The Birds' Bistro

06/06/2026

Today the starlings are at the shop in high numbers and with loud voices 😆
But did you know in the breeding season the male and female adults have different colours to the base of their beaks?
Male have a blue-grey base and the female a pale pink-cream
Here’s a pic of the parents hard at work getting food for the juveniles and you can just see the colour difference, clearer on male at back of feeder.

03/06/2026

29/05/2026

We are busy removing thistles with the scythe today on the Birds Bistro Reserve. It’s part of our meadow land restoration project which aims to increase biodiversity within the grass sward.
No fertiliser or herbicides have been used since we took on the land and the wild flower and grass mix is increasing nicely.
As fertility drops the thistles start to proliferate so Jasper ( the collie) and myself have to get the scythe out. It’s no hardship on a day like this!

Jonathan Birds Bistro

26/05/2026

It is hot, but not too hot for our chickens to spend far too long trying to extract Super Deluxe Squirrel Mix from the protected tray. Their perseverance is impressive as they go round and round!
Jonathan@ The Birds Bistro

23/05/2026

Remember we are open on Monday 12-4. Keith is looking after the shop and he’d love to see you 😊

22/05/2026

Just walked around the Birds Bistro Reserve on this beautiful May morning and spotted the first Skylark nest Ive seen this season. Have a good weekend everyone.
Jonathan at the Birds Bistro

15/05/2026

To celebrate day, here’s some of our favourite squirrel pics.

13/05/2026

Creating habitat and nesting sites by constructing Eco Piles for your birds and wildlife is a great way to use up garden and household debris without resorting to bonfires or trips to the tip. You can use all sorts of materials to hand. Here are three different types we constructed on the Bird Bistro nature reserve.

Jonathan at the Birds Bistro

07/05/2026

Poem and picture for May
May is my favourite month of the year and my poem attempts to capture the magic of the countryside at this time. The picture is of the high pastures on the limestone towards the south of the county.
I hope you enjoy them.
Jonathan at the Birds Bistro

May
The sharpest green is the green of May
Destined soon to pass away
Beneath the ripening summer sun
That turns the leaves to sylvan shades
Of burnt sienna, ochre and vermillion

And call of cuckoo thrush and lark
From wood and hedge and verdant park
Fill the air with bold intent
Their devices and desires
Like the fragrant blossom
So soon spent

Each dawn a theft of time takes place
Snatched from the shrinking hours of dark
As night no longer proudly stalks
But crawls to dell and hollow part
As whispering twilight under beech
Where foxes bark and tawny screech
And till the blushing east is lit
To rest with celandine bluebell and cowslip