Not such a Peaceful Sunday

A lovely warm day in the Midlands and we hoped to have some relaxing time in the garden. Unfortunately, this male blackbird and his partner have set up home in a bush at the edge of the garden.

All might have been well, but for our cat deciding to relax under the very bush where the nest had been built. Well, you should have heard the commotion, which went on most of the afternoon. This blackbird was affronted by the cat's impertinence and was going to make sure the cat knew all about it. He jumped onto the branch above the cat, showering the feline with apple blossom from the tree. When that didn't make the cat move, he flew down and literally stared the cat down from a yard away, chattering away all of the time.

I'm pretty sure the cat was oblivious to the issue initially, lifting his head in a half hearted sought of way, calling out as much as to say "look, it is just too hot to chase you, go away". This only incensed the blackbird more, who was occasionally joined by the female.

It was quite amusing to begin with but it soon got rather wearing with the constant shrill bird sounds. The blackbird was quite brazen and took his responsibility to guard his territory very seriously. At one stage he was within reach of the cat's tail and I was getting really quite worried that some blackbird chicks would be fatherless even before they cracked open the shell!

In the end the cat, who hadn't been able to settle at all in his favourite spot, slunk off towards the conservatory in defeat and the blackbird could go back to fetching food for all of the family, including this berry from our laurel bush.