Guess Who's Back?

There are good days and bad days and today certainly comes into the former category.

I have been unable to run for almost 3 months due to a hip injury but have eventually managed to get back out over the last week. My first 2 runs were restricted by both my level of fitness and the weather, ie it was blowing a gale. Today however was calm and bright and I made it to the Bay with my wee camera tucked under my jacket. It felt great to be running along the sand again while looking at the snowy peaks of Arran. The hip was giving me a bit of jip by the time I got home, but it was worth it to be back out running in the sun!

Yesterday I was relieved to see Tommy, the first definite sighting of him in over a week. However his behaviour has changed and he is not quite as tame as he previously was. During the winter months he would come to the empty window feeder and stand on top of it waiting for Mrs B or I to give him a sunflower seed. Now he doesn't come near it unless it is full of seeds.

Today was the first day in ages when you could actually stand outside without getting frozen, soaked, blown away or more often a combination of all three. It took a bit of coaxing for Tommy to appear and take a seed from me. When he did it was more likely to be smaller seeds, the kind he previously ignored. When he did take a sunflower seed he flew to a bush and ate it rather than stash it away. I get the feeling he is now in Spring mode and not as in need out the handouts as he was during the late Autumn and Winter. I expect he will now be thinking about nesting as I noticed the House Sparrows investigating the eaves of our neighbour's house. I say "he" but am still not sure whether Tommy is male or female. Coal Tits and very hard to tell apart and I will have to watch his behaviour to see if it helps determine his sex.

And why is Tommy next to an old CD I hear you ask? Well, when I mentioned a few days ago about the Sparrow Hawk visiting the garden onceasheep suggested hanging some CDs near the feeders as the RSPB recommend this as a way of keeping larger birds away. So far it has worked well and, as you can see, little birds like Tommy are not bothered by them at all.

All in all its been a good day!