A Local Visitor Returns

With the exception of last Winter I have usually seen a few Tree Sparrows join the House Sparrows at the feeders. I had begun to worry as to what had happened to them. Therefore I was delighted recently to see one join the other sparrows at the seed feeder.

The Tree Sparrow is easily recognised by its brown head and the white cheeks with a large black spot:





Here the Tree Sparrows are usually seen down a lane with tall uncut hedges and trees but as the weather gets colder and natural food scarcer they often move to join the House Sparrows at bird feeders:





So far I think there is just one but I hope a few more may join the group for the Winter.

Tree Sparrow and Baby

I have become used to Tree Sparrows joining the House Sparrows during the Winter and I had noticed the odd one about for a few weeks recently. It came as quite a surprise when one turned up with a youngster:







The silent section of this video was taken with the 50D and the rest with the Hitachi DVD Cam:

Friday at the Flicks - Tray of Tree Sparrows - Bathing Blackbirds

Several of the bird species visiting the garden seem to have started trying to establish territory. I have noticed more squabbles and chases going on which is unusual during the very cold weather we are having at the moment. Fortunately the Tree Sparrows are still able to share the available food which can be seen in this clip as several feed together in the covered seed tray:



As well as finding it hard to find their natural food birds also have a hard time finding water in our below zero temperatures. They need it not only to drink but also to bathe. Usually it is the Starlings which like to splash it all over but a couple of days ago I saw several of the Blackbirds take advantage of the little waterfall on my garden pond. Fortunately the running water has not frozen unlike the bird bath which is just solid ice.

The outside temperature was +1.5C and falling fast - that is snow which can be seen in the background. The final clip is a bit grainy as the light was fading fast:



To end with - a photo taken 9.30pm last night
Second dose of the white stuff:


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

Friday at the Flicks - Rook - Pheasant - Tree Sparrows - Bug

Although they have been mainly regulars, for once it has been a good week for shooting video of some of my garden visitors. First the lone Rook which perched for a while on top of the bird table. From its general looks I got the impression it was one of last year's brood though I could be wrong. (No sound on this clip)



The Cock Pheasant continues to visit. This was the first time I had seen it drink. It is using my 'nursery' pool which I use to put the frog spawn in until it has developed enough to stand a chance of surviving the fish in the main pond. After drinking it had a quick preen and then wandered across to see what seed had been spilt from one of the feeders.



The Tree Sparrows continue to visit the garden.



We have finally reached some cold weather - nowhere as bad here as the media would have people believe. To see some of the headlines you would think the whole country was covered by Arctic conditions. In face here it dipped below 0C, to -4.5C, last night. First time for ages.  Anyway, like last Winter, there has been an explosion in the number of Blackbirds visiting the garden. Thursday morning I counted fifteen milling about looking for scattered seed.

Finally a bit of experimental video. A few days ago there was a small bug / beetle / weevil / whatever on my kitchen windowsill. It had been there, upside down, for a couple of days and I assumed it was dead. I decided to photograph it before disposing of it but to my surprise, once under the iPhone4 fitted with the cheap microscope (see HERE) I could see its legs were moving. This was a chance for a bit of macro video, first while it was upside down and then to try and follow it when I put it the right way up. The app used was Camera+ which I zoomed in a bit. The resulting files were zoomed in Corel Video Studio Pro 4. The bug was on my Union Flag tea towel and each weave is about 1mm wide so the bug was a little over 4mm long. Needless to say I was delighted with the result which is pretty clear even on full screen.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you, no matter where you are or what the weather.

Wings on Wednesday - Pheasant + Tree Sparrows + BGB

The cock Pheasant continues to be a regular visitor to the garden.



Another regular Winter visitor is the Tree Sparrow. They spend most of the year in the hedgerows of the local fields but in Winter will often join with the House Sparrows to visit garden feeders. They seem to have bred well last season as I now get up to a dozen visiting at the same time.



BGB  (RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch)
For those in the UK the weekend 28th / 29th January is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch weekend. The idea being to watch for any one hour period on one of those days to record the maximum number of each species of bird which visits a garden. Full details can be found on the RSPB site HERE.

AURORA:
Apparently the last aurora was one of the most spectacular seen in the Artic regions. Unfortunately none has been seen this far South but I did see a report that the previous display was seen at Tan Hill in Yorkshire.
A picture can be seen in The Telegraph HERE.
Also some photos on the BBC News site HERE.
Plenty of orange sky here but that was just the street lights reflecting from mist and low cloud!

