The weather is still oscillating between sunshine, clouds and rain, possibly with thunderstorms. When we went out this morning, we were lucky to enjoy a sunny interval.

We enjoyed a sunny interval

Our first call was of course to the deli. We had a choice of tables and in addition to coffee, we ordered…

Toast!

…toast! Thinly sliced brown bread toasted and buttered while hot – delicious! The curious thing is that when I make toast at home, I always let it cool before putting anything on it. Perhaps I should consider changing my habits? 🙂

Amwell Street

After this agreeable second breakfast, we crossed our “village high street”, Amwell Street, and made our way to Myddelton Square.

Pigeons enjoying the sunshine

We entered the gardens where all was quiet. The resident pigeons were relaxing in the sunshine.

Tree “decorated” by Tigger

Tigger set about “decorating” a tree with nuts for the squirrels. The pigeons can’t take them from here but the squirrels can. They will discover them later.

Even though I was doing nothing but simply watching Tigger, I soon noticed a slow but distinct movement of pigeons in my direction. Pigeons definitely do recognise individual humans. Whether they recognise faces or general appearance, I don’t know, but they certainly recognise me. I’m now a marked man!

A pigeon on my knee

As soon as I sat down on a bench, the pigeons gathered around me. This one boldly landed on my knee. Another proof of pigeon intelligence is their ability to learn. When we first fed the pigeons in this garden, they would not take food from my hand, let alone perch on my knee, but as soon as one pigeon had dared to do so, others were quick to do the same. It is now difficult for me to sit on a bench without being mobbed by pigeons!

“My friend”

“My friend”, the one-footed pigeon, arrived and installed himself on my knee. He is now quite happy to sit there patiently while I break the shells to extricate the nuts. Other pigeons keep crashing the party and trying to grab a share. I notice that if another pigeon lands on my knee, “my” pigeon emits a cooing sound. I can only suppose this is a statement of ownership, meaning “Get off – he’s my human!”

“No more? Really? No more?”

As I said in a previous post, the difficult part is convincing the pigeon on my knee that there’s no more food. I have to stand up slowly and carefully so that “my friend” slides off my knee and flutters away. Such is the price of popularity!