cats-and-birds-and-stuff

[cats-and-birds-and-stuff]

"Four Minutes of Mostly Great Tits" [Video: four glorious minutes of birds at a feeder]

When I first installed my bird feeder, the Great Tits rolled in like they owned the place. They were the feathered mafia of my balcony — bold, loud, and incredibly pushy.

Sparrows? They tried. They'd flutter in timidly, grab a seed or two… Then boom — Great Tit drops from the sky like a feathery linebacker and chaos ensues. Total feeder domination for about a week.

It was Tit City.

BUT OH, HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED.

The sparrows have unionized. They now mob the feeder in tight squads, chirping like they're starting a turf war. It’s like West Side Story, but with more feathers and less choreography.

The Great Tits still show up — but now they get side-eyed hard and sometimes pecked off the perch like “not today, big bird.”

Fun facts about Great Tits (the birds, behave yourself):

Great Tits are the largest tit species in Europe (yes, really).

They can mimic sounds, including other birds and even mechanical noises.

They’re known for being aggressive at feeders — basically the bird equivalent of queue jumpers.

Despite the name, they’re actually excellent parents, fiercely protective of their young.

And yes, ornithologists named them “Great Tits” completely seriously. Nature has a sense of humor.

So yes, enjoy four minutes of Great Tits — Bring popcorn, it’s basically a tiny avian soap opera out there.

[cats-and-birds-and-stuff]

European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula)

One of the rare occasions where I somehow convinced the macro setting on my camera to almost do what it claims to do. A small gang of these wasps—four or five of them—developed a suspiciously intense interest in our wooden trellis one morning. I can only assume they were either planning renovations or launching a tiny hostile takeover.

These little buzzers are Polistes dominula, also known as European paper wasps. Originally from—you guessed it—Europe, they’ve now set up shop across much of the world. Unlike their angrier cousins (looking at you, yellowjackets), they’re usually less aggressive unless you poke the nest—metaphorically or literally. They're known for building those neat, open-cell paper nests, often in awkward corners you didn’t know needed defending.

Fun fact: they chew wood fibres to make a papery pulp for their nests. So if your trellis suddenly looks like it's being sanded down by tiny contractors, now you know why.

In a burst of enthusiasm (or temporary madness), I recently joined iNaturalist—not a nudist colony, despite the name—and have been documenting the birds, insects, and plants I stumble across during my occasional strolls around the neighbourhood. These strolls are infrequent because, frankly, I'm old and lazy.

Prepare yourselves: I’ll be torturing visitors to this blog with an ever-growing collection of dandelions, blurry bugs, and possibly the same tree photographed from slightly different angles over the next several months.

[cats-and-birds-and-stuff]

Meet Tippy, one of our three rescue cats. He was found living in a barn and was half feral when he arrived at the rescue centre—think tiny outlaw with trust issues. These days, he’s settled into domestic life, but make no mistake: Tippy is still very much a thug. He struts around like he owns the place, gives hard stares to anyone who questions his authority, and generally behaves like he’s running a feline protection racket.

A few years ago, in a moment of questionable judgment, he launched himself off our balcony and broke a leg. As a result, he now has a titanium plate in his left leg—and we have a fence around the terrace, as you can see in the photo. Tippy now sets off airport security and gives the side-eye to birds from behind his safety barrier.

He adores Jane, my partner—she’s clearly the chosen one. Me? I’m tolerated. At best. I get the occasional half-hearted headbutt, usually around mealtimes, and otherwise, I’m just the guy who refills the food bowl and knows his place.