I am going to have to cover my car wing mirrors again this spring. Every year our resident dunnock seems to find an impertinent and persistent intruder in his territory. It just doesn’t go away however aggressive and forbidding our dunnock is.

In his excitement our bird leaves a lot of droppings on the car too. So to prevent our dunnock denting his beak, it’s goodbye mirrors for a while and out with the bags and shoelaces – but I must remember to take the covers off when I am allowed to go driving again!

Rosemary Winnall is a naturalist and lives at Bliss Gate in north Worcestershire where she and husband Tony look after a large rural garden.