Dawn Chorus

I was rather under the impression that the dawn chorus was something that happened in the Spring or early Summer when the male birds were proclaiming their territory. There's a robin around here that doesn't seem to have heard about this and is going at full throttle at about 6:00a.m. every morning. Not, I suppose, that one robin truly comprises a chorus, but the effect upon ones sleep is much the same. I'm all for birds being around, but they really should learn their place.

We do rather encourage birds by use of feeders so I suppose that we shouldn't complain when they take up residence. Our ivy is in fact now home to several dozen sparrows who also create a terrific din when coming home to roost in the evening, but at least they keep it under wraps during the hours of darkness which is now between about 4:00p.m and 7:30a.m. I don't know what they all do in there for so many hours; must be a strange sort of existence especially during the winter months.

The squirrels continue to dig up various parts of the garden in pursuit of the many peanuts that they have buried there during the year. In fact, they often seem to dig them up just to check that they are still there and then bury them again, often somewhere else. They are a bit of a nuisance, but I don't begrudge them there existence as it sometimes provides us with much interest and lightens up an otherwise dull day.