At the start of the month, all was quiet on our bird feeders. It was as if all our woodland birds had disappeared overnight! Early June in Argyll is the time when our birds are busily feeding their chicks.
In order for the youngsters to have the best possible start they need high-protein food and for many of our small birds that means caterpillars. And this year did we have caterpillars! Thousands of looper caterpillars (these turn into a particular type of moth) were steadily munching their way through oak, birch and hazel leaves, in some cases stripping the trees of all their leaves. Nothing in nature ignores such a bounty and birds were arriving at our nest boxes with mouths overflowing with caterpillars, ensuring their fledglings had a great start in life.
Once they’ve flown the nest then our feeders come into play once more, as with the caterpillar harvest over they are a great place to keep a hungry family happy. The pastel coloured fledgling Blue, Coal and Great tits in particular are gorgeous.
