Not surprised either! Took everything that was on the ground. Every single pigeon made a bee line for it's coop. They're terrified of these things, and I'm not surprised. They're real killers. A neighbouring house has pigeons but we feed them every morning anyway - they wait for my wife to go out there with bread and birdseed - they're all on the roof waiting for their breakfast. We also get the magpies and male blackbirds that sing away for about two hours non-stop, but it's unsettled the pigeons. I'll fight in their corner and chase them off. We've only got a small garden - I'll shoo off the cat, too. He's also got ringed doves. Got a marvellous photo of one just as it put it's head up. One of the youngsters hurt it's wing in our garden. It's parents stayed up with it all night to protect it - so did my wife! 3.35a.m. she went out there to make sure it was OK - she wouldn't do that to me!
Have a nice evening everyone.
Oh, I know all about pigeon pie Out in Cyprus - Nicisia, we had a coup of about 10' square where we keptchickens, cockerels, and pigeons for fresh food when there was a curfew. You were given about two days notice (not even that, sometimes) so you'd stock up on provisions etc.) Anybody found on the streets after a certain time was arrested. That's where a lot of my schooling went to pot. Three pigeons would make a very big pie and would provide you with fresh meat for about three days. We didn't have a fridge, but an ice box, about the same size as an upright freezer. If it was a chicken, my father used to cut it's head clean off with a knife and then set it free where it would run around for about eight seconds before toppling over. it was a real job plucking it - my late father was a lot faster than me at it. I can't remember what it tasted like - pigeon pie.
Regarding the wide variety of birds, we lived in North London for many years where we had a detached house with a 200' rear garden. We were surrounded by woods. His one pet hate were the starlings - they'd descend en masse where there'd be so many of them you wouldn't be able to see the ground for them. When she was a toddler, every morning my daughter would walk round the garden with Grandpa who'd show her all the birds, spiders, beetles, centepedes, et al. He loved her, and his garden, so much.
