Early Morning Visitors

Last night I was working on the computer when I heard the relay click in the video camera recorder as it registered movement. It was a mouse which had arrived about 8.30 pm and sat in the seed dish for about a quarter of an hour helping itself to the seed put out for the birds' breakfast. That was the first time I had seen a mouse since early December, and never that early in the evening - more usually around midnight or the early hours.

Checking the night's recordings I saw that it, or one of its relatives, had visited just as it was starting to get light.



The next visitors were a couple of early Starlings helping themselves to dried mealworms and being told off by a male Blackbird which wanted to get at the suet pellets, soon followed by a female Blackbird. Other Blackbirds were milling about on the lawn. There were about ten of them altogether.

Although the Blue Tits are still visiting the feeders I have had no more sighting from inside the nest box as yet.

Friday at the Flicks (Food Glorious Food)

I found a couple of apples I had stored in the greenhouse and threw them on the lawn to see if there would be any interest. It didn't take long for the Blackbirds to start demolishing them.



I had some more stale sponge cake which I fastened in a fat block feeder, mainly to keep it out of Bobby's reach or he would have wolfed the lot down.



The Greenfinches and Chaffinches are masters at stripping the shell from sunflower seeds as can be seen in this close up snippet of a male Chaffinch as he crushes and rolls them round in his beak until the shell is ejected.



For the first time since so many Blackbirds arrived I saw that the Robin managed to be first at the ground feeder this morning.

There have been no visits to the nest box that I have seen during the past two days. There are other boxes fairly close by so they are probably doing the rounds before making a choice.

Missed Action Photo Opportunities

A few days ago I noticed that the usual bird chatter had stopped except for a Blackbird and a Great Tit exchanging alarm calls. As they were taking it in turns to call I first thought they might have been having a go at each other. My second thought was that a cat may have been lurking under the bushes where the birds sit waiting their turn at the feeders. Looking out of the window all I could see was what at first glance appeared to be a Collared Dove sat on a branch above the bushes. Then I noticed the dark spots under the wing. That was no dove - sat patiently waiting about eight feet above the bushes was a female Sparrowhawk. No wonder I could hear alarm calls. Needless to say, as soon as I lifted the camera to take a shot the Sparrowhawk flew off.

Over the past few days I have seen two Dunnocks flying together. They seem to feed independently but when one takes off they both fly away together. I wonder where they will nest.

Yesterday for a brief time two Blue Tits were together in the nest box. They seemed friendly so I guess it was a pair giving the box the once over.

As we take our early morning constitution we are now serenaded by several Robins, each staking out its territory with a beautifully varied song. As the light was fading yesterday one was sat in the tree next door and the complexity of its song with so many trills was a real pleasure to hear. Too dark for a photo but it shouldn't be too long before I manage to get it on video.

All in all it may be Winter and cold as far as we are concerned but for our feathered friends Spring is round the corner and many are preparing for the breeding season.

I wonder whether Carrion Crows are spiteful or just playful. There were some crows sat on a roof top and a Wood Pigeon sat on top of a telegraph pole. Suddenly one of the crows flew across and dived on the pigeon knocking it off its perch. As the pigeon flew away the crow returned to its place on top of the roof.

Still plenty of Blackbirds visiting for breakfast as daylight begins the break. Numbers are down from the 20+ of a week or so ago to about 12 now. I think some are roosting in the large Leylandii which is also a popular place for birds to sit and bathe in any available sunshine.

Nest Box Investigations Becoming More Frequent

Yesterday a Blue Tit made three brief visits to the nest box. That makes visits on three days in the past seven.
No sound on this clip. I will have to see about wiring the microphone up.



Caught a bit of video of another inspection this morning.



Found out I hadn't put a cable in for the microphone and it's too late to be tinkering with the nest box now so I will have to think of some other way to capture any sound.

These visits are becoming quite frequent so fingers, etc. crossed that it may get used this year.

Plenty of Garden Visitors

Nothing out of the ordinary but plenty of bird visitors to the garden today. Maybe the early sunshine has brought them out. It doesn't take much to get the Collared Doves in the mood for raising a family. This male, on the left, spent a while billing and cooing with much head bobbing but the female wasn't having any of that nonsence at this time of year.



An easily recognised regular amongst the dozen or more Blackbirds which start visiting just as day breaks is this one which has minimal or maybe no tail feathers. I remember one last year without a tail but I don't think this is the same character.



It isn't just the Rooks which are attracted to the fat balls. This Jackdaw was doing an equally good job of feeding itself and the ground feeders milling around underneath.



