Nesting Fever

There has obviously been a rapid increase in the number of birds constructing their nests. Several times a day I see female blackbirds with beaks full of nesting material. This morning I watched a House Sparrow pull off a piece of half dead grass. It then ran it through its beak as though testing it. Obviously it failed the test as the bird put it down again. The Collared Doves are taking material into my specimen Leylandii (It is about 70ft tall even after having about 30ft cut off the top a couple of years ago) I am tempted to have it felled completely but so many birds use it for nesting and shelter it will probably stay as long as it remains safe.

I am coming to the conclusion that the Blue Tits have abandoned the idea of taking up residence in the tit box. The contents have remained undisturbed for four or five days now. This following one day where there was a lot of activity and everything looked just fine.



Yesterday a Great Tit again visited the Robin box and spent a short while investigating it.

This morning for only the second time ever I had a Goldfinch visit. It was sat on the clothes line and may have been looking for the niger seed feeder which had been close to that position. I had moved it a couple of days ago to a more secluded spot further down the garden so I shall have to wait to see whether it finds the new position.





Otherwise it has been lots of the usual visitors. There has been an increase in the numbers of House Sparrows visiting the feeders. Rooks now seem to be amongst the regular visitors to the lawn.



I am beginning to see differences in the Rooks. Individuals are often easily spotted by looking at the shape of the beak. Most have various lumps and bumps and each beak is different. I will have to go through my collection of photographs and see haw many different individuals I can pick out.

Lastly a picture of a Starling in flight. Not a brilliant photo as it was a distance away. I like it as the bird was caught at the moment when the wings were closest to the body. It looks to me as though it is jet propelled!



Happy Easter to all. Have fun birding or just relaxing. John

Indoor Outdoor Plants

Each Winter I put a lot of my more delicate plants in the unheated conservatory to try to keep them going. It normally maintains at least 4 to 5 degrees C above the lowest outside temperature. This last winter was harsher than the previous few and I lost more than usual. Not least were three of my small orchid plants which I will replace once we get through the Easter silly season for prices at the garden centres. My three Cymbidium plants did survive and are producing a reasonable number of flower spikes.

Many people assume all orchids are hot house plants but many need cooler conditions. Ideally these should have a minimum of about 10C but so far they have survived short periods well below that. They will spend the Summer outdoors. I do not know the varieties as they all came unnamed. Here is the first variety to open this year. These blooms will last for many weeks.



Among the plants being overwintered were two identical hanging baskets which I had planted last Spring each with two varieties of Fuchsia. One was a disaster and most of the plants died. The other only lost one plant. The trailing plants, Fuchsia Trudi Davro, are just beginning to flower again.



The plants in the top of the baskets are red with very dark, almost black, centres and the two varieties make a lovely contrast. Before too long I should be able to take cuttings and start a new batch so I can replant the other basket.

Bobby's Anniversary:
I don't know when Bobby's birthday is but today it is three years since he came to join me from The Ark Animal Rescue and Retirement Home. He is at least 11yrs old now. Tonight we will have his favourite dinner - roast chicken with all the trimmings.

A Thrush, a Pellet and a Rook

Over the past few days it has been pleasant to listen to a Song Thrush filling the air with a beautiful array of notes. Late yesterday I actually spotted it on the lawn in the back garden. It was keeping very close to the building so I nearly had to climb in the sink to get a shot. I wasn't going to miss this opportunity if I could help it as it is such a rare event here. Years ago I could hear thrushes bashing the living daylights out of snails every day.

The pale section at the bottom of the photo is the window sill!


This morning I noticed what looked like a bird pellet lying on the path under my aerials. At first I though it might be from an owl but examination showed it seems to be made up of seed husks and small pieces of stone.

There's that 5p again (we pensioners can't afford 10p pieces) The 5p being about 18mm across.



Research on the web brings me to the conclusion that it is from a Crow or Rook.

Writing of Rooks: One was sat on the large fat ball feeder yesterday but flew off before I could photograph the evidence. It didn't go far, just to a tree where it could watch and wait for another opportunity.


After a short wait, me still with camera in hand, it decided it was safe to return.




Unfortunately it spotted me and veered off disappearing to pastures new.
Never mind - there will be another day and I know it will be back in the not too distant future.

Nest Box Update
Everything seems to have come to a full stop for the moment. The contents have not changed for over 48 hours. This has happened before so I am not too worried yet.

Grubbing About and a Dry Bath

While I was preparing a container for some new strawberry plants I found these grubs, larvae, in the old compost. I put them in a plant saucer with a 5p coin for size comparison. The 5p coin is about 18mm across.



Closer look. Not brilliant as it is a small crop. I was still using the 70-200mm lens which does not have a macro facility. Waiting patiently for a macro attachment for it.



If anyone can give a positive identification I will be very grateful.

