Saturday, 13 November 2010

Blackbird and Apple

Knowing from past experience that Blackbirds like to eat apple I chopped a windfall in half and put it out over a week ago. Finally this morning a male Blackbird decided to help itself. Rather grainy photos as it was early, poor light and the 50D was set to ISO 3200 to obtain a reasonable shutter speed.

Blackbird and Apple 2

Blackbird and Apple 1

Blackbird and Apple 3

 Having invested in a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mobile phone which has an 8Mpixel camera these are a couple of the first test shots as taken with no processing.

Are we going walkies or are you going to fiddle with that phone all afternoon?
Are we Going Walkies or What?

DSC_0010
Great all round phone but very battery hungry!

The Great Tit has just arrived in the nestbox, and fluffed itself out ready to roost there for the seventh night running.

16 comments:

  1. Ah what a thoughtful fella you are, love the little bird table too

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  2. Hi John, Do you know why the Great Tit is using the nesting box for a night roosting place? Is this normal behavior and is it just to find a warm place out of the weather. It is hard for me to understand bird behavior in a place as cold as yours gets!

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  3. The Blackbird was enjoying that treat John! I left some of our apples where they fell and they are definitely appreciated.

    Great results from the new phone, it doesn't seem long since you had the last one. I always enjoy seeing Bobby :)

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  4. Not bad shots from the phone. Bobby is looking very forlorn, waiting for you pay some attention to him, poor love-starved thing that he is. :-)

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  5. I've got some apples in the garden at the moment John, but I don't think they look rotten enough yet lol
    Amazes me how they seem to like the horrible, mouldy looking ones.
    Good results from the new phone; and the Great Tit knows when he's on to a good thing ;)

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  6. Hello John, yes our blackbirds love apples here too. Great to see yours getting eaten eventually. I agree, great quality of image with Bobby.

    I've noticed at this time of year that Blackbirds are in no hurry for appples although they do still take them. However, on a cold frosty morning if you put out a freshy juicy apple they'll be very interested indeed!

    When the Blackcaps pass through us around January they feed from apples here. I've also see a Blue tit take apple too.

    Enjoy your apples eating sightings. I'm looking out for rather special takers to mine at the moment ;-)

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  7. Hello Mick. It does seem to be normal behaviour. Many people have reported Blue and Great Tits using nest boxes as roosts over the colder months.

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  8. They do Jan. Maybe they wait until the apples have started to ferment - blackbird cider ;)

    I had expected my last phone to give me internet access but I never managed it successfully so it was time to try again. This time with full success.

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  9. It's a good job Bobby is so patient sometimes Wilma

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  10. They do seem to prefer the squishy ones Keith.

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  11. Hello Shirl. Great to read about your Waxwing visitors. The apples aren't going very fast yet but as you say when it gets colder they really appreciate them.

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  12. How bright the bill is on the blackbird.
    You've given me an idea...I've not had much luck with leaving out apples...but I think I'll cut them up a bit more and put them in the cups of the jelly feeder since it's not of much use in the dead of winter.

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  13. I loved seeing the little wren in particular. There are no signs of birds on the ground at the moment. Hopefully they've found shelter from the snow and cold spell. Re your nestbox ~ having a tiff could be one way of feathering a nest! Good to hear it is occupied. Just be happy you don't have Bandido in your garden!

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  14. Hello Aunt T. Yes the male Blackbird does have a bright yellow beak whereas the the female is duller coloured with a brown beak.

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  15. Hello Glo. It looks as though we could be in for some snow in the near future. As for Bandido - no thanks, the Starlings are quite good enough at scoffing everything edible. Even more so as the Winter visitors join the residents. The population grows from about 1.5 million to about 10 million in the country.

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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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