Helen Pullens Art Zone:

We're delighted to welcome local Wicklow Artist Helen Pullen as Arts editor on the site. Helen will be bringing you local arts information and sharing her thoughts and opinions on the arts in wicklow county. Visit her website: www.helenpullen.blogspot.com for more musings

Local Artist Helen Pullens Corner

Last winter was awful and like most people we expected another very cold winter again and had prepared for it. After years of saying we would do it, we finally insulated our house and of course stocked up on heating fuel. I bought those shoe grips that stop you slipping in the snow and ice and invested in some warm wool clothes – all set for a harsh winter!

We also stocked up on bird feed for our feathered friends.

Winter came – no snow – no ice – thank goodness – breath a sigh of relief - relax!

But there is something strange.

Our little garden is full of birds of all varieties with HUGH appetites. There are blackbirds, starlings, tree sparrows, blue tits, robins and wrens, to name a few. We choose a large shrub in the corner of the garden and hung a large feeder and lots of fat balls on it. There are lots of branches for the birds to perch on and at the back of the shrub hidey holes for the little birds to hide until they feel brave enough to venture out and feed. Every day the shrub is full of noisy bouncing birds, feeding and quarrelling. We fill the bird feeder in the morning and afternoon and when it is filled most of it is gone within hours, something that never happened any other winter. We have gone through more bird feed this winter than any other year.

My question is – do the birds know something that we don’t know or are they just as unsure of what the weather has in store for us as we are and are “stocking up” just like their human companions?

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