The 2nd feeding station that I made in the back garden is large enough to accomodate a trailcam – the camera has to be at least 1.5 metres from the feeders to be in focus.The trailcam is set to record a 30-second video whenever there is movement at the feeders, so once installed, it soon began to collect videos of the birds that visited. Unsurprisingly, it was mainly goldfinches, noisily squabbling as they clustered around the feeders. Frequently, a Coal Tit or Blue Tit will nip in and out – nabbing a sunflower seed and flying off before the goldfinches could take any action. Occasionally, a chaffinch will try to gain a foothold on the feeders, but the goldfinches can usually fend them off – as a result, the chaffinches normally feed on the ground beneath the feeders.
However, in the last week or so, a pair of blackcaps have effectively taken over the feeding stations, driving all other small birders from the feeders. They began by driving the birds from the 2nd feeding station. I decided to add more feeders to the first station. (in order to distract the blackcaps) but the male blackcap spent every day in the trees watching for any birds approaching either station. If a bird was brave enough to fly into one of them, the blackcap immediately attacked – sometimes chasing the other bird half way down the street. I’m amazed at how much energy the blackcap expends guaring its newfound territory. As a result, very little food is being consumed at any of the feeders. For the last few days, I placed another feeder closer to the house, hoping that the expanding territory would eventually wear out the blackcap. Instead, the female blackcap has taken up guard duty on the new feeder, and has begun harassing any bird feeding on spilled seed beneath the feeder.
For now, I’m scattering more seed on the ground around the garden to make it easier for the other birds to grab some food. It will be interesting to see if the blackcaps succeed in permenantly discouraging the other bird visitors to the garden. Alternatively, the blackcap may meet stiffer opposition – yesterday, a sparrowhawk swooped over the garden but didn’t linger. It may return.