Female Blackcap?

The feeder is working well in its new location. Most birds only land for a few seconds as they are probably still wary of a new feeder. This morning I was pleased to spot what I believe was a female Blackcap. They have visited the garden a few times in past years.



The video is slowed to half speed. If anyone can confirm an identification that would help a lot. The second bird, a Blue Tit, has become a regular visitor already.

Rook Raids Seed Feeder

Several times I found the lid on the seed feeder had been opened. It shouldn't have been gusty winds as it has a magnetic catch. I thought it may have been a squirrel though I haven't seen one in the garden for over a year. This morning I decided to check the camera recordings .....



I should have known that a corvid would have the intelligence to work out how to open the lid - as you can see with this Rook.

Bird Visitors

A while ago I put the waterfall from the old pond to one side as the wooden frame which was holding it up was rotting. Even laid almost flat the pools in the waterfall filled with rain water which attracted birds to bathe and drink. I set up my old trail camera nearby to see what it could capture. It is timed to be working mainly at night with a bit of early and late daylight as the days get longer. A few results so far:

How Time Flies

After a bit of judicious trimming of vegetation and re-positioning the IR detector I set things up again to see what wildlife was visiting for a drink or a quick bath.

Here is the IR detector in place:

 

I was thinking I had built this a couple of years ago and was astounded when I found out I had originally written about building it ten years ago here (Heath Robinson Strikes Again). While the weather is fine I have left the detector in place so the birds get used to it being there.

A few regulars from Tuesday:

House Sparrows


Female Blackbird


Robin

(must remember to set the camera to manual focus)

Wood Pigeons


At least there were fewer false triggers and empty photos to delete.

Attacked from Above and Below

This large suet log has been hanging in the garden for weeks without any takers.

 

All of a sudden, now there are hungry youngsters to feed, it is being attacked from above and below.

As well as the inevitable Starlings there has been the occasional visit from a Rook to attack it from above:



A bit of jittery video, hand held looking through the kitchen window which was in full sunlight:



The attack from below is from a Blackbird:

 

He flies straight up, grabs a beak full and drops down again.



I have watched Blackbirds use the same tactic to grab the berries from ivy hedges when there is no place for them to land on the plant.

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.