Doon Social Farm

The Song Thrush

I saw her under the shade of the sycamore tree, perched on the wall by the small gate with a beak full of worms and insects. This has been her regular spot for the last week, and their nest is hidden nearby. Before returning to feed the hungry chicks, she perches here for a quick look around to make sure that there are no predators waiting to see where the nest is located.

Scattered on the yard I found dozens of broken snail shells belonging to the song thrush’s anvil. This is their favourite spot where the break open the hard shells of the snails to get at the nutritious bodies inside. They need to be careful as sometimes after all their hard work a bigger blackbird takes their spoils.

Song thrushes build their nests in the hedges on the farm and sometimes in ivy growing on the old buildings. By eating snails, they provide a free and valuable service, and they might leave our fruit alone for a few minutes.

Hoverflies are natures mimics and they copy the warning colours and patterns of wasps as this protects them from predators like birds. While they can hide behind the yellow and black if you look closely their true nature is revealed. The eyes are the windows to the soul and like all flies their eyes are very close together.

Hoverflies as their name suggests can perform amazing acrobatics moving backwards, sideways and forward in the blink of an eye, much to the envy of clumsy aircraft designers. The adults sip nectar from flowers and the larva feed on both garden pests and pollen and this helps with the natural controls on the farm.