New Nest Box

What I had really gone to see the other day when I visited Woodthorpe Hall Garden Centre was their selection of nest boxes. In the past I had seen they stocked some with cameras built in and I was hoping they were still available. The demo box was on view but I could not see any on sale. On asking an assistant he went and checked and found the last one in store which had a colour camera. It would appear they had not been selling well and that was likely to be the last of that type there so I purchased it.

The old black and white camera in my home brew (Heath Robinson) box had failed and I don't think the box was the right size so I decided to replace that one. The camera in the new box is colour only though it does have white light LEDs which are adjustable for brightness. The main design fault is that the adjuster is next to the camera where it would have been more sensible to my mind to have that control near the power supply. Anyway I adjusted them to somewhere near pale Moon light so I could have some sort of picture at night.

The box is very substantial and all sections are fixed with screws making it easy to adapt for different birds and for cleaning. I decided to remove the top front section so it would be a Robin box. That way there would be plenty of daylight for the camera. The camera is in an enclosed section at the top and the lens pokes through a hole looking down into the box. After much cursing and wobbling on a precarious step stool I managed to fix it in some large evergreens.



Video pictures look good so now it is back to the old waiting game to see if there are any takers next Spring. The last box was only visited twice that I saw and that was by a Great Tit which was looking for insects to eat. In the photo it looks as though the box is in full daylight but in fact I used flash as it is a reasonably shady spot.

Honey still is still AWOL. It is well over a week now since any Hedgehog visited the feeding area. The video is on auto capture but the only things which have triggered the recorder has been rain (plenty of that on many nights), a spider which insists on having a web in front of the camera, and the odd cat. Since I installed the Cat Gard there has only been one cat  on a couple of occasions but it passes through quickly and doesn't hang around any more. Honey had stopped visiting before the cat deterrent was installed so it isn't that which is keeping her away.

The Devil's Backbone and Other Plants

One house plant I have grown on and off for many years is a Bryophyllum. (bryophyllum daigremontianum) Not really a great looker but I find it fascinating. Each plant grows as a tall gangly looking stem with thick leaves edged with serrations. As the leaves mature a tiny new plant grows at each of these indentations producing scores of new plants. Hence one of its nicknames - Mother of Thousands. Another name being the Devil's Backbone. As these little plantlets mature, still attached to the parent leaf, they even grow roots and when fully mature they drop off to start new plants.




Eventually the parent plant will put out flower spikes and produce small pale flowers.
There is a web site devoted to these plants which can be found HERE.

One plant I have wanted in the garden for a long time is the Chinese Lantern Plant (Physalis franchetii). I have tried growing them from seed taken from local plants to no avail so when I spotted some in Woodthorpe Garden Centre I couldn't resist buying a couple, especially as they had been reduced in price! By the looks of the thick strong root system it would appear they could spread rapidly so mine will be container grown. The beautiful thin orange seed cases really brighten up a dull Autumn day looking all the world like Chinese lanterns.



Finally a plant I had to order. I first saw the flowers on the Persian Pink Silk Tree (Albizzia julibrissin rosea)  HERE - middle two photos -  on Crista's blog Nature As Is and fell in love with them. Reading around it would appear they can survive frosts when a decent size as long as they are in a spot sheltered from cold winds so I thought I would give them a try.

Here are my recent arrivals. One very small as yet and the other grown outdoors, though further South in the country, and large enough to be outside all year. They are deciduous and are close to losing their leaves ready for the Winter. Guess who had to investigate what I was making a fuss over.



They will both live in the conservatory for now and I will probably pot the larger one in a container so it can be moved if the weather turns really cold. Although the leaves look very much like those of the Sensitive Plant (mimosa) these are a completely different species and the leaves do not respond to being touched.

The Usual Squabblers are Back for the Winter

Birdy Bistro gets very fraught at times. Goldfinches squabbling at one end. Sparrows and Greenfinches in the middle. Now the Starlings are back for the Winter and squabble at the other end. It's a good job they each prefer different food. The Starlings here prefer the fat balls and peanuts.



The horizontal lines in the background are a reflection of a blind at the opposite end of the conservatory as I was shooting through a window.

Often I can hear Starlings in the tall Leylandii but not see any. They continuously make quiet noises and on this video clip of one you can see the throat almost continuously on the move and often the sounds are produced without opening the beak. There are also a few others nearby.



