@mrmhead Said
Any day now I should see my clan of Junco's return
They usually show up around Thanksgiving, and stay until about Easter.
Oh that we were so lucky here. The avian life of Cornwall is red in beak and claw. No wonder Daphne du Maurier set "The Birds" in Cornwall.
Goshawks, kestrels, ospreys, owls of every variety, peregrine falcons and even golden eagles which had become pretty depleted until conservation measures stepped in. Now their numbers are increasing up on the high moors at Bodmin and other places.
Then there are the seabirds who aren't afraid to come into town. They'll swoop down on you in the high street if they see that you've got a snack they think they can steal. They can be quite intimidating. But that's mostly the gulls. We also have guillimots, gannets, cormorants, razorbills and puffins.
A colleague I used to work with at FSS put koi carp in his garden pond. Everybody warned him...... To be fair, he did put a mesh cover over the pond to protect them which somewhat took away from the aesthetic of the thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough and a skua had his fish. Those birds fear humans not. They'll dive bomb ya if they think you're drifting too close to their nesting place on the cliffs as you walk along.
But don't think I'm complaining. It's wonderful that we have such varied and proliferate bird life here. In London I only ever used to see the manky old lieutenant pigeons that the capital is known for. I can't ever remember seeing anything else. Perhaps the feral cats had got them all.