Tipsy Blackbirds ................................................................................. Steve Fryett

Steve Fryett

Photo: Bill Baston

Tipsy Blackbirds

Since the beginning of July a family of Blackbirds – both parents and two juveniles – have been camped in our Georgian conservatory where a 100-year-old grapevine continues to produce masses of black grapes every year. We use the conservatory for growing tomatoes and geraniums as well as for general storage, together with the tended vine. As the weather got warmer I started opening the door during the day although I suspect the birds first found their way in via a couple of missing glass panes in the side. Now that the door is open during daylight hours, the family tend to use this as their way to fly in and out, so we need to be mindful of this and prepared to duck! I suspect they have roosted in the conservatory which adjoins the kitchen, from where I can watch them while having my breakfast before going to work. When they first appeared, both adults could be seen with a bill full of grapes ready to feed the juveniles somewhere up in the canopy of the vine; the vine is quite thick in places so the youngsters could be difficult to see. When we have to go into the conservatory they can get a little upset, after having spent a lot of the day consuming vino, and start clattering around at the top of the vine. We have also seen them trying to get out, failing to find the door and crashing into glass panes, which in one case resulted in a juvenile suffering a pronounced curve in its bill. They fly around in the conservatory trying to perch on insecure items such as pots and gardening equipment which we then find scattered over the floor; needless to say we no longer store glass vases in there. Of course it was not long before one of them flew through the wrong door and into our sun room/kitchen creating havoc before eventually being persuaded back out of the door. Twice it involved the juvenile (with the straight bill) and on a third occasion the same bird also found his way upstairs and into a bedroom.

The Blackbird family do not exclusively eat our grapes and can often be seen feeding around the garden. Their audacity has been bewildering and their behaviour as tenants atrocious: they also invited a family of mice, three Robins, a Dunnock and a Wren into the conservatory, where they have continued to pillage our grapes till the end of August. Thankfully they do not appear to like our tomatoes! Now in September, the adults have moved on, their whereabouts unknown, but the juveniles have moulted into 1s male (with a curved bill) and 1s female, and they are both still present as I write.