Wings on Wednesday

Glorious day yesterday. Set up the 350D to take some automatic photos of any birds visiting the garden pond waterfall. Lighting not so good as the Sun is lower in the sky so the depth of focus wasn't great.

Mainly House Sparrows. Not a good photo but gives an idea of how well they have been breeding this year.



Of course Starlings cannot resist a good bath either.....



... making sure everyone else gets a good shower at the same time.



Back with the Sparrows I have been pleased to see a few Tree Sparrows returning to the feeders after spending the Summer in the local hedgerows. Young House Sparrow at the top, Tree Sparrow underneath.



Another missed photo: (Bee or Moth?)

While I was seeing what to prune out of the remaining Lavender bush I spotted a new visitor. Was it a bee or a moth? It looked much like the Hummingbird Hawk Moth photos I have looked at but the descriptions say the size is 35 to 45 mm wingspan and my visitor seemed smaller than that. The body looked just like a smallish bumblebee, it had the straight snout sticking out in front and hovered like a hummingbird. Of course I dashed in for the TZ7 but it had gone by the time I got back and I haven't seen it again.

Blue Tit and Tree Sparrows

It has taken literally hours to upload less than 150MB of video. YouTube kept stalling and even when one eventually uploaded I was informed it had failed because of  'an unexplained error'. Eventually I uploaded them to Photobucket.

A Blue Tit at the peanut feeder:



I think there were three Tree Sparrows visiting the bird table. The wire mesh is to keep the larger birds out and give the smaller ones a chance.

Tree Sparrows

Now the cold weather has set in the Tree Sparrows have left the field hedgerows and joined up with the House Sparrows in visiting the feeders. They are easily distinguished by their brown heads and white cheeks with a large black spot.





Though we have not had it as cold as some areas of the UK it was more than cold enough last night. This is how the outside temperature has declined over the past week.



Although yesterday only managed a top temperature of 4C it was enough for most of the snow in the village to melt away. What little was left was well and truly frozen hard this morning when we went walkabout. It was -5C at 7 a.m.. According to the latest forecast this cold snap could be with us for another two weeks.

Friday at the Flicks - Garden Bird Visitors, A Modern Scarecrow

A bit of a dearth of new video at the moment as the birds are eating less from the feeders during this mild spell and the dull grey skies are not conducive to clear photography. Anyway here are some of the birds which came to eat this week.

Starling
Goldfinch
Coal Tit
Great Tit, Tree Sparrow, Male Chaffinch, more Tree Sparrows



 Something I have been meaning to video for quite a while is a bird scarer / modern scarecrow which seems to do a decent job on a local vegetable patch. It doesn't really show well on the clip but the 'head' is made up of different sections some of which are holograms which really glitter as it turns round in the wind.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Friday at the Flicks - Nestbox, Bird Visitors, Tree Sparrow

A few days ago there was more interest in the nestbox with a Blue Tit examining the outside early in the morning and another internal visit later in the day from a Great Tit. Since this was filmed I have moved the outside camera a bit nearer to get a better close up.



A few of the regulars to the garden.
Dunnock, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Wren and Blue Tit


On the only visit to the garden so far  this Autumn here is the Tree Sparrow



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

A Visiting Tree Sparrow

Through last Winter several Tree Sparrows joined the local House Sparrows visiting the feeders in the garden. They all left in the Spring to move back to the field hedgerows so yesterday was the first time I had seen one for several months. There was just one looking well fluffed out as it sat in the sunshine on a very cold morning.





I didn't see it come down to feed. It just sat there for several minutes watching the other birds.

Bedlam at the Feeders

An abrupt change in the weather this morning brought a gusty wind with rain and snow mixed. It is a long while since I had to top up the seed feeders during the morning but the birds had obviously taken notice of the weather forecast for a cold spell which may last into next week and decided to stock up with as much as possible in the shortest time.

Clear off mate. I was here first.


Go find you own feeder. This one is occupied.


Tally Ho. We will soon knock all those Sparrows off their perches.


Ah. A free space at last.


How do you get the seeds out through those tiny slots?


It's all mine.


 It has been a while since so many Greenfinches came to the feeders near the kitchen. They usually prefer the feeders nearer the bottom of the garden.

A Bit More of the White Stuff and a Resident Pheasant

For once the weather forecasters got things correct. We did get one session of prolonged snow. It didn't stop the bird visitors from eating. In fact they became even more frantic to stock up.

