birds. 

The home-made bird feeder in the birch.

 We are fortunate in that we live next to the municipal park, which borders on a copse. There is a large 8-shaped pond in this park. So we have both songbirds, birds of prey and waterfowl in the proximity of our back garden. (And many dog-walkers, but this is besides the point).

Both my husband and I are avid bird lovers. This love of birds has been nurtured since youth. (Do people today still do this, I wonder? Give their kids an inherent sense of love for a particular bit of nature? Most of my pupils can't tell a tit from a gull!)
You could say that 'our' birds have enough opportunity to find their own food in the copse. But   then why do they visit our garden in such huge numbers? Because we lay their table. It's as simple as that.
We have watched them, read up on them, and spend a lot of time (hubby does; I blog) catering to their particular needs.

He knows, for example, that blue tits and other tits like their nuts from a red mesh bag. Once in a while he experiments with a yellow mesh bag, and - no! They prefer the red one. But does he hang this bag in any old way in any old tree? Of course not! It is hung just so.

Yesterday he came home with a special insect-feeder for the robins. And we put out grain and seeds for the ground feeders. Our black tom watches this with great interest. But he leaves the birds alone most of the time. His speciality is moles and voles. He leaves them for me - a little something for you! aren't I clever? - in my bed. 

But that's another story.