This week another guest came calling. When I glanced out one day as the sun was shining - it hasn't done that very much recently - I spied an unusual visitor to our bird table.
She (I think it's female) was beautifully and colourfully marked and quite large. I didn't see her arrive but she stayed for quite a while, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the company of birds small and larger, none of which approached her closely. Birds are wary of strangers, I find.
She appeared to be very comfortable and was obviously snoozing, all worries of the world forgotten. Quickly I alerted Barry so that he could photograph this beauty. After a while she turned round and gave us a better view of her pretty face. Now we could see that she had large, yellow-green eyes She was enjoying the shelter she had found; she only just fitted under the roof but I know this species - very supple and able to fit their bulk into surprisingly small spaces.
Eventually she departed but I expect that she will return to her comfortable vantage point the next time the sun shines and she's feeling peckish.
