Visitors to the Pond Waterfall 2 (Heath Robinson Strikes Again)

A chance comment from Adrian about having some sort of Infra Red detector to fire a camera got me thinking. First I spent some time searching to see if such a thing was made. Probably there is but I couldn't find one so the Heath Robinson in me had another one of those rare flashes of inspiration. Would a passive IR sensor as used for burglar alarms be any use? I had an old one kicking about so set about working out how to couple it to the camera. To cut the story short I got the IR detector to work a small relay which operates a cheap wireless camera remote control, all operated from a 12V battery.

Now the camera could be one end of the pond and the detector the other end near the pond waterfall.
 

But - would the IR detector work in Sunlight? Well yes, as long as the Sun doesn't shine directly on the front of it. There are some spurious shots as it detects changes in temperature when the sunlight varies with shadows but it does seem to detect birds moving on the waterfall.

Sparrows, a Starling and a Blue Tit enjoying a bathe.



Blue Tit having a good soak.



Splash it all over



A Wren came for a drink



I'm pretty sure this is the Wren taking off as it was taken soon after the previous photo.



All in all I am quite pleased with the results. The set up was in place from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.. The camera was triggered about 300 times, many of which have no bird in sight but about  40 did, usually sparrows. Most of the bathing activity was between 3.30 and 5.30 p.m. so I now know when to watch out for visitors.

This is the detector, before I put the cover back on the IR unit.

Passive IR detector taking up most of the space. Below that the relay circuit board and on the left hand side the radio transmitter. The receiver can be seen on top of the 350D in the first photo.

The system is not perfect. I am sure it misses some activity as it is difficult for the detector to pick out changes in IR heat in sunlight but it does give an opportunity to see some of the activity at the pond waterfall and see which birds make use of it.

Flix For Friday - A Bucket of Sparrows

I think this short clip was filmed a couple of years ago. I had some scruffy decorative stones soaking in a bucket of water. It was a real attraction for the local House Sparrows. I t was too deep to stand in and bathe so they could only wash behind their ears and every now and then one would dash across the surface.



The soundtrack I call Thumper. I put that together several years ago using software called eJay Dance 4. I had to give up playing with the program as it wouldn't work on later versions of Windozy but I've finally got round to ordering a newer version - so you have been warned - better get a supply of ear plugs on order.

Bobby had his check up today (Thursday). Mike, the vet, was very pleased with his progress though Bobby was not best amused when a blood sample was taken to make sure the tablets were not doing more harm than good. Mike phoned me the results. Red and white blood cell count fine, kidney and liver function OK. Bobby stays on half a table a day. I can try halving that dose in a weeks time.

Keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow's change of ISP goes smoothly.

A Few Feathered Portraits

Yesterday I decided to get out the Sigma 170-500mm lens. I haven't used it since I got the new camera and had always been disappointed by its apparent soft focus. I though I would see how it compared with results I have been getting from the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM. I set things up on my most sturdy tripod as the Sigma is a long heavy beast. The results confirmed my earlier findings. I can often get sharper photos from small crops with the Canon lens.

Anyway here are some of the everyday visitors to the garden taken with the Sigma set at about 450mm most of the time:

Adult Goldfinch


Young Goldfinch


Young Sparrows at the bird bath


Sparrow enjoying Elder berries


Robin


Greenfinch trying to keep its balance


Greenfinch


The lighting conditions were not very kind as the Sun was often hidden behind cloud. I had upped the ISO to cope but even so I still found the results disappointing as the Sigma had had good reviews. Mine is second hand so maybe it is not in perfect condition optically. Also there is the difference in price to take in to consideration as the Canon lens cost an arm and a leg whereas the Sigma only needs an arm!

Natural Food

Yesterday morning there were quite a number of the younger Sparrows congregating on top of my fruit cage.



Lots of coming and going and plenty of the usual Sparrow chatter.



At one stage it looked as though a couple of them were trying to find a way in while others stood on guard watching from above.



I watched for quite a while and noticed that the majority were paying close attention to the leaves of the buddleia which has grown so large some of the branches now rest on the fruit cage. I can only assume there were plenty of insects and it was fascinating to watch as the Sparrows ran their beaks along the leaves gathering what natural food there was.



The background noise includes the sound of a neighbour cutting their lawn.

Later in the day I had a look to see which creatures were being attracted to the Sunflower. Along with the odd bumblebee there was a succession of white butterflies gathering nectar.



In this video clip I have slowed down the second section to one quarter speed and you can clearly see the butterfly testing each section and how it digs deep when nectar is found.



Most of the bird seed is lasting much longer. The ground feeder is hardly used at the moment. I guess many of the birds are finding plenty of natural insect life which means they should be getting a good balanced diet. While the number of Starlings seems to be increasing after a short lull the number of Blackbirds visiting has fallen steeply.

A Tale of a Tail-less Bird and others

For three days now there has been what appears to me a juvenile Blackbird with no tail feathers. It is quite young and a bit of the yellow can still be made out at the base of its beak. There has been no adult with it. Fortunately it is quite capable of feeding itself and spends ages hopping round the lawn finding seeds and helping itself from the ground feeder.







