Dear Readers,  I’m finding it rather wonderful to hear the chuckle of jackdaws here in East Finchley – they were rare visitors when I first arrived back in 2010, but this year a family of four have been coming to the garden, and its been interesting to see how busy the youngsters are keeping the parents.

The youngsters sit on the suet feeder and watch as the parent pecks out a few pellets. Clearly they haven’t learned how to manage it themselves yet!

These birds have attracted a lot of folklore, most of it contradictory. Seeing a jackdaw on the way to your wedding is a very good omen, but having one settle on your roof means a calamity is approaching. Or that something new is beginning, depending on where you live. They are renowned  for their fondness for shiny objects (their species name monedula means ‘money’) and to call someone a ‘jackdaw’ implies that they are a bit of a hoarder, no doubt with a drawer full of elastic bands, safety pins, a cork, some out-of-date parking permits and a pair of secateurs that need sharpening (ahem). Whatever they ‘mean’, these smallest UK corvids are smart, adaptable birds, who have learned how to use a bird feeder meant for much smaller birds than them. Good luck to them, I say.