Surprise feathered visitors to our gardens

A READER in Fermoy emailed me about the birds in her garden.

She has an interesting collection, including some unusual species such as long-tailed tits and bullfinches — bullfinches aren’t rare birds but in my experience it is unusual for them to visit bird feeders.

But in the last few weeks the garden birds have been joined by something that really is a surprise — a kestrel. Although kestrels quite like to nest in buildings, they generally avoid people and this is a first time I’ve heard of one hanging around in somebody’s garden.