Near miss

I live in a house with cats, but probably wouldn't choose to if I was living alone. My other half likes them, so I share my living space with three at the moment.
It creates a dilemma. If I feed the birds in my garden, am I exposing them to an unnecessary degree of risk? Predation by a sparrowhawk is one thing, but being killed by a bored cat is quite another.
On balance though I think the benefit that comes from a reliable source of food through the winter outweighs occasional losses to one of our moggies. And our collection of cats are on the whole elderly and too slow for bird-catching.
My partner's latest cat acquisition arrived as a kitten last winter. An unwanted pet, it decided we were a better bet than its first owner.
He's now got his own bed, name (Boris) and territory. He's also at that time of life when hunting is a full-time occupation.
This morning we were enjoying a cup of tea in bed when there was a squawk from downstairs. As I went down, Boris was coming up - with a mouthful of downy feathers.
At the bottom of the stairs more feathers and bird droppings. I searched the area for a dead bird, but then heard clucking in the kitchen.
Our dog was looking at a male blackbird that was sitting on top of our microwave.The bird had lost a couple of tail feathers, but otherwise looked relatively unscathed.
When I opened the kitchen door the blackbird flew out, relieved to have made it back into the garden alive. I later saw it feeding, but don't rate its chances of long-term survival.
What toll do wild populations of birds and mammals suffer at the paws and claws of bored domestic cats? Not sure if anyone can say with any degree of accuracy, but on the whole cats and wildlife gardens really don't mix.

Bird watching

A perfect March morning here today, with warm sunshine quickly melting the hoar frost. I've been busy cleaning out the children's pet rabbits and have been watched all the while by a female blackbird.

She took up position in the branches of the hawthorn hedge to soak up the best of the sun's heat and seemed completely unphased by my comings and goings. Even when I got to within a yard or so the blackbird seemed untroubled.

I presume this bird is the one that I've seem with a male in around the hedge by our pond over the last week or so. He has been sticking very close to her, following her like he's her shadow.

No sign of the male this morning. Just the female along, dozing in the warmth and watching me work.

Berry chilly weather

Not a gardening day today. It's grey, wet, cold and muddy out there and I don't think anyone who could choose, would be outside rather in by the fire.

In fact, it's the perfect day to start out on a new blog while watching the birds from the window. Over the last week or so our cherry tree has become the focus of attention from the garden's birds, or actually the thick covering of ivy that grows up the trunk to a height that's way above my head.

Throughout the day blackbirds, a couple of woodpigeons and a song thrush have been busy in the dense leaves of this ivy (Hedera helix) that covers most of the tree. They rustle about inside the dense foliage throughout daylight hours.

Every now and again one of the berry-gatherers will pop out for a moment for a quick look around before going back for more fruit. Together the mixed flock can forage in relative safety.

Purple-tinted droppings are scattered around on the grass under the tree and the nearby shed, evidence of just how much birds are relying on the little black berries at the moment. Ivy berries are very energy-dense - comparable with a Mars bar apparently . The fact that they ripen so late in the winter - long after other wild fruit has been eaten - makes it a must-have wildlife garden plant.