How it came to have no tail feathers remains a mystery. A close encounter with a local raptor? A close encounter with a cat? A problem when developing its juvenile feathers? It is anybody's guess. It can fly just fine so it must have adjusted to the fact.

I often see the occasional large sea bird flying over. Yesterday was quite a sight to watch. There were several waves of large birds with over thirty being seen at any one time as they slowly circled and every now and then dived a short distance as though plucking an insect out of the air. I assume they were one of the gull family but haven't been able to match what I saw with any pictures I could find on the net. Any help identifying them would be appreciated. As usual all I managed were virtually silhouettes. Although it appears dark they were in fact white with a black head so I suppose it could be a black headed gull.



A couple of videos of youngsters to finish with. First a couple of young Sparrows being fed by a parent. As the youngsters kept crowding and nearly squashing the parent it gave up and flew off for a breather.



Finally a juvenile Blue Tit at the nut feeder. As usual the birds always seem to choose the back of the feeder but it does pop its head round a few times. It spent ages trying, and in the end succeeding, to get one particular piece of peanut to take away.



More rain today. It is so humid here it fair takes your breath away.

Monday was a Warm Lazy Day

Last Monday was the first time for many a day since I set up the Sun umbrella and the folding canvas chair and sat out in the garden for a few hours with the camera in my lap.

There are just two plants which are attracting dozens of insects. One is a line of four lavender bushes in the front garden. These have been attracting a continuous stream of scores of bumble bees and dozens of butterflies. The butterfly population is mainly Large Whites along with a few smaller white varieties. I pity any neighbours growing brassicas with such a large population looking for breeding grounds. I tried for some video of the lavender - not the best but does give an impression of the activity.

Wide view of the Large Whites
Close shot of a Small Tortoiseshell
Close shot of my first view of a Painted Lady
Finally a very world weary, wind battered Red Admiral on a fence. (The only one I have seen so far this year)



The other plant which has attracted bumble bees, butterflies and the occasional day flying moth is growing just over the fence in next door's garden.

Bumble Bees


Small Tortoiseshell


Peacock


Painted Lady


I kept seeing white butterflies landing on the lawn - well I say lawn but there is more clover than grass this year! It was the clover which was attracting this one - a Green-veined? which was laying its eggs under the clover leaves.



It has been very windy from time to time and many of the butterflies were looking the worse for wear. This is the Red Admiral from the video. It sat on the fence for a while soaking up the sun. I can't remember how long it is since I have seen one of these in the garden.



There are still plenty of Hoverflies about and the lily flower shown a few days ago is still attracting many. They investigate everything including the seed feeders.



... and various other plants


... including this onion flower head which also sheltered a crop of tiny black beetles.



Bobby had taken up one of his favourite positions in the entrance to the shed where he could find a bit of shade and still keep an eye on me.



Not many birds came to visit the feeders as I was fairly close to them. Those that did kept a watchful eye on me.



One young Sparrow arrived with parent and continually fluttered its wings to remind the adult it was feeding time.



A couple of House Sparrows peered down to see if it was their turn for the seed feeder....



... and a Starling showed off his new coat of many colours.



The adult Starlings have little trouble balancing on the fat ball feeders but the juveniles find it a problem trying to grip the slippery wires.



Finally a seven spot Ladybird investigating the clover leaves. I wonder if it found the White Butterfly's eggs?



Wow - if you made it to the end, thanks for visiting.

Hope Goes Walkabout and Other Sightings

One day last week Hope, the young Hedgehog, was spotted in the garden. It was just light enough to take some video. This is the final piece where she goes trundling off having eaten a hearty meal.



It has rained at least part of most days recently but that doesn't put some birds off when it comes to meal times. This clip starts with a male Chaffinch in dry weather and is followed by a pair of Goldfinches in the pouring rain. In fact in this section you can hear the rain on the conservatory roof. The video is at normal speed - the Chaffinch does eat at that speed!



This morning I was a bit later than normal topping up the feeders and the local House Sparrows gathered patiently waiting for some fresh seeds.



While I was topping up the feeders I noticed a lot of Hoverflies hanging around. Glancing down I could see they were attracted to a couple of my lilies which were in full bloom.



I couldn't resist taking the camcorder out to film them. The close up is a bit wobbly as there was a breeze blowing the flowers about.



In fact this morning when we went walkabout there was one stage where I had to walk through what was almost a cloud of Hoverflies flitting about near one particular hedge. Their numbers have increased dramatically recently, here anyway.

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.

Sparrow Throws Juvenile Greenfinch off Feeder

I had a feeling when I was watching the earlier video of the Juvenile Greenfinch feeding that the Sparrow did more than just scare the youngster away. I slowed the action down to 10% and you can see how the Sparrow lands on the Greenfinch and appears to use its feet to throw the youngster bodily from the perch.

White - Feathers, Lily and Lighting for Hedgehogs

I have noticed over the past year that quite a few birds have white feathers. This has been mentioned on other blogs that I read (including Bird Table News) and has been spotted in several parts of the world but nobody seems to have come up with a reason as to why this seems to be increasing. Today my attention was drawn to this Sparrow with the large amount of white on its head. It looks as though it has been standing out in the snow.



