Another level

Ever get the feeling you're being watched? At last some decent weather here and this morning I've been up a ladder working on the hedge between us and the road.
Quite a long way up a ladder. Because we're on a hillside it takes the the ladder legs at full extension to get to grips with the top of the hedge and the legs have to be standing on a raised hedge bank.
So, I'm almost at jackdaw level; looking back towards the house I'm about where the gutter is. And as I've been working away with saw and secateurs I've been able to watch jackdaws coming and going.
They're are always around, or seem to be - on our chimney, our nextdoor neighbour's chimney or on the chimneys of one of the houses across the road.

This year they started to build a nest in our chimney, but I spotted one of the birds coming and going with sticks and got the chimney sweep in to put a new mesh cover on the chimney pot. When the chimney was swept enough sticks came out to fill a carrier bag.
There seems to be a lot going on in the jackdaw community just now. They're spending a lot of time on and around the chimneys that were used as nesting sites this year and 'speaking' to one another all the while.
One of these 'conversations' got very heated this morning and the two birds ended up fighting. Locked together in a pecking match the combatants fell together off the chimney and slid down the roof slates, still fighting.
It was only when they reached the gutter that they broke off from the fight. One of the two flew away, while the other sat for a moment looking a little shaken up.
Breeding pairs are the bedrock of jackdaw society. They pair up and, if all goes well, stay paired for life. This year's  youngsters should be establishing these pair bonds around now, which is probably what all the jackdaw chat in our street is about today.
 

Family time

We've not had much snow here, but the cold spell has brought lots more birds into the garden. First pickings each morning are going to the gang of crows that wait for me to fill up the feeders.
We always have lots of jackdaws around and this morning I counted 16 at the feeders, on the bird table or waiting for a turn to eat. Over the last week or so they have been joined by a few magpies, two or three rooks and, today, a single jay.
The rooks find the hanging seed-feeders a bit tricky, but seem to have got the hang of the cage that holds fat balls. One bird gets hold of the fat through the mesh and then whacks it against the bars until bits fall to the ground where the others are waiting.
I feel as though I'm on my way to 'collecting' the whole crow family as we also get a carrion crow dropping in from time to time, but I may have to wait a long time to complete the set. Yes, ravens do over-fly the garden from time to time, but I don't expect to add a hooded crow or a chough to my bird list any time soon...  

Rules of engagement

What counts as a 'spot'? At the beginning of the month I decided to start a year-long garden bird list so that I could keep track of the number and variety of species that drop by.

Photo: Michael Steinbeck-Reeves

I'm certainly no twitcher. Not even a 'proper' birder either really - more a general naturalist with an interest in just about everything.

So, I could do with a bit of twitching guidance here. Should my list include birds that I hear, but don't see? And how about ones that fly over - or close to - my garden without touching down?

The over-fly question is particularly relevant today. I was busy in the shed at the bottom of the garden and heard the angry squawking that crows go in for when they're mobbing a bird that is seen as a threat.

With a quick glance out of the shed door I first saw a jackdaw doing aerial acrobatics and, second, the focus of its attentions, a red kite. On spotting me the jackdaw beat a hasty retreat, while the red kite kept up a steady pace heading north along the valley.

Its line of travel took it above, and parallel to, my boundary hedge. So, I'm wondering is that a bird for my list or isn't it?