As the usual noisy gang of Starlings swooped down to feed I noticed that one of them had been ringed. Something I might expect to see on the more endangered species but was surprised to see on such a common bird. Some of these birds are resident and some are visitors and migrate to the European mainland so this may be a way of finding out how many of each type we have.
It looked to be a shiny new ring to me. I wonder where it was tagged. I need to be able to see more of the number so I could look it up.
Having had a look around the web and using what I can make out on the ring it appears to have been issued by Riksmuseum Stockholm, Sweden so this may well be one of our visiting Starlings. I hope I can get some more photos of it to read the whole number. Then I can get the full information about this bird.
Yesterday when I went to get the mower out I noticed a couple of moths doing their best to camouflage themselves against the brickwork.
Any help in identifying them would be gratefully received.
The 2nd one looks like one of the wave moths to me. Possibly the Riband Wave (Idaea aversata).
After weeks of trying I finally managed to video a Song Thrush in full song. It was perched about 60 feet up at the top of the leylandii at the bottom of the garden and I managed to sneak the camcorder on its tripod out of the back door.
After enjoying a nice carvery yesterday I spent a while in the garden trying to film some singing birds but they were as shy as ever. Instead I had a look round to see what colour was showing. So here it is - Flowery Friday.
Yesterday morning when I went through to the kitchen I saw what I thought was a tatty looking Starling with a lot of white on its feathers. As I concentrated I saw the flash of red on its head and it slowly dawned on me that I was looking at a Greater Spotted Woodpecker enjoying a peanut breakfast. By the amount of red on its head it would appear to have been a juvenile. Unfortunately it spotted me as soon as I moved the camera to take a shot and it was gone in a flash. This is the first woodpecker I have seen in the garden and in fact the first I have seen for over fifty years. I am now hoping it returns so I can get a bit of video for the record.
Some days ago when I was sat in the garden watching the birds flying about I noticed a small group of Swifts. What surprised me was the height at which they were flying. A couple of times they were circling the same patch of sky, obviously taking advantage of a thermal to gain even more height.
I could only get some fuzzy shots of them as, at the height they were flying, the images were very small sections in the photo frame. I sat and watched them for about half an hour as they swooped around the sky at a fair old speed. I assume that there must be plenty of high flying insects for them to feed on.
The only other birds seen in the sky that day, apart from the local bird visitors, were a couple of seagulls heading inland.
Also spotted a couple of times at night, but still evading the camera, has been a Tawny Owl which uses the nearby telegraph poles as a perch.
No sign of the Hedgehogs for a few nights. I assume they are back on the late shift.
Yesterday when I checked my containers of lilies for red beetles I though I was in the clear. I should have known better. I had forgotten one large pot near where I had seen the beetle. Today I remembered to check that out. DISASTER! I immediately saw a Red Lily Beetle on one of the flower buds and examination of the leaves soon brought dozens of larvae in various sizes in to view. Closer examination also showed a lot of leaves had the tiny sausage shaped orangey red eggs on the underneath. This beetle seems to have been infesting these lilies for many days.
I took a few photographs and some video of the culprit before I consigned all the plants from that pot to the green wheelie bin and dispatched the beetle permanently before it could do any more damage. Shame really as it is such a beautiful insect.
Pretty as it was I hope never to see another one, at least not in my garden.
As I was about to lock up the shed before our afternoon walk I spotted something brilliant red climbing up the edge of the shed door. Luckily it stayed long enough to grab the camera and take its portrait. This pretty beetle is about 10mm in length.
It appears to be an example of lilioceris lilii (the Red Lily Beetle) which is very destructive to many bulbous lily plants as both the adults and larvae feed on the leaves, flowers and stems of the plant. At one time they were confined to the south of England but with the rise in average temperatures they have spread northwards. Certainly it was not very far away from one of my containers which is planted with lilies.
If your lilies are being attacked by these pretty little beetles then it may be worth looking at Down Garden Services web site where more detailed information about them can be found.
I gave my lily plants the once over and have not detected any eggs or larvae so far so the pest may have only arrived recently in my garden.
A few days ago I was watching a pair of Wood Pigeons. First the male was walking along the ridge tiles following a female. He was making the usual cooing sounds with his chest puffed out and his head bobbing up and down as he walked. She was moving ahead of him but slowly so he could keep up. This activity usually ends up with the female flying off, but not this time.
Shortly after that they were together on next doors roof. Both standing very close together. Every so often the male appeared to rub his beak down his back between his wings and then offer his beak to the female. There would then be a rubbing of beaks. I can only assume that he is picking up some oil from a gland on his back and offering it to her, which she appeared very willing to accept.
Several times I have heard the sound of a Song Thrush bashing the living daylights out of a snail. usually on one of the concrete paths. Yesterday one was down the bottom of the garden trying to use a piece of timber to do the job. I managed to get a few still photos but as I homed in with the camcorder it moved out of sight behind a planter.
Earlier in the day I had heard a Song Thrush singing very close by but couldn't spot it. Towards dusk it was sat high up on a Leylandii in the pouring rain singing away. As I got the camcorder set so I could see it and waited for the thing to auto focus, that was painfully slow as the light was poor by now, the Thrush flew away. Once again the bird's inbuilt camera detecting radar was working to perfection!
The day before I did manage to film a male Chaffinch on the same branch of the same tree as it was calling. It was a long way away so I couldn't get as close a shot as I would have liked.
BLOOMS
A few more flowers are showing their blooms to perfection. This is the second of my pond lilies to show this year.
And this is a small grafted standard rose, Raspberry Royale, which produces an absolute mass of flowers each year. It grows in a planter next to the pond.
No sign of the Hedgehogs before I went to bed but it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs. All I saw was a frog as it leapt its way across the paved area under the bird feeders.
