Although I am officially on the ground floor in my new home, the site slopes quite steeply so my flat is actually on the middle of three levels and, from my windows, I look out over the small slice of ancient woodland that’s adjacent to this property at the level of the tree tops. This is perfect for watching the antics of the local bird life, from the several species of tits to the larger Carrion crows and Woodpigeons, and I’m noticing behaviour that I couldn’t previously see from ground level.

The Woodpigeons, of which there are many, spend quite a lot of time in the Ash trees. Looking through my binoculars, I’ve noticed that they appear to be carefully inspecting the leaves before pecking at them. Though they are predominantly vegetarian, they are known to eat some small invertebrates so, initially, I thought they were picking off aphids from the leaves. In the process they peck off chunks of leaf matter, which actually causes quite a lot of damage to the foliage. I have now read that they are actually eating the Ash leaves, targeting, in particular the shoots and younger leaves, presumably because those have the most nutrients. This feeding behaviour is really quite destructive – you can see the leaf damage to the right of this pigeon’s head in my photos, and something I was completely unaware of until I moved.