Pigeon in the Pyracantha

 

Pigeon in the Pyracantha

We have a Reolink camera that looks out over our front drive. If we’re waiting for visitors or a delivery, we can see immediately if they’ve arrived.

Yesterday, I noticed some people outside. There were two men and women and a boy, and they were obviously looking for something, in that, ‘I’m looking for something, but I really don’t want to trespass’ way.

When Barry went to find out what was going on, they told him that their little Jack Russell rescue from Romania had run onto our drive. She must have slipped her collar. We couldn’t find her anywhere – she wasn’t hiding under the cars, and couldn’t have squeezed under our rather substantial garden gate, so must have gone through the hedge into next-door’s garden. They left their contact details in case we found her. I hope the little dog found her way home – she hadn’t been living there for very long. We would like to ring to find out, but if she hasn’t returned home, it would upset them, so we just cross our fingers and hope.

The Reolink camera is situated just above a large pyracantha bush, which flowers magnificently in spring, attracting bees and hoverflies and other pollinators.

                                Photograph taken through glass

The flowers in turn produce scarlet berries, which are much loved by birds. This morning, a large wood pigeon flew onto the bush and balanced in an ungainly fashion, tipping forwards and sideways. It remained on the shrub for about twenty minutes, and though I haven’t looked, I imagine there are very few berries left. There are two more pyracantha bushes, one with orange berries, and one with yellow, and a further two in the back garden, so there should be enough to go round.

I took some photographs, but the bird wouldn’t show its head, and one view of tail feathers is pretty much like any other, so I haven’t uploaded any of them.

Instead, here is an outcrop of a photograph taken through glass a few years ago on the pyracantha in the back garden. The bird in the foreground is a juvenile. It hasn’t yet developed its white neck patches, and the colour is generally paler than an adult’s. The bird behind is an adult, and although it’s somewhat out of focus, the white patches on either side of the neck are just discernible.

        This is a mature wood pigeon, photograph taken a few years ago.