I love little birds - the smaller and noisier, the better.It's incredible how a little wren, as tiny as it is, can make such a loud sound.
One of the most exciting things about my garden is the birds. The southern perimeter is surrounded with Rhododendron hedge where the birds love to hide.
Already I have seen a young green woodpecker and a kestrel on my lawn - although not at the same time. I suspect the kestrel is on the look out for one of the mice which live at the end of the garden.
Other species I have seen include wrens, great tits, blue tits, chaffinches, song thrushes, blackbirds, sparrows, goldfinches and my very own robin, whose favourite spot is on the gable end of my shed.
In nearby woodland I have also seen jays, long-tailed tits and buzzards.
As my vegetables began to emerge, the great tits in particular could be seen hopping up and down the rows of rocket and mixed leaf salad, picking off the bugs and flies.
To make the garden more bird friendly, I bought a terracotta dish and filled it to make a bird bath and put out a few crumbs but I quickly abandoned putting any food out because it seemed to attract magpies. Instead I have bought a half coconut shell packed with seeds which I will hang from the eaves of the house (just as soon as I can borrow a ladder).
