Frozen Fingers

Another one of those mornings where every available bit of water was frozen solid - stiff as Thumper would have said. So; one of the first outside tasks was to provide some fresh water for my bird visitors as I had seen some Starlings vainly trying to drink from the frozen water in an old bucket. About half an inch of ice had developed overnight so I got the hammer and chipped it out of the bird bath and tipped out the cold water otherwise it would have frozen over again in no time and topped up with slightly warm water. Next I cleared the ice from the old bucket many birds prefer to drink from.


Next job was to top up the peanut feeder as it had proved very popular yesterday. I first process the peanuts by chopping them in a cheap electric food chopper I bought for under £10. It would be fairly useless for general kitchen use as it only chips away at things like peanuts but it does give some smaller pieces that the little birds can pull out easily. Also I mix in some fat pellets with the peanuts in the chopper to give a fat boost to the food on offer.

Lastly I had to brush off a deep layer of sunflower husks from the bird table. The tits usually take the sunflower seeds away to eat but the Greenfinches always shell them on the table. By the time I had finished my fingers felt absolutely frozen.

Amongst the visitors to the bird bath were:

a Coal Tit


and this female Blackbird


By mid-day the bucket was freezing over again but these two Starlings managed to get a drink.


On the lawn a Greenfinch was picking up some of the scattered seed.....


while a Sparrow sat on a dwarf tree keeping a sharp eye out for predators.


Meanwhile a Dunnock was making off with a Sunflower heart from the bird table...


and one of the local Robins sat in the dappled shade.


There are two regular Robin visitors to my garden. One has a pure red breast and the other has a small white patch at the top of the red. I hope they are a breeding pair. All in all it was another pleasant morning watching the local bird life while the Sun was shining brightly. It definitely made up for those frozen fingers!

Our Turn for Some Snow

This morning it was our turn to get some snow. At one time the snowflakes were so large the autofocus on the camera kept trying to focus on them as they floated past the window. There are limits to the usefulness of automation!


On our daily walk on the field Bobby had to investigate the snowmen.



There is something special in the sight of trees when they have a coating of snow on the branches. A dwarf tree in my front garden.



For a while early this morning it was like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds" as some species gathered to spy out their daily food ration.

Rooks from a local Rookery gathering on rooftops.



Starlings in a bare tree.



One of the Greenfinches waiting its turn to visit the bird table.



Yesterday I was trying out some different settings on the Canon when I was rewarded by the sight of a couple of Long Tailed Tits making a very brief visit to the large fat balls. There are usually up to seven at a time but this time there were just the two. They never stay long so it is always a pleasure to see and capture a photograph of such cute birds.

Frozen Garden Pond

As usual in this weather my garden pond is frozen over. It is a bit unusual as it is rectangular (about 18 ft x 12 ft) and no more than 12 inches deep. It was originally built for testing radio control model boats but that idea fell through a few years ago so I decided to put some plants in it. There are marginal water plants and several shallow rooting pond lilies along with oxygenating plants. Over the years it has attracted several species of Dragonfly and Damselfly to visit and investigate. Unfortunately there are also some fish in it which, in spite of it being so shallow, have bred profusely. This attracted the attention of a Heron which visited nearly every day just at daybreak last Spring which has helped to keep the fish numbers down.





Before this pond I had a much smaller one where frogs used to lay their spawn every year. They have also used the new pond but the fish are a problem. Last year I put a container made of fine mesh to protect the spawn but once the tadpoles grew they found a way out and I think they were all eaten. This year I will try to build a tadpole proof cage for them.


A Southern Hawker Dragonfly visiting the pond last year.



Blue Tailed Damselfly which followed me round the pond last Summer. Every time I stopped to photograph something it settled near me. I'm sure it wanted its photo taken.

Unwelcome Visitor

One of the pitfalls of putting out food to attract birds to the garden is some of the other wildlife which it attracts. One which can be a nuisance merely because of the amount of food it can eat or just steal is the grey squirrel. In spite of that it is still nice to observe them at close quarters. Not so welcome (if at all) is the brown rat. Their numbers are increasing and as easy food becomes scarce in Winter they are attracted by any food left lying around. This is especially so with the seed I scatter on the lawn for the birds which prefer to feed on the ground. A few weeks ago I saw one in broad daylight which joined in with the birds to help itself. It was so bold it almost rubbed noses with a pheasant which was feeding at the same time. Needless to say I got in touch with the local pest control officer who, for a price, came round and left some special food in safe places for Mr. Ratty. All that food has now gone and so has my unwelcome visitor.





My intention, when it warms up a bit, is to build a large low table to put the seed on. I think I will use some spare plastic water down pipe for the legs and hope that Mr. Ratty's relatives will not be able to climb them. After a previous time when I saw a rat on the bird table I fixed a large plastic plant pot upside down half way up the upright post so rats and squirrels cannot climb up it. I think it stopped the rats but the squirrel just jumps across from a nearby fence!

Snow ... What Snow?

Here in my part of Lincolnshire we have had very little snow so far, less than half an inch and some parts of the garden have none. Just before dusk yesterday I made sure all the bird feeders were topped up as such dire weather had been forecast and they kept mentioning Lincolnshire as an area likely to be badly affected. When I got up at 7 this morning I was surprised to see so little snow on the ground. The birds were already helping themselves to breakfast. Bobby took me for my morning walk and then I cleared out the ice and old water from the bird bath as that was frozen over. I topped it up with slightly warm water so it would not freeze again too quickly. There has been a steady stream of all the usual bird visitors and 'Squirrel Nutkins' who makes an appearance from time to time. S/he will either attack the peanut feeder or search out some sunflower seeds.





There was no sign of activity in the tit nest box last night. I am beginning to think that it has made a roost elsewhere and has been using the wood shavings it took from the box to make it cosy.


Later ...
Good news - shortly before dusk the Blue Tit made a brief visit to the nest box. It was probably sheltering from the fine sleet which had been falling for about an hour. It spent most of the time in the entrance hole which is about 1.5 inches (4cm) deep. I could see its tail on the nest box camera and its beak on the external camera.

Snow = More Birds

The snow forecast for Lincolnshire has been arriving in bouts today. Each time it gets a bit heavier. Does that mean the birds have gone to roost early? Not here. It seemed the harder it snowed the more birds turned up to eat the seed they knew would be available on the bird table and on the grass.

I will be watching with interest to see whether the Blue Tit will use the nest box again tonight to shelter from the bitter wind. There has been no sign of activity in it for quite a few days. Where I used to see one at the feeders, recently there has been a pair so maybe they have made another roost nearby.

Jackdaw with White Feathers

After noticing Jackdaws for the first time a few days ago another one visited the garden yesterday. It was cold but beautifully sunny for much of the day so once again I set up the camera with the long zoom lens in the kitchen. I know this Jackdaw was a new one as the previous pair had the traditional colouring. The newcomer had many white feathers which were very noticeable. I have recently heard and read about blackbirds with some white tail feathers and have seen a Chaffinch with some white tail feathers. It would appear it is not uncommon amongst blackbirds to have some white.

These photographs are of the same bird. The blueish one was taken when it was in the shade on the lawn but when it was in full sun on the shed roof it looks black.