During most of the really bad weather the Greenfinches spent most of the time feeding from a seed feeder near the bottom of the garden but today there were more of them about so some came to the feeders near the kitchen.



I tried for ages to get some film of a Dunnock which kept visiting the bird table, and failed. All I managed was a shot of it near the bottom of the garden searching round a plant pot which had cracked during frozen weather.



Also in larger numbers than recently were the Chaffinches.



One short piece of action I would loved to have got on film was when a male Chaffinch attacked a Starling. The Starling was sat on a branch minding its own business when the Chaffinch flew straight at it and chased after it as it flew away. Also missed about a week ago was a stranger which visited the fat balls. By the shape it was something like a Nuthatch or Goldcrest but it disappeared almost as soon as I spotted it so identification was impossible. I have seen a Goldcrest visit once in the past.

Another piece of action I failed to get on record was a further visit to the nest box yesterday by a Blue Tit which spent a while investigating every corner. They really are fussy house hunters - everything has to be just right.

Friday at the Flicks - Finding Food in the Snow

Different birds use different techniques to find the seeds which had become buried under recent snow falls. The Starlings tend to poke a closed beak deep in the snow and then open it wide to make a small hole. The final part of the video has been slowed down to one quarter speed. This gives some unusual 'bird sounds' as the sound is also slowed down by the same rate.



Blackbirds use beak and legs to make larger indentations in the snow. In the slowed down end section it can be seen to use one leg at a time to scrape the snow away. (This also has slowed down sound)



Although Rooks will also dig with their beaks it is a lot easier to hammer away at a fat ball. As bits fly off in all directions other birds gather underneath to tuck in to the easy meal showering down on them. This Rook must have one of the largest beaks, compared with the body size, that I have seen.



Nice as it was to see snow when it first arrived I am mightily relieved that it has now gone from the village to be replaced with a more normal Winter scene of dull, sunless days with plenty of fine rain to keep everything soaked. Oh well, can't have it perfect all the time.

Blogoversary

It has just dawned on me that it is now a year since I started this blog. How time flies when you are having fun. It took me a few years to pluck up the courage to get started, mainly as I had no idea what I was going to write about and whether I would have much to say, let alone whether it would be of passing interest.

The year has been fun. It has given me an outlet for my photography, concentrated my observations on the wildlife which visits the garden and led me to find others with similar interests. I certainly look forward to another year of observing and photographing so I hope you can stand another year of me waffling on, and on, and .... I will certainly look forward to following all the interesting blogs I have discovered.

I have often mentioned the large Leylandii in the bottom corner of my garden. This is as it was three years ago - getting on for 100 ft high - the day before it was cut back. It had been growing there for at least 35 years and gave no sign of having reached its maximum height. In fact a few years before it had lost about 20 ft from the top lead when it was stripped out by what I think was a mini whirlwind during a storm as the bark was unwound from the wood.



It had often worried me. It was firm enough in the ground but any branches falling from the top could have done some real damage to life, limb and property. I didn't particularly want to have it removed completely as it harbours a lot of bird visitors, providing both shelter and food in the form of the amount of insect life. In the end, after consulting our local experienced tree feller, I decided to have the top third taken off. Not a cheap option as it could not be scaled. £300 a day to hire a mobile platform was the only option.

Here Owen, the tree feller, and the owner of the platform are gradually working their way down the tree.



The idea being to reduce it to the same height as the younger Leylandii just behind it in a neighbour's garden. When they had finished cutting it down to size I was given the opportunity to go up on the platform with my camera, a FujiPix at that time. Now my legs start wobbling a few rungs up a ladder so I cannot say I enjoyed the feeling when we achieved just over 60 feet up but the views were great. This looking down on my back garden as it was then.



Here a view looking across to the cricket field Bobby and I walk most afternoons



and here the view in the opposite direction across arable fields towards the Lincolnshire Wolds.


Finally a rare view of the roof of the village church - about the only place you can get a view of so much of the church at once.



I had enjoyed the views. A once in a lifetime opportunity. All the photographs were taken one handed as there was no way I was going to let go of the hand rail with the other. My, was I grateful to get back to solid ground as even in a gentle breeze the platform moved slightly with every gust.

Well, that's it. A year's worth of waffling on finished and thoughts must now turn to what to write about during the next twelve months. Many thanks to all those who have visited, from 90 different countries, and to the many who have left comments. They always help to spur me on along with the fabulous photos which other people put on their blogs - gives me a standard to aim for.