The other day I was pleased to see the first of the water lilies opening in my pond. Many people think that they need deep water. Some do but there are varieties which prefer shallow water. Mine grow well in just 10 inches of water. This is a large flowering variety with a bloom about 3.5 inches across. Each flower only lasts a short time but once they get established there is a sucession of blooms right through the Summer. The large leaves give shade and shelter to the pond dwellers.



For a while now I have toyed with the idea of increasing the amount of white light where the Hedgehogs come to visit. Yesterday I finally got round to converting a small flood lamp to hold two 12 volt LED lamps. Not long ago LED lamps gave poor lighting but the technology is moving on and these give the equivalent of about 20W each. I tried them out last night and the Hedgehogs were not put off at all. Unfortunately the camera switched to black and white about 5 minutes before the hogs arrived so today I altered the camera to stay in colour all the time. Tonight I hope to get some colour video.



The photo shows one of the bulbs. It looks massive but in reality it is the standard size used for halogen spotlights in the home. The juvenile Starling is looking down on the flood light which itself is quite compact.

Writing of colour hog video, Shirl at Shirl's Gardenwatch has a terrific entry about Hedgehogs visiting her garden with a great piece of colour video, photos and lots of information about attracting them to your own garden.

Regular readers may remember the video of the Rook unhooking the fat ball feeder. I sent that to Springwatch and they have included it in the videos on the site. All the movies that people have sent in can be seen on the Your Movies section of the BBC Springwatch site.

Poem and Pictures

When Glo from Porcelain Rose visited the other day she kindly left me a poem. I am so pleased with it I have printed it here. It was written the day I installed the new Hoggy Cam and named my visiting Hedgehogs Henry and Honey. Also there were videos of a Hedgehog and a Magpie.

When Henry met Honey at night,
They thought they were hidden from sight!
What they didn’t know:
They were stars in a show,
Entertaining us all with delight!

Now Maggie is seen clear and bright
With colour cam set up just right,
But her basic hue
Is not red or blue ~
The fact is she’s just black and white!

Thank you again Glo for that lovely apt poem.

............................

A few portraits from yesterday:

Female Chaffinch:


Male Chaffinch:

He was only six feet or so away from me and I had to move the camera into position very slowly in case I scared him away.

Bobby, awake for once, and listening intently:


The past few days the Starlings haven't been the only ones creating a racket. From time to time there have been some very noisy altercations amongst the Sparrows. This is a few shots of one such set to which occurred on the lawn not far from me:

After much noise and fluttering each Sparrow flew off in a different direction.

Missed Opportunity:

If it hadn't been raining for the afternoon walk I would have had the video camera with me. As it was I missed being able to video a Blackbird courtship. To set the scene: Imagine a wide brick gatepost with a flat slab on the top.
Mrs B. was on the slab and Mr B. was on the gravel underneath look up at her. He spread his tail feathers and performed a little dance going round in circles a few times at the same time uttering a few quite sounds. Then he flew up to the slab and repeated the performance. By then Mrs B. had flown away - I did feel sorry for him but she may have already produced one brood and thought enough is enough for now!

A Miner, a Bather and a Hedgehog

I was pottering round the garden this morning checking to see how much the ground was cracking with so little rain when I just happened to spot a hole surrounded by loose earth.



I though to myself - I wonder if I have found the nest site of a miner bee. As it was sunny though cool in the strong breeze I wrapped up well, took a folding chair and the camera and sat and watched. After half an hour I gave up and went for a much needed cuppa. Later I took a tripod and set the camera up and sat in wait. After about five minutes I noticed a slight movement in the hole. Where I had been expecting to see a bee arriving I got just the opposite. Very cautiously the bee crept out of its hole and then flew off at full speed.



The wait had been worthwhile. Later in the day I spent ages trying to get more photos, preferably of it arriving, but nearly three quarters of an hours watching produced zilch. I had had enough for now. I don't think I would have the patience to become a professional nature photographer.

There is some interesting information about mining bees on the Kendall Bioresearch page dealing with solitary bees. Interesting to find that mining bees do not live very long and that the nest hole is open for only a few short weeks so I was lucky to be able to photograph one in use.

Another reason for taking the chair out was the bee hole was just where I needed to be to watch any birds which used the pond waterfall for bathing. I think my presence put many off the idea but did see a Sparrow come for a drink and a male Blackbird have a bath and then sit for ages in the Sun drying out.

I can just reach ....


I'm going to hide behind this fern ....


Ah. That feels better ....


Last night there was the usual Hedgehog visit - jut one this time. They seem to be alternating. Every night the large one comes but every other night so far it has been joined by the smaller one.
I took some photos of the monitor in the living room so the pictures are not fantastic.



As usual I thought hoggy had gone but when Bobby went out at bedtime he made a beeline down the garden - and yes, there was the Hedgehog. Going through to the front garden I saw the Moon was occasionally being hidden by a line of dark clouds so I though I would try a few shots. I think this is the best of the bunch.