I always find it a fascinating mixture of clicks and whistles. They only seem to fall silent when there is danger and presumably when they are asleep otherwise it seems to be non stop for most of the day.

What is this Bird Song? - Solved

Last July when walking Bobby early morning past a group of trees I  often heard several birds but could never see what was singing. I recorded this one and seem to remember spending ages listening to song files on the net to no avail. More than likely it is a very common bird and with its single rising note once learned it will be easy to recognise in the future.

Blogger refuses to accept the player widget code from eSnips so I wasn't able to embed it in this post but the link should take you straight to the player on their site.

The sound is stored here: BIRD SONG.

Addendum:

My grateful thanks to Joe of Joe's Wildlife Garden (who found me a very similar sound file) and Frank of The Early Birder who both came up with it being a Chaffinch. It seems to be a variation of the Chaffinch 'rain song'. I had filmed a Chaffinch making its rain song in my post Bird Behaviour back in June but by comparison that one sounds as though it had laryngitis.

A few days ago I spotted this web under the bird bath part illuminated by the Sun.

Ladybird visitors.

There seem to have been more ladybirds around the garden this year than for many years. Here I only see the seven spot variety so they still have a good stronghold in this part of Lincolnshire. In spite of the chilly weather, as soon as the Sun warms up the air many come out from their hiding places and go in search of a few juicy aphids.

Ladybug

by Maria Fleming

Ladybugs all dressed in red
Strolling through the flowerbed.
If I were tiny just like you
I'd creep among the flowers too!



Five Little Ladybugs
(unknown author)

Five little ladybugs, climbing on some plants,
Eating the aphids, but not the ants!
The first one said: "Save some aphids for me!"
The second one said: "These are tasty as can be!"
The third one said: "Oh, they're almost gone!"
The fourth one said: "Then it's time to move on!
The fifth one said: "Come on, let's fly!"
So they opened their wings and flew through the sky.

Ladybird, Ladybird 

(traditional nursery rhyme)

Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children all gone;
All except one, and that's little Ann.
And she has crept under the warming pan.




 A while ago Glo of Porcelain Rose left me a lovely ladybird poem which can be seen here.

A Frog and No Cats

Raining again last night. I don't mind when the rain arrives overnight and leaves the day free to observe the garden wildlife. When Bobby went out for the last patrol of his estate before bedtime I spotted a shape on the concrete path. Closer examination showed it was a frog just sitting there. It even waited patiently while I fetched a camera to take a few shots.



This is the UK's Common Frog easily identified by the dark coloured stripes on the hind legs. Main diet is insects which it catches with its long sticky tongue, snails, slugs and worms. During the Winter it will hibernate under mud and decaying layers of leaves at the bottom of ponds. As well as lungs it has the ability to breathe through its skin so can stay submerged for long periods during the cold months. This one was about 2 inches (5cm) big so had been around for a few years.

Cats and Birds Don't Mix

There is at least one killer cat which is more than a little nuisance around my bird feeders. To keep it off the top of my fence I have added some modern plastic anti-vandal spikes. The type with blunt points which are uncomfortable but do not pierce the skin. As well as that I needed some way to keep them from skulking behind various objects on the ground. For quite a while I have looked into the possibility of using one of the electronic cat deterrents.  Looking closely at the description of many they deter all sorts of mammals but I needed something more specific.

After quite a bit of research I spotted this - the Cat Gard - which says it does not affect other mammals or birds so I invested in one.

  

Many of the ultrasonic deterrents are battery operated, needing two 9V batteries. This one is mains operated via a transformer and comes with a generous 10m of cable. It is installed 3 to 6 feet above ground so I mounted it on the shed wall facing along the fence. As it is not 100 percent weather proof I fixed it in an old nut feeder to keep the worst of the rain and snow from the plastic case.

When it first arrived I plugged it indoors. Bobby definitely knew it was working although I could hear nothing. In fact it was too much for him and he dashed out to escape being deafened. Once installed outside he took no notice of it at all. Would the birds be affected by it? Well - within 15 minutes of putting it up a Greenfinch flew up to it and gave it the once over. About half an hour later a Blue Tit landed in the box and had a quick look for any food! All the birds have carried on feeding as normal. So far I have not seen any evidence of cats since it was installed though the instructions do say it can take a while to achieve 100 percent success.

Out of interest I used my bat detector to find out what the Cat Gard was doing and here is a short snippet of the sort of thing a cat would have to endure.

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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.