Over the last month little ‘Dave’ Dunnock on the right there has been a daily back garden visitor.
He got a bit snitty when a pair of blackcaps (‘Barry’ being one of them on the left there) turned up to share his territory.
But now everything seems to have settled down into a delicate detente.
Barry flew in again today
He plopped upon the wall
Dave returned, to shoo him off
Gave out a warning call
Barry really wasn’t fussed
He wasn’t phased at all
He’d blackcap this durty dunnock off
In a beak-off birdie brawl
Dave didn’t fancy it
He didn’t have the balls
Better back off acting big
Resize to being small
So Dave and Barry call a truce
No need to fight and maul
Peck instead at snippy seeds
And share that huge fatball
– Illustration: Hazel Brown; Poem: Ian Nisbet