Many thanks to Greenfingers (Beyond the Human Eye & Cabinet of Curiosities) for identifying the grubs of the Vine Weevil for me. The grubs can be a real problem for some potted plants and eventually kill them. Further information and some control measures can be found on the RHS site.

A Bath Without Water

I kept muttering things about local motorists scuffing up the entrance to my drive but in reality it is actually a bath. As the gravel has loosened over the years it has made an ideal site for the local Sparrows to have their dust baths.



This part of the drive is covered with bare circles where the Sparrows have been doing what Sparrows have to do.

Mixed Bag and a Puzzle

Just had to take this rather uninspiring photo of the Sun first thing this morning as it was the first I had seen of it for over two days.



Once the Sun had burned off the low cloud which had blocked it out since Wednesday then things began to look a lot brighter like the patterns on the head of this Great Pond Snail.



Even last years left over seed heads on the Buddleia made an interesting composition.


The Magnolia bud I had photographed a few days ago is now fully open.



On our afternoon perambulations I spotted a Crow flying around with what looked like a beak full of sheeps wool. Finally it settled near another Crow. I assume this was intended as nesting material but there was no sign of a nest anywhere nearby and eventually they took off and disappeared into the distance.



For a while now I have been trying to get a half decent photo of these ducks. Haven't the foggiest what breed they are. They are bred locally and live on a large pond on the edge of the property. Their dark colouring has been difficult to capture. At first I thought they were all black but sunlight shows subtle blue and purple with some dark green on the side of the head.



In another part of the village is this magnificent 'tree house'. Well not really a tree house but it would make a lovely hide to spot the birds visiting the field which backs right up to it.



On a limb of one of the Ash Trees we pass I saw what to the naked eye looks just like a black lump stuck on the side of the branch. I couldn't see any detail until I tweaked the photo a bit. I assume it is a fungus of some sort but have no knowledge in that direction at all.



Now the puzzle:
As usual Squirrel Nutkins was grabbing as much as s/he could from the peanut feeder. When it spotted me it leapt on the fence top and started to race down the garden as usual. This time it stopped half way, came back, went down on the ground and then in a flower container. There it picked up one of the pebbles and made off with it. Now why would it take a pebble?
a) to smash open acorns
b) to sharpen its teeth
c) to throw at Bobby when he gets too close
:>)
or some other sensible reason?

I tried Google and Yahoo searches and the only mention I could find of Squirrels taking pebbles was on SQUIRRELWEB.



New one for me: 6.30 pm and on the lawn was a male Yellowhammer - such brilliant colours. Never seen one in the flesh before but it was unmistakable. As usual the camera had been put away and the bird didn't stay for long. Here's hoping it will visit again.

Catch That (Hover) Fly

It is not very often I use manual focussing with moving objects but when they are small and don't stay in one place very long I find it gives more predictable results. Thus it was when I found a group of Hoverflies in the corner of the garden yesterday afternoon. I tried auto focus but unless the fly was in just the right place in the viewfinder the lens promptly focussed on the background.

Hoverflies do hover in one place for brief periods and when trying to photograph them it seems very brief indeed. When they move it is in sudden fast leaps to another position. So with lots of focus twiddling and not a little silent cursing I set about capturing this little beastie.

As, it seems, with all creatures there are many opportunites to photograph the back end......



.... but with a bit of patience and a lot of luck I did at least get one side on view. Just look at the size of that compound eye compared with the rest of the body:

Hoverfly - Dronefly


The depth of field on these was shallow but practice, hopefully, will make perfect ..... one day.

A Newt at Last

The newts in my pond have been leading me a merry dance. Every time I have spotted one the camera has been indoors and by the time I fetched it the newt had disappeared. Until today. The first time it did its usual trick but the second time it actually stayed still for a short while and gave me a few chances to photograph it.

Common (Smooth) Newt - Lissotriton vulgaris




The original shots are very grey so I used the Auto Adjust Colours facility in IrfanView to enhance them. I have used IrfanView for many years as it is so easy to use for quick cropping and colour adjustment. Another big advantage is that it is free.

This newt is larger than one I saw a few days ago so it looks as though the garden population is thriving. Reading the information on The Garden Safari it would appear that they can live for up to 19 years so this may be one of the older ones. I would estimate it to be getting on for 3.5 in (9cm) long.

It might be nearly my last chance to spot them this year as they spend the Spring in water and are active during the day. The rest of the year they become night active land dwellers.

Spent part of the day levelling sections of the pond surround. It is entirely above ground level and was originally for testing model boats which is why it is only about 10 inches deep. This does not seem to bother the aquatic life which continues to thrive. It is surrounded by potted plants of various types and there are many marginal water plants in the pond itself plus some shallow water pond lilies. Overall size is about 18 x 12 feet.

The Pond - junk in the background as I was heaving things about to get at the sections which needed altering.


Another Great Pond Snail: