I'm Hungry

While I was in the kitchen I heard such a loud thump as something hit a window in the conservatory. I nipped through and just saw a shape fly up from the ground and disappear in the nearby trees. Then I spied the Sparrowhawk, female by the size and colouring:






I'm not sure whether it was her or what she was after which bounced off the window but after a short while she flew away.

We All Have To Eat

A bit of a surprise on glancing out of the kitchen window to see a Sparrowhawk on the lawn near the building at breakfast time yesterday. It was only just far enough away to be able to photograph it by standing on tip toe and aiming at a very awkward angle through the double glazing.







Now there is one Starling less to scatter the bird seed all over the place.
All that was left after the incident was a pile of feathers:



I assume from the lack of rusty colour on its front that this was a female.

Sparrowhawks 1 Starlings -1

I knew the cacophony the young Starlings kick up would eventually attract another visitor to the garden:



Collage produced using the Mac app CollageFactory Free.

What is the Magpie Watching?

A Magpie sat in a tree just past the end of my garden intently watching something going on in my garden:



It had spotted a Sparrowhawk which had managed to catch its lunch:



That was followed by something I really wish I had been quick enough to capture on camera. The Magpie came down and slowly walked across in front of the Sparrowhawk. They were only a few inches away from each other. The Magpie went away having satisfied its curiosity and the Sparrowhawk carried on with its meal though with many glances upwards to check there were no more Magpies about.

Wings on Wednesday

It is a long time since I last had a Wings on Wednesday entry. Amazingly, for the time of year, there has been a dearth of birds visiting the garden this month. Every now and then there is a rush of House Sparrows or Starlings and the Great Tits and Coal Tits are pretty regular but the numbers are well down so far this Winter.

One fleeting visitor was a Stock Dove. I haven't seen one of those for months so this was a welcome sighting.



Not quite so welcome was an early morning visit from a Sparrowhawk. This one was sat on the back of an old wooden chair right next to the Birdy Bistro. What I particularly noticed was the way it had its darker back facing outwards which made it blend in better with the fence in the background.



As soon as it spotted me it flew away to hunt for breakfast elsewhere.

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Rain Gauge:

Only a little further with the rain gauge project. Added the ability to switch off the lCD readout in software. The collector is now outside and the electronics in the conservatory while I see how well it works. 3 mm rain recorded yesterday, 4 mm so far this morning.

The unit uses a 9V wall wart power supply but also automatically changes over to a battery during any power interruption - a far from unknown event in this area.

I have decided to change the Arduino Nano for a Mega as the Mega has internal memory I can use to store the results which looks easier to program than the SD card.

Waiting for Breakfast

A Sparrowhawk sitting on an old outdoor chair, less than 6 feet (2 metres) away from the bird feeders, trying to blend in with the fence and patiently waiting for any small bird to visit.







This time the ruse was unsuccessful.

Nest Building Continues but gets Interrupted.

Mrs Great Tit worked very hard most of yesterday fetching material to build her nest in the camera nest box. For the first time I experimented with a cheap radio microphone to pick up some of the ambient sounds. The microphone listens through a hole in the back wall of the shed about a foot away from the box.



The furious activity came to an abrupt halt about 3.30p.m. when a Sparrowhawk caught a Starling in the back garden. Mrs GT had just left the nest and for a short while I was worried that she had been caught. Once the Sparrowhawk had caught its prey the surrounding birds kicked up a deafening row with their alarm calls. One photo opportunity I missed was when a brave? / silly? / angry? Blackbird dive bombed the raptor.



I also have video of much of the event which can be seen HERE. The Starling did its best to fight back and for a while the Sparrowhawk had to be very cautious as the Starling tried to attack with that long sharp beak.

Mrs GT didn't return to the nest box yesterday and I wondered if the event would put her off the site so I was relieved to see her visit the box about 7.30 this morning.

Wings on Wednesday

A bit of a mixture today. The first is from yet another visit from a Sparrowhawk. Once again it was unsuccessful and landed on top of the fruit cage. I kept the camera on it vainly hoping for a flight shot. It is normally too fast for my reactions but this time I just happened to press the camera release button at the moment it was starting to take off. Pure luck as I was expecting a still shot of it sat on the woodwork.



A while ago another of the fancy chickens had found its way into the churchyard. Not often I see such a  brilliant pure white bird. After a search through Google images I think it may be a White Cochin Frizzle Bantam.



Lastly during the unseasonally high temperatures last Sunday (maximum here was just over 18C) it was a trigger for insects of all sorts to take to the air in the glorious Sunshine.. This lacewing had settled on the outside of the conservatory door:



Unfortunately temperatures didn't stay anywhere near as nice and at the time of writing this, midday Tuesday, it is dull, cloudy, just below 8C and feeling distinctly chilly.

A Word Verification Too Far + Unwelcome Visitor

I noticed Keith's mention of the new word verification being introduced by Blogger just after I had battled with it on a couple of sites. Talk about Over The Top! The old system could be difficult to read at times but the new one is awful, stupidly complex, a real bug bear when you read and want to comment on several blogs. What should be a pleasant pastime becomes a chore.

 

I found a link on Keith's blog to Theresa's blog post HERE where she puts a point of view I entirely agree with and an explanation of how to set up Blogger to remove word verification. I ditched it some time ago though I do use comment moderation to filter out the occasional comments which are really just advertising or irrelevant to my topics.

TIP
If you come across one of the modern word verification monstrosities and what you are presented with is  unreadable, click on the circular arrow nearby which keeps changing what is offered. I had to do this several times before finding one which was easily readable on a blog where I wanted to ask for some information.

I think there will be a steady build up of protests in the Blogger Feature Suggestions and Feedback section of Blogger Forums which can be found HERE.

Unwelcome Visitor
Yes, I know Sparrowhawks have to eat but there are times I wish they would look somewhere else. I had just transferred some video clips to the PC and was mounting the camcorder back on its tripod when I spotted this Sparrowhawk sat on top of the Birdy Bistro. Most of the feeders hang below the wood it is standing on.




It looks as though it was unsuccessful this time, in my garden anyway, and took off when another bird made a sound and gave away its position.

Snow For Sunday + Sparrowhawk

For once the weather forecasters weren't telling porkies. So often they get it wrong for the coastal part of Lincolnshire. The forecast was for up to four inches of snow arriving after dusk. It started at 6pm and was still going strong when I retired for the night. Along with the snow was a brisk breeze so it was no surprise this morning to wake up to a good layer of snow, mainly around 3 to 4 inches deep. Some areas with just a dusting and others well over a foot deep where it had drifted.

This is Bobby photographed yesterday sporting his padded Winter coat:



The view from my front door this morning:



Just a few of the many birds in the back garden digging in the snow to find the buried seed and suet pellets.



We went for our usual walk round the block this morning. The going was very slow as there were drifts at every entrance to a property where the wind had piled the snow.

It was inevitable that with so many Blackbirds visiting the garden and kicking up such a row as they squabble that it would catch the attention of a Sparrowhawk. I had already seen it make a couple of unsuccessful attempts but on a return visit it managed to catch one:

 

An Unwelcome Visitor

Another Friday without any new flicks. The video camera was just in the wrong position this morning. Earlier in the week I had added a platform to the Birdy Bistro for those birds which prefer to stand on a flat surface to eat. That meant I could spread out the seed to give better chances for photography. It got better than I anticipated this morning. Soon after a hoard of Starlings had flown in for an early breakfast they all disappeared and a larger shape landed on the platform. It was the local Sparrowhawk. A magnificent bird to look at but a most unwelcome visitor for those who had been enjoying their seeds. It was unfortunate that it took up a position behind the wires which lead to the lights which illuminate the Hedgehog feeding area but for the final photo below I did clone them out with judicious use of the Wireworm plugin.







Even after the Sparrowhawk had departed it was at least 20 minutes before any of the small birds returned.

Friday at the Flicks - Sparrowhawk, Sunlit Starlings, Dunnock, Finches

I was just setting up a different lens combination when I spotted a Sparrowhawk sat just past the end of my garden having a good look round.



Starlings can look so dull and uninteresting until the sunlight catches them to show how their feathers can be multi coloured.



One or two Dunnocks are regular visitors to the Birdy Bistro. Sometimes they visit the bird table but more often they are searching in the shadows. This was the first time I used a new tripod with a fluid head so it was in the way of being a test shoot.



Finally there is always fun and games when Greenfinches and Chaffinches want to use the same feeder.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Friday at the Flicks - Blackbirds, Sparrowhawk

It's hard to remember that it is less than a week since the ground was covered in snow when I put out some sliced apple for the Blackbirds.



I have only seen the Blackbird with white head feathers once so I was lucky to be able to take some video of it.



For the first time I managed to take a short piece of video of a Sparrowhawk blending in as it sat in one of next door's old apple trees. Gerry Gutteridge, who is moderator of the All Things Sparrowhawk group on Flickr, told me it was probably wiping it beak having just eaten.



 Well, that's it for another year. It just remains for me to wish you all a very Happy New Year for 2011.



My thanks to all who have visited during 2010. I hope to continue to see you here and on your own blogs through the coming year.

Even a Raptor Has to Eat

Just went through to the kitchen to heat up yet another mug of cold tea in the microwave when I spotted a Sparrowhawk in the middle of the garden. It had managed to catch a Starling. Dashed to grab the camera and standing near the back of the kitchen photographing through a window covered with raindrops I managed a few murky shots.



I will admit I was relieved when the hawk noticed me and flew off with its prey.

Sparrowhawk Tactics

It is a couple of months since I last saw a Sparrowhawk around the garden and the only reasonable photo opportunity was this one last August.



Mid afternoon yesterday as I glanced round the garden I noticed there were no birds at the feeders. Suddenly a Sparrowhawk came diving in from the side of the garden, shot across the top of the feeders and climbed as it exited the end of the garden. That wasn't so unusual and I thought to myself, another photo opportunity lost.

That wasn't the end of the matter though. Within a few seconds the Sparrowhawk had circled round and performed exactly the same routine - diving in from the side, down over the feeders and climbing as it left the end of the garden. This time though some of the small birds which had been hiding in a tree broke cover and the hunter rapidly followed them until they were out of sight.

What I was wondering was - had I seen a deliberate tactic where the Sparrowhawk attempts to unnerve and scare the smaller birds into breaking cover?

A Raptor Comes Visiting but Leaves Empty Taloned

I have waited a long time to get a photograph of one of the visiting raptors which frequent the garden from time to time. When I went to the kitchen to make a cuppa I had a quick glance round the garden as I always do. Down the end of the garden partly hidden behind the greenhouse was a Female Sparrowhawk perched on an old wooden frame. At least I hope it is a Female Sparrowhawk.



Not the sharpest of photos but at least I got some shots this time. So as not to scare her away I stayed as far back in the kitchen as I could. I think the sight of a wrinkly pointing a 400mm zoom lens right next to the window would have made her depart rapidly.



She stayed for a short while looking at all the places she knew there should be small birds feeding but as can be expected there was not a sight or sound of the usual visitors.



It seemed to be unusual to see a hunting bird perched less than 6 feet (2m) from the ground. I managed to get half a dozen shots before she took off for pastures new. The one thing which surprised me was how small she was. Somehow I had expected a bird of prey to be larger. To give an idea of her size the horizontal piece of wood in the background is about two inches (24mm) high.

If you are interested and haven't had a look yet at the Peregrine Falcon chicks on Derby Cathedral I think their site is worth a visit. They are very recently hatched and the video of the parent bird being so gentle while feeding the chicks is a sight for sore eyes. It's not too gory and can be seen HERE.


I was only wondering yesterday whether the local Heron had survived the weeks of frozen water in the past winter. Well, I did see one this morning weaving round the sky being hotly pursued by three Rooks.