Wet and White

The usual result after 30mm, so far, of rain since it started last night:



During the afternoon I had spotted a flash of white on this Collared Dove. At first it seemed to be at the end of one tail feather and I wondered whether it had been perched under a Wood Pigeon:



After a good long look I think it is actually a white feather:





Not sure whether it had had the other tail feathers plucked or maybe it was in the process of moulting.

Friday at the Flicks - Waterfall Bathers

I managed to sneak the camera and tripod just outside the back door, about fifty feet away from the waterfall. The birds hardly noticed me behind the tripod. Mainly House Sparrows with Starlings soaking everything in sight and a fleeting visit from a juvenile Collared Dove:



It was unfortunate I had to change the soundtrack. For some reason the natural sound recorded at the time has a lot of background noise.

Soundtrack:  Eternity by Positively Dark
A free download from:  http://www.entropymusic.com/

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

A Quick Drink

A couple of days ago I sat in the Summer House for a while braving the cold breeze blowing straight in the door and keeping an eye on the garden pond waterfall. One of the few visitors was a Collared Dove which came for a quick drink:



It flew off again when it spotted me watching:






Every so often I have had a quick look at the nest box in the churchyard. No chance of any birds using it as it was surrounded by bees, some hovering just outside and some going in and out so I assume they have a nest in there.

New Kid on the Block

Another juvenile visiting each day is this Collared Dove:





No sign of the parents, at least not at the same time as it is always by itself.

Friday at the Flicks - Collared Dove + Toad?

Just one video this week. In  fact there seems to have been a scarcity of opportunities for new videos recently so here is one left over from last week.

A Collared Dove visits the Bird Table:




A couple of evenings ago I spotted a creature slowly and awkwardly ambling across the back garden. My first thought was a small rat as it appeared to have a tail but on closer inspection it turned out to be what I assume was a toad. From a distance its long trailing back legs gave the appearance of a tail as it moved.



Looking at the lack of ridges on its back, its dry warty skin and they way it only walked and never jumped I assume it was a toad. A creature I had never seen before, let alone in the garden. It was very obliging and stayed in one place while I put the TZ7 within a few inches of it to take some flash portraits.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Friday at the Flicks - Juvenile Collared Dove - Rainy Day

When the juvenile Collared Dove visited a few days ago I managed to shoot a couple of pieces of video:



A few shots from yesterday - torrential rain - fast moving clouds - Penny paddling - muddy sunset where the clouds were more shades of brown than reds and oranges.



Both videos have soundtracks made with music apps on the iPad.
SketchSynth 3D lite for the Dove
Loop Twister for the rain.

For those who are interested - one way of getting the sound output from the iPad to the PC is to use a gizmo like the Behringer U-Control UCA222 which takes the sound from the earphone socket of the iPad and sends it to a USB port. It is powered from the USB port so needs no extra batteries or power supplies. On the PC I use the program Audacity to record the sound and save as an mp3 file:



The photo shows the iPad running the app Loop Twister and the Behringer unit is the red box on the right hand side.

Wings on Wednesday - Juvenile Collared Dove

There are lots of juvenile birds visiting the garden at the moment. About a week ago I spotted two juvenile Great Tits. Unfortunately they wouldn't stay in one place long enough to photograph them. I am hoping they were two of the youngsters which fledged from my nest box.

This morning there was a juvenile Collared Dove resting on the beam which holds the seed feeders.. I think it had only recently fledged as it looked unsure of its surroundings and what to do next. It was startled every time one of the smaller birds landed nearby. A juvenile lacks the black collar of the adult and the iris in the eyes is brown. That will turn red as the bird matures.

At first I photographed through the kitchen window.



Then I moved to photographing through the conservatory window - single glazed so introduces less distortion. Finally I went outside. Though slightly apprehensive the bird let me get quite close for some much clearer shots.





Eventually it flew down to the ground to find some of the seed which the smaller birds drop from the feeders.

Friday at the Flicks - Collared Dove + Safe Cage

A while ago some Wood Pigeons found they could scrape through a gap through the wire mesh to feed on the Bird Table so I made the gap smaller. It didn't take the Collared Doves long to work out that the gap was still large enough for them to gain access.



About two years ago I looked at the commercial ground cages which allow smaller birds to feed but keep out the larger ones. I decided to throw together my own version but the birds didn't take to it when it was on the ground. A few days ago I decided to give it another try out. This time it is about a yard above ground and next to bushes.



It took a very short time for a Chaffinch to investigate and it has been constantly visited since.




Next job, if it ever stops raining, (10 continuous days with rain so far) is to rebuild it to fit the size and shape of the plastic tray which should raise the base where the camera can get a better view of the visitors. So far only finch size birds have entered, usually in the side and out through the top. Wood Pigeons have tried to get their heads in but the food is in the middle. At last the small ground feeders can get their share of the food in peace.

Wings on Wednesday - Collared Doves

As usual these past few weeks the lighting has been abysmal for decent photography, especially of birds at the feeders as the Birdy Bistro only catches the Sun for about an hour each day at this time of year.