Tree Sparrows and a Chaffinch


The usual Starlings and House Sparrows


Most unusual, in my garden, to see two male Blackbirds so close to each other.


Just as the light was beginning to fade I noticed that the pheasant was sitting in a tree at the bottom of the garden. Even when Bobby went for a stroll round it stayed there with just its head following Bobby's every move.


For the moment it seems to have adopted my garden for there it was at daybreak ignoring the squabbling Blackbirds on the snow covered lawn.


 It even strolled over to the ground feeder and helped itself to a free breakfast.

As the Sun Rises the Temperature Drops

It usually happens this time of year. As the Sun rises and burns off some of the cloud cover the temperature drops a few degrees. At 7 a.m. when we went walkabout it was about -1.3C and two hours later with the Sun streaming through the window it is -3C outside.



Between Christmas and New Year when temperatures were reasonable for the time of year the number of birds visiting the Birdy Bistro dropped and the feeders were hardly being used but since the temperatures dropped again the seed had been vanishing at an alarming rate.

Starlings, House Sparrows and one Tree Sparrow (round the back of the feeder)


There was little light when I went through to the kitchen first thing this morning but some birds were already tucking in to any scattered seed. The numbers of Blackbirds visiting seem to be increasing daily. Last week they averaged six or seven at a time.This morning I counted twelve!

After breakfast I scattered some more seed mixed with some suet treats which are always very popular.

Male Blackbird:


Female Blackbird:

Starling:


At the same time I changed the frozen dish of water for a fresh one:


It has been difficult taking crisp photos as the light has been poor where the birds are feeding in the shade of the building.

Some of The Usual Visitors

It is so hard to find a time when there are birds flocking to the feeders which coincides with reasonable photographic weather conditions. Over the past few days the largest flocks have been of Sparrows, both House and Tree. As there are only a few perches on the seed feeder they normally wait either on the cables above the feeders or in the safety of the dead brambles next door until they spot an opening. There can be up to two dozen of them milling around at the same time.



At one stage I though the Tree Sparrows had stopped visiting but closer observation usually shows two or three mixed in with the House Sparrows. The Tree Sparrows have a distinctive large black spot on each side of the head and smooth chestnut coloured feathers on top of the head.



Constant visitors include the Greenfinches and the Goldfinches.



First thing this morning I was watching a Magpie. It was bouncing across to the ground feeder, choosing a seed, bouncing to the edge of the lawn and part burying the seed. Then it would repeat the process. It was only making a half hearted attempt at burying the seeds and I think the other birds will soon find them. Normally all the other birds keep well out of the way while the Magpie is feeding but today a Blackbird decided to stand on the weather cover above the video camera and out stare the Magpie - which it succeeded in doing.



A rarer visitor is this Carrion Crow which glided in to see if it was safe to find a bite to eat but in the end decided to try somewhere else.

Friday at the Flicks

Weather has been pretty dull for photography and filming this past week but here are a couple of snippets. The first is one of a visiting Tree Sparrow. They are much more timid than the House Sparrows and are easily bullied. This one was having a real problem trying to find a spare perch at the feeders.



After the last Goldfinch was caught by an unknown predator out in the open I moved the ground feeder nearer the fence and shed so it would be more hazardous for the local Sparrow Hawk to swoop down on it. Also it is now stood on a small metal table to make it more difficult for the local killer black cat to creep up on it. Here a Goldfinch and Greenfinch are helping themselves to some of the seed spillage from the feeders which I tipped on the table.



I have added some other measures to help keep the cats away. More of that another day.

Yesterday I said I should have the photo of the crossed Starlings on my Coat of Arms. Well - in an idle moment I had a play with my old copy of PaintShop Pro and came up with this piece of nonsense. Shield outline found on the net and then a bit of resizing, cutting and pasting.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Lights, Camera, Action.

Today it is the turn of the House Sparrows. It is not only the Goldfinches which squabble for a place on the feeders. Lighting very variable so high ISO.

Even this Starling found squabbling Sparrows too much to bear!


Try the basement, there's space there.


 If you don't move I'll smother you.


 Give us a kiss and stop moaning.


 I'm telling you - I booked this seat yesterday.


 I'm pleased to see that I still get visits from Tree Sparrows.


Not forgetting a pair of crossed Starlings. Maybe this should be on my Coat of Arms.