Goldfinches

The morning started with an adult and juvenile making a brief visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A short while later six adults came to try out the new seed feeder:



First time for a few years I have seen more than an occasional lone Goldfinch visit.

Autumn Brood

I was surprised to see a juvenile bird this late in the year.





It took me a while to work out what is was. Eventually I was able to briefly see the tell tale yellow of a Goldfinch on its wings. The photographs were taken a day apart so there may well be more than one.

Welcome Visitors

Recently there have been a couple of juvenile Blue Tits making fleeting visits to the bird feeders:



I wonder whether they were from the nestbox behind the shed.

Also nice to see are the occasional visits from Goldfinches:




There was a time when I could see up to a dozen visit but there seem to be far less of them about now.

More Bird Feeder Visitors

The soundtrack was recorded at a different time using a small wav / mp3 recorder
50p coin for scale.



Most of the bird sounds, including the clicking, were made by Starlings.

Bird Feeder Visitors

House Sparrow, Greenfinch and Goldfinch incoming



Greenfinch and Goldfinches



Great Tit



A bit of video



The first time I have had Greenfinch and Goldfinches visit for quite a while.
While I am pleased to see the Greenfinch they make me a bit apprehensive as they have often brought finch disease (Trichomonosis) which is fatal to all the visiting finches.

This and That

Years ago Goldfinches were frequent visitors to my bird feeders.
Since then a few seasons of finch disease and reduced vegetation cover has lessened the chances of seeing one. So far this year I have managed to spot one. A very welcome sight.



Mrs BT is being a very dutiful mother in the Blue Tit nest box.
She is keeping her eight eggs warm and frequently turned.
Mr BT continues to bring her food.

Penny is coming along very well after her dental session last Friday.
Back to normal on the food front - always hungry!
She is enjoying her walks. Must say I'm more that a bit fed up with this cold weather.
Just the day for ....



a steaming mug of hot coffee as seen by the Seek thermal imaging camera.

Two Very Different Youngsters

Unfortunately I didn't manage to grab any new video this week.
Here are a couple of youngsters I saw yesterday.

First a Common Green Shieldbug.
Looks to me to be a 5th instar, one stage away from being an adult:


There is a good set of illustrations showing the different growth stages of British shieldbugs on the BritishBugs site.

This is what it will look like when fully grown:
 

The other was a juvenile Goldfinch which is just beginning to get its colours:





Here is an adult in its full colour:
 

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Friday at the Flicks - Blue Tits + Goldfinches

A couple of short videos to go with previous reports.

The young Blue Tits:



The visiting Goldfinches:



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.


FLICKR's newly added headers and footers to photos.

If, like me, you dislike the 'new improved' look of photos that Flickr have introduced with their embedded code then HERE is the place to make your views felt. Dislike is very much an understatement of how I felt when I saw how distracting and ugly this innovation looks.

Here is an example of the new look:
 

Fortunately it is possible to strip out the offending code but when you post many photos it becomes an annoying chore.

Goldfinches

Recently nature watching has had to be done between daily short sharp bouts of:
(it may take a short while to load the gif)




There was a time when I had a dozen or more Goldfinches visiting at once.
These days their visits are much rarer so it was great to spot these two:




The rain GIF was made from a video clip using 'GIF Maker Tool', a Mac app.

Friday at the Flicks - Young Goldfinches + Hungry Hedgehog

Two young Goldfinches of different ages looking at the amount of red on their heads:



An evening gobbling just about every dried mealworm in sight:



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Friday at the Flicks - Goldfinch

I usually have up to half a dozen Goldfinches visiting but this morning there was just one enjoying some sunlight and a free meal:

No sound on this video:


Have a nice weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Goldfinch

Often get a pair of Goldfinches visiting these days but don't often manage to see one in the clear:

Around the Garden Pond

A quick look at some of the wildlife in and around my garden pond:

Fly:


Wasp:


Pond Skater:


Not seen so far this year are any water boatmen.

