Wednesday 15 February 2017

Feeding the pigeons?





My previous short pictorial post was added very, very late and consquently I don't know that anyone has even read it (http://turnerstreettopics.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/she-sells-sea-shells.html),  but this week I'm getting in fairly early with what I think is a pretty good match for the prompt. 

Taken by my mother, the snap below shows yours truly in September 1954. My mother's caption for the photo is "Feeding the pigeons? In Trafalgar Square".  I'm not sure whether I had bread, cake or the corn that could be bought in the Square at that time, as in the prompt photograph, but I guess I was feeding myself as well as, or perhaps instead of the pigeons. Well I was only 21 months old at the time! As I've mentioned before, my parents and I were in the United Kingdom for a year while my father was studying in Cambridge under a research fellowship funded by the Nuffield Foundation. 


Short and sweet, as I was back then. I see that in 2000 pigeons in Trafalgar Square were declared to be pests because of the mess they make and the perceived health hazard. A group called Save the Pigeons was then formed to save, protect and continue feeding them. 
Feeding native birds in your own garden is not recommended either, because it isn't healthy for them and it can result in their becoming reliant on handouts rather than foraging for natural food. We are advised instead to plant native plants that will provide them with both food and habitat. You can read more about this here.

 For more blogs that may or may not be about feeding pigeons, click here

Postscript:
We went for a wander in Yarra Bend Park this morning and duck food was for sale at the Boatshed kiosk. The ducks started waddling hopefully towards us but we didn't buy any food. I sincerely hope that it whatever I was feeding the pigeons was suitable for human consumption, unlike these packets of duck food.

8 comments:

La Nightingail said...

You sure were a little doll. And why shouldn't you have a taste of what you were feeding the birds? From a kid's point of view if it's good for them, it must be good for you too! :)

Bob Scotney said...

We don.t feed the wood pigeons we get every day in our garden - fortunately one or two at a time. Some cities are now using birds of prey to keep numbers down but I don't know about London. I remember my daughter wearing shoes like yours.

Barbara Rogers said...

You sure were a cutie...and just think, you survived till now, so that pigeon feed must have helped you become the person you are today!! We can't have bird feeders here because we have black bears coming down the mountains to enjoy them...but they still come and invade people's trash cans sometimes. I used to love having winter birds at a feeder daily (other places.) That's too bad that you are discouraged from feeding birds even in your own yards.

Wendy said...

Oh your mother was right on target catching you at the right moment eating the treat you brought for the birds. Adorable. That is an interesting point about NOT feeding birds in our own backyard. And here I thought I was doing them a favor.

Little Nell said...

What a wonderful and candid photo. You clearly didnt come to amy harm so I’m sure it was safe for human consumption.

ScotSue said...

Such a delightful photograph of you - and spot on for matching the prompt.

Alex Daw said...

Wow Jo - I wonder if our photos are at about the same time....the ladies dresses and the men's jackets look about the same don't they?

Mike Brubaker said...

Bravo, A perfect match!
Over the last decade on my visits to London there is a noticeable increase in a new immigrant bird, Green Parrots, also known as feral rose-ringed parakeets. Beautiful birds but unlike pigeons they are quite voracious in stripping fruit trees and vegetable gardens.