New garden bird arrives.

 

 

Jay joins Wood Pigeon.   Photo: John Elliott.

 While eating breakfast this morning I was very surprised to see a Jay happily feeding alongside one of my regular Wood Pigeons. This is the first time in my 47 years here that a Jay has appeared.in the garden. This is normally considered to be a woodland bird, and is described in the book as 'vigilant and shy, difficult to approach', so why is it coming into the village? The usual reason for such behaviour is that its normal food supply is scarce and the bird is forced to overcome its shyness and seek the food we provide.Has this year's crop of acorns, which form most of its winter food, failed? Certainly the Horse Chestnut tree outside my bedroom window has produced very few conkers this year, perhaps a dozen in all. Perhaps the Oaks are the same.