Tadpole:


Pond Snail:


Stretch Spider:


Bathing Birds:

Robin:


Juvenile Goldfinch and Starling:



Miniature bullrush,  First of this year's male Blue-tailed Damselflies
  

I have spotted some newts but so far they have been too shy to photograph.

Friday at the Flicks - Dragonfly - Juvenile Goldfinch

A bit of video of the female Common Darter. A bit wobbly as I was balancing one leg of the tripod on the window ledge:



These past few days the level in the nyger feeders has been going down at an alarming rate. All of a sudden I get about a dozen Goldfinches visiting every day. Even when they are not all on the feeders I can hear them twittering to each other in nearby bushes. This video is of one the the juveniles having a good wash in the bird bath:




Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you wherever you are.

Wings on Wednesday

On and off I get visits from a Stock Dove. The past couple of days there have been two. Maybe a nesting pair not too far away.



Another visitor which is seen occasionally is the Goldfinch. Recently it has been rare to spot two on the feeder.



This is only the second time I have seen this particular bird. I guess it may be a female Blackbird though the feathers are grey rather than brown. This one is a lot more timid than the regular Blackbirds. It certainly looks like a member of the Thrush family. Any positive identification will be welcomed.



Mrs Great Tit roosted again in the nest box last night and has made a few visits to add softer material to the nest.

Friday at the Flicks - Goldfinch Invasion, Restored 1943 Ford GPW

Up to last week the number of Goldfinches visiting the Birdy Bistro had been slowly increasing. There were far too many for them all to find perches so many had to make do hunting round the lawn and weeds to find food. The numbers decreased as the daytime temperatures dropped. Maybe other people have started to put out feeders for the Winter.



Now for something completely different. Roy, who lives in the village, has a great interest in old military vehicles. His latest project was restoring a 1943 Ford GPW which is now in full working order. I managed to grab a short piece of video one day as he drove down the lane. It is deliberately slow to give me time to take the video. This is a combination of some photos I took for his insurers who wanted records of everything and the piece of video.



Have fun observing the wildlife wherever you live.

Wings for Wednesday - Those Goldfinches and a Comma

 Really bustling activity at the Birdy Bistro this morning.







 



 To finish with, a Comma Butterfly which actually waited while I got the mobile phone near enough for a decent shot.

Friday at the Flicks - Goldfinches, Blue Tit

There are so many Goldfinches visiting at the moment there is usually plenty of squabbling, especially amongst the impatient youngsters. Like us they have three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and teatime.



There is a microphone behind a small solar panel on the shed. One day I could hear constant tapping which turned out to be a Blue Tit  pecking at the woodwork where a cable enters the shed. The hole is plugged with Blu-Tack. The bird then goes on to investigate the tapes which hold various cables together. Insects use those as safe havens and the Blue Tits often go looking to see what they can find..



 Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Wings for Wednesday

Once again the flock of Goldfinches has increased. There can be as many as twenty arriving by 7 a.m. and by the sound of chattering in nearby trees they stay until it is time to roost for the night. Not the sharpest of photos as they were taken early one dull morning.

A mixture of ages can be seen. The youngest still have the speckling on the breast. Those slightly older have  the brownish chest tint while the adults have the red on their heads.






The first was enhanced using Paint Shop Pro's auto enhancement facility and the second was enhanced using the Redyamix plug in.

Friday at the Flicks - Feathered Squabblers

What a week! Can only think of one thing which has gone right over the past five days but as a failed political party used to say - things can only get better.

In spite of several cleaning sessions this Summer the pond waterfall is more than a little covered in blanket weed so the Starlings have returned to the bird bath:



It has been great to see the amount of visiting Goldfinches increase. Their numbers had dropped drastically after two years of finch disease but this year they seem to have been breeding well and arrive with their youngsters which have the occasional altercation:



Wherever you may be have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.