Friday at the Flicks - Apple Lovers - Fieldfare

Confession time - I am now pretty sure that what I saw on the bird table a few days ago was not a Fieldfare but a female Blackbird like this one enjoying apple when the Starlings stopped barging in:




But - to make up for things - a lovely surprise this morning. A genuine Fieldfare spent hours under the Birdy Bistro defending and eating the apple it had found. It was alone so I guess it had been blow a bit off course as they usually arrive in flocks.

    

This one was obviously very hungry and vigorously chased off any Blackbird which got too close. Shirl (Shirl's Gardenwatch) wondered whether I would manage to capture any video - here it is, taken this morning:



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Fieldfare? on the Bird Table

Unfortunately only a couple of really grotty shots .....






..... but I am pretty sure it was a Fieldfare which visited the bird table this morning.

That will teach me to keep the UV filter clean. Also the 50D always seems to have problems when the battery is low and the indicator was flashing at me this morning.

Macro on Monday - Guess What + Fieldfare

No fooling some people - so congratulations and  to Keith, Wilma, Glo, John and Jan who all correctly identified the Comma Butterfly last Monday.

   

On to this week's macro photograph (taken last week)
Guess What:



Fieldfare
I thought it was a year since I last spotted a Fieldfare but searching through my blog it was in fact two years ago when a flock visited the village. (see HERE).  This morning there was a fleeting visit to a tree just past the end of my garden. I tried to will them to come down in my garden but after a short stay they flew off together.

Just a rather grainy record shot of a few of them:


Later on I will have a walk down the lane to where I know there are lots of windfall apples which is what attracted them last time.

Senior Moment
Just to let Adrian know that he is not alone. This morning I searched high and low for my favourite mug I always use for a decent size cuppa. It was only when I looked in the microwave that I found it, full of cold tea left over from last night when I had put it there to reheat.

Those Fieldfare and their Apples

We seem to be getting a new layer of snow each night. It actually makes walking round the village easier for the early morning walk. It's only after many feet have compacted it that it gets a bit more difficult. In spite of the snow the birds continue to devour everything they can find.

The flock of Fieldfare has partly dispersed as they finish off the windfall apples but there were at least 20 in the old orchard yesterday. In fact first thing yesterday morning they were sat on the branches overhanging my garden. They just sat there in the gloom watching the ever growing number of Blackbirds rioting over what scattered seed they could find. I counted over 20 Blackbirds.

Later in the day I noticed the Fieldfare had returned to the old orchard across the lane so I took the camera across to see if I could get some photos of them. Fortunately there is a wall just high enough to hide most of me and some bushes to screen the camera. Where there used to be dozens of whole rosy apples on the ground it is now a scattering of apple peel and cores with just the odd nearly whole one to attract a few  Fieldfare for a while longer.







Occasionally there would be a short squabble over ownership .....





.... but it didn't take long to get back to the serious business of eating.



I would be very surprised if there are many of this flock left today as most will have moved on to pastures new by now.

Friday at the Flicks: Fieldfare, Feeding in the Snow

As the large flock of Fieldfare stayed around all yesterday devouring the windfall apples just across the lane from me I managed to take some video of them. Although the camera was outside it didn't pick up much of the constant chatter of so many birds in one place.



Apart from one day of clear roads and paths we have had snow around for about three weeks now. We haven't had the large falls seen by many but every time it starts to thaw we get another inch or so to top up the levels.

Noise levels in the garden can be very loud with Sparrows constantly chattering, Starlings squabbling and now Blackbirds constantly tutting and clucking at each other.



Snow or no snow, freeze or baking Sun the job of finding enough food has to go on for the visiting birds. Here a Blue Tit seems to have to work really hard to chip off pieces from a frozen fat ball. It is not speeded up - the poor bird was really working at this speed.



A Blackbird seemed to be leaping in the air to get more power to its beak as it struggled to pick up seed frozen in the grass.



Nothing stops Starlings in their quest for food, not even a heavy downfall of snow.



I am beginning to wonder how much longer my stock of seed will last and when it will be an easy drive to pick up some more as there seems to be less salt being used on the main street through the village. At least temperatures have been around zero or just above so the water I put out each morning doesn't freeze over very quickly.

An Orchard full of Fieldfare

Normally I concentrate observing through the kitchen window at the back of the building. Something made me look out of the front room window this morning and I was greeted by the sight of scores of small birds on the remaining apple trees in what used to be an orchard. I tried many photos through the window but recent snow had brought down so much dust and dirt the results were useless. In the end I crept outside and up to the front gate and managed to get some decent shots. Now I could identify what I was looking at - a flock of anything up to a hundred Fieldfare. What a fantastic sight. In this tree I counted just over three dozen.



There was another tree with just as many and scores more on the ground amongst the windfall apples. Every time someone walked or drove down the lane they would all take to the air only to return a short while later.



This was a rare sight for me and an opportunity not to be missed especially with a bird I had not seen before.




 What an incredible sight it was, especially when they took off like a cloud rising from the ground there were so many. Unfortunately a hedge was in the way for photographing those on the ground.