Sunday 26 July 2009

Greenfinches and a Sparrow Loses a Seed

Here an adult Greenfinch is sat on the cables to my shed making sure the coast is clear before nipping down to the feeders. The second part of the video shows a juvenile Greenfinch tucking in. It is interesting to note the difference in colour as the juvenile's colouring is much more muted with just a hint of green which is far more suitable for camouflage.



Unusually this House Sparrow preferred to collect one seed at a time and take it away while it rolls it round in its beak trying to crack the outer covering. I think it has a round millet seed which was hard work. In the end the seed shot out of the bird's beak. In the slowed down last part of the video you can see the seed fly across the screen.



Hedgehog Update:

Last night I only saw one adult but the night before all three were seen. Hope, the juvenile, arrived first, had a drink followed by a good fifteen minutes of dried mealworm munching. After another drink of water she trundled on her way. About half an hour later Henry and Honey arrived. Henry grabbing food as fast as he could and Honey spending much time walking backwards to keep out of his way.

12 comments:

  1. Great videos John.
    That Greenfinch is really enjoying that seed. lol
    And that poor Sparrow. All that hard work, and then lose it. :(

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  2. Morning John...loved your greenfinch movie. But there was no sound. I'm drinking coffee in bed right now at Whistler :) Ahhhh loving it. Off for a nice hike soon to stretch the legs from the long van ride. Glad to hear that the little hedghogs came last night...they are so cute. Oh and I wanted to tell you that behind your seed feeder I noticed the leaf of a plant...and I started to laugh because we have the same plant at home too as you do and guess what our seed feeder sits righ in front of it too.. :)

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  3. Thanks Keith. I thought I was getting a shot of a Sparrow managing to eat a seed and it goes and drops it. It did try again though. Now I know why there are so man wild plants growing under the feeders. :)

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  4. Hi Crista. Most of the filming is done through the kitchen window so only picks up loud sounds. Sometimes it's the microwave or kettle boiling. Then I mute the sound.

    Coffee in bed - whatever next? Well it is a holiday :)

    I was pleased to see all the hogs and know they were OK.

    I have no idea what the plant is. It is growing in a small pot and seems to survive all weathers. I keep meaning to re-pot it.

    Enjoy all that fresh air.

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  5. Ping! The sparrow and the seed is a classic - well done John.

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  6. Thanks Rob. You never know what will happen even with the local regulars.

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  7. Good to know all is well in your bird and hedgehog world. It's super that you can slow down the video to see such detail. Not too many birds around my garden at the moment. It's continued warm, perhaps I should say hot, without any rain, and while I'm not complaining in the least, the birds may have had to find some cool shade.

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  8. Hi Glo. The software I use can slow down the action on the videos. Some things happen so fast it is the only way to see what is really happening.

    The once or twice we have had really hot afternoons it was so quiet as even the birds had hidden in the shade and stopped singing. At the moment we are getting sunny mornings and wet afternoons. Good growing weather for weeds :(

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  9. Hi again John, great video captures of the birds eating. Sometimes they do make it look very hard works as they try to munch through the seed. I suspect sometimes larger bits get stuck at an angle. I saw that with a juv goldfinch once… the parent fed it too!

    Yes, unless you have an army of starlings below the feeders (which is usually the case) weeds are inevitable ;-)

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  10. Hi Shirl. Sometimes it seems to take them ages to crack a seed shell.

    I keep pulling up most of the weeds but there are three self sown sunflowers which are doing better than the ones I grew so I'm leaving those. The numbers of Starlings has dropped recently and it's amazing how much longer the food is lasting even though there are plenty of other birds visiting.

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  11. I was wondering the other day, what animals beside the hedgehog have the ability to walk backwards. I don't believe it's a skill that many possess in the animal kingdom.

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  12. Not sure G.L.. Most animals seem able to back away but actually walking backwards - who knows?

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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