The Collared Doves were quick to work out that the plank I put under the feeders was just right for them to reach feeders they never normally manage to get near.

Friday at the Flicks - Blackbird, Stretch Spider, Collered Dove, Great Tit

You can tell it's Friday the thirteenth! Blogger having been pretty well unusable for many hours since an attempted maintenance update to the system seems to have gone drastically wrong. As the service manager at our local garage used to say, "If it aint broke, don't fix it!".

Official explanation of the outage can be found HERE.

Very recently I spotted a female Blackbird pulling pieces out of my 'natural' fencing at the bottom of the garden to use as nesting material.



It is a bit late in the scheme of things as only this morning I saw the first juvenile Blackbirds visit the garden.

Most days I have checked the garden pond to see if any damsels are emerging but so far have only seen the Common Stretch Spiders busy building their webs towards dusk ready for a night of insect captures. I spotted the first damsel having emerged on 25th May Last year so there may be some about in the near future.



There is at least one Collared Dove which has become impatient waiting for seed to fall from the feeders and worked out that it can balance on the round perches.



All seems to be well in the Great Tit nest box. Mrs GT is very attentive to her eggs and Mr GT frequently brings food for her They are both very good at using the rim of the nest for moving about the box taking great care not to stand on the eggs. I would think hatching should start in the week beginning 22nd May.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Feathered Visitors to the Pond

As it was a dry day, mostly, on Monday I again set up the 350D and the home brew IR detector to automatically photograph any birds which visited the garden pond waterfall. The IR detector goes near the waterfall and the camera on its tripod is set up at the opposite end of the pond. Once they have been in place a short while the birds carry on visiting as usual.

Wood Pigeon


Collared Doves


Male Blackbird


Starlings can be guaranteed to have a good splash about


My favourite of this batch:
Female Blackbird - shall I have a drink, have a bath or continue nest building?


Slightly out of focus range, a male Chaffinch looking dapper in his mating plumage.


Wet and windy today so the auto setup will have to wait until the weather settles for the next attempt.

Friday at the Flicks - Corvids, Doves, Goldfinches

Apart from Wednesday which was gloriously sunny most of the day it has been dull and very cloudy - not the best of conditions for photography of any sort. Even more so early mornings when any of the corvid family visit the garden. In fact I have never seen a Carrion Crow actually in the garden and I was surprised to see a couple on the very top of my leylandii tree. I was interested to note the consideration one crow showed as it moved over to make room for another to join it.



Over the past week or so I have spotted a couple of Stock Doves visit daily which makes a change from the regular Collared Doves. It really needs brilliant sunshine to show off the metallic sheen on the Stock Doves' necks.



It doesn't seem that long ago when I could count up to thirty Goldfinches visiting the feeders but this year I am lucky to see three. Usuall there are only a couple.



 Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Checking some aurora sites this morning it would appear the jet of plasma emitted from the Sun slowed down as it approached the earth and didn't produce the effect initially expected.
Spaceweather.com looks to be an interesting site which has, at the moment, a marvellous photo of the Sun's surface activity taken in a UK backyard observatory. Also HERE on the site is a map showing recently uploaded photos from around the world. Click on a pin and then on the thumbnail image to see them larger.

I've Got my Beady Eye on You

Collared Dove

Doesn't the time fly by?

Well here I am today, another step nearer the three score and ten years. As I get older the years seem to get shorter. For a while I have been looking in to getting a longer focus lens and two days ago I finally made my mind up to get the Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS USM as a birthday present to myself. I ordered it from a camera shop in Cardiff and was pleased when it arrived less than 24hrs later. That gave me a chance to have a play with it yesterday afternoon.

Before the new lens arrived I spotted this Wood Pigeon collecting nesting material.
Clockwise from top left -
Breaking off a twig
Flying off with it.
Resting on the telegraph pole.
Taking the twig into the Leylandii.



The following were taken with the new lens, usually at 400mm and still needing to be cropped:
Lighting conditions were very variable with one minute sunlight and the next grey cloud. As this lens is a little slower than the 70-200mm I had to increase the ISO to keep the speed up in the dull conditions.All were hand held.

Male Greenfinch singing in the tree top.


Male Chaffinch


Wood Pigeon on the roof.


Collared Dove having a doze.


Wren skulking in the shadows.


It is going to take some time  getting used to the extra weight of the 100-400mm lens. I think I will have to start indulging in some wrist strengthening exercises.

Friday at the Flicks (Doves)

These two lovey doveys spent quite a while sat on the imitation wagon wheel preening each other.



It was a very pleasant surprise when this Stock Dove paid a visit.  At first it was very nervous and nearly left a couple of times when it spotted me looking through the kitchen window, Once it had joined the waddling Wood Pigeons it concentrated on collecting as much seed as it could find. I was entranced with the way the neck feathers looked as they shimmered different colours in the Winter sunlight. Of course the Starlings had to make their presence felt, if only on the sound track.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Just Good Friends

A couple of House Sparrows were sat next to each other calmly ignoring the constant arguments between the Blackbirds on the ground below.



Here a pair of Collared Doves were sat on top of the artificial wagon wheel taking it in turns to preen each other. It was probably this pair I saw mating the day before and one of which was snapping small branches off a miniature tree to take up to the tall Leylandii.



They stayed there for about ten minutes so I was also able to take some video which I will probably keep for Friday.

Nest box news.



A Blue Tit made a very brief visit to the nest box yesterday so at least they haven't forgotten about it.

Plenty of Garden Visitors

Nothing out of the ordinary but plenty of bird visitors to the garden today. Maybe the early sunshine has brought them out. It doesn't take much to get the Collared Doves in the mood for raising a family. This male, on the left, spent a while billing and cooing with much head bobbing but the female wasn't having any of that nonsence at this time of year.



An easily recognised regular amongst the dozen or more Blackbirds which start visiting just as day breaks is this one which has minimal or maybe no tail feathers. I remember one last year without a tail but I don't think this is the same character.



It isn't just the Rooks which are attracted to the fat balls. This Jackdaw was doing an equally good job of feeding itself and the ground feeders milling around underneath.



During most of the really bad weather the Greenfinches spent most of the time feeding from a seed feeder near the bottom of the garden but today there were more of them about so some came to the feeders near the kitchen.



I tried for ages to get some film of a Dunnock which kept visiting the bird table, and failed. All I managed was a shot of it near the bottom of the garden searching round a plant pot which had cracked during frozen weather.



Also in larger numbers than recently were the Chaffinches.



One short piece of action I would loved to have got on film was when a male Chaffinch attacked a Starling. The Starling was sat on a branch minding its own business when the Chaffinch flew straight at it and chased after it as it flew away. Also missed about a week ago was a stranger which visited the fat balls. By the shape it was something like a Nuthatch or Goldcrest but it disappeared almost as soon as I spotted it so identification was impossible. I have seen a Goldcrest visit once in the past.

Another piece of action I failed to get on record was a further visit to the nest box yesterday by a Blue Tit which spent a while investigating every corner. They really are fussy house hunters - everything has to be just right.

Busy Birdy Bistro

It was definitely a bit on the nippy side at 7 a.m. when we went for our morning  walkies. According to my outdoor thermometer it was -5.6C and I don't think it was far from the mark. A couple of inches of overnight snow added to yesterday's inch made for fairly easy walking until we reached the main street. There, as usual, the scattered salt from the council lorries had melted the snow before the temperature dropped and the road and pavement were covered in patches of ice. In these conditions scattering salt on pavements makes them more dangerous than doing nothing.

Yesterday the Starlings hung around the feeders all day instead of making their usual three short visits. In fact the Birdy Bistro was packed all day with the usual vistors and the chef had to work hard to keep up the supply of seed.

Photos are grainy. I think I should have lowered the ISO but lighting conditions were very variable.
I am always fascinated by the wide open beak method used by Starlings to gather seeds.



This meant that a lot of the time they ended up with a ring of snow round the beak which they had to keep shaking or brushing off.



Every time the birds moved around there would be snow flying about, as with this Chaffinch walking along the top of the bird table.



Some of the smaller birds, as with this Robin, kept out of the way of the Starlings and were very hard to photograph as they kept moving - like this one which took off just as I pressed the shutter.



Between meals the birds found what comfort they could. Here a Collared Dove found a branch in full sunlight and settled down to warm up in the -2C temperature.



This House Sparrow and Robin found a sunlit spot amongst the old brambles.



A Jackdaw found that one of my aerials made a great vantage spot to survey the garden.



A dog has to do what a dog has to do so every now and then Bobby ventured to the bottom of the garden after stretching his weary legs. After all it IS exhausting being curled up in you favourite chair most of the day.

Friday at the (Silent) Flicks

Until recently I had always seen Blackbirds around in the gloom before Sunrise. When checking the recordings from the video camera which monitors the ground feeder it was quite a surprise to find the earliest and latest visitor was in fact a Robin.



Now is the time of year when some windfalls from one of next doors apple trees fall in my garden. I decided to slice one up and put the pieces on the ground feeder to see which birds would be interested. There was only one taker. A Blackbird sampled them on several occasions.



Normally the Collared Doves are quite timid and don't bother the other birds but this one was quite different. There was no way any other bird was going to share its breakfast for very long..




Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you. Take care - I heard several reports of accidents on black ice on the roads in Lincolnshire this morning.

Preening Feathers

Once again I am stuck indoors. A few weeks ago it was gout now, for some unknown reason, the Achilles tendon on my right foot is giving me grief.

Yesterday I noticed a couple of Collared Doves sat on top of the fruit cage and one spent at least five minutes preening. This is something all birds have to do to keep their feathers in top notch condition. It is fascinating watching them carefully arrange their feathers and zip up their flight feathers by drawing them through their beak.



You can see this happen when the dove works on its tail feathers. Phil at Beyond the Human Eye wrote about the technicalities of this process in his entry Zipping Up a Feather along with some macro photos of a feather. If you find a wing or tail feather you can try the process for yourself. If you gently pull along the feather from tip to quill the sections will separate and when you pull the other way they zip back together.

Further detailed information about feathers can be found at Peteducation.com with explanations of the different types of feather.