Rookery

There are two Rookeries that I know of in the village. This one can be seen from the cricket field where we walk most afternoons. It is less than a quarter of a mile from my garden so you can see why so many corvids visit here.



Later in the year, when they start raising their broods I will take a different route so I can get closer.
This photo was taken with my old Pentax Optio. Only 3.2 mega-pixels with a 3X optical zoom but small enough to put in a shirt pocket. I don't use it a lot as it eats batteries but now I've got into the habit of taking them out when the camera is not is use.

Who Says it's for the Blue Tits?

I am trying out a different layout from the new ones available in Blogger. I do see that the word 'cloud' doesn't seem to display properly in the latest version of Opera though the  latest versions of IE and FireFox seem to show everything OK.

Two Hedgehogs Visit

First a question to those who use the Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 USM IS lens. Have you used a polarising filter with it? If so did it focus properly? I ask as I have a Fujiyama Digital P.L. filter. When it is on the lens the camera (50D) appears to focus, camera beeps and red dot lights up, but the photos are out of focus.It was tried in bright conditions where I was getting values of f8 and f11 so the image should have been bright enough. Is there something faulty with my filter or is it that the lens doesn't respond properly with a polarising filter? It behaves just fine with my UV filter.

Last night there were two different Hedgehogs visiting. Horace (should really have named him Horatio) was recognisable by his one shiny eye. (No soundtrack. Uploaded to Flickr for a change)



If you enjoy watching our night time visitors then you can see more Hedgehog activity on  HOGBLOG and TWOSIE THE HEDGEHOG blogs.

Other updates:
Once again the Blue Tits have been conspicuous by their absence from the nestbox though they are still visiting the feeders.
A week after the frog spawn appeared I was pleased to see a second batch. Both are now in the nursery pond. Yesterday I saw that some of the first batch were changing from a full stop to a comma shape so things are looking much better than last year when none was fertilised properly and there were no tadpoles.

Hungry Corvids

It has become a regular event to see four or five Jackdaws in the garden along with three or four Rooks eating the left over seed I scatter on the lawn. They have quite different eating habits. The Rooks gather and store seed in the pouch under their beaks whereas the Jackdaws eat there and then.

Yesterday there was one Rook among three Jackdaws. It was getting quite annoyed as they encroached on its feeding area and kept trying to chase them off but it was no match for a group.







In the end it waddled away to a different part of the garden leaving the spoils to the Jackdaws.





I usually put a slice of bread in one of the feeders which helps to fill up the larger birds. Yesterday a Rook had managed to pull out quite a large piece and was sat for a while with it in its beak as if it was working out what was the best way to deal with its prize.



There is never a dull moment watching the larger birds as I can often see them stand and look carefully from various positions as they work out how to approach a problem.

Quite a surprise this morning when we got back from an earlier than usual early morning walk as there was a tight group of eleven Rooks feeding on the lawn. Still too dark to photograph unfortunately.

Colourful Starling, The Moon, Pond Water Tastes Best

Look at a Starling in dull weather and they seem to be a very drab bird, black or dark grey. On the other hand when the Sun is shining at the right level their feathers appear to glow with a multitude of colours.



As the sky was clear last night I decided to take a sturdy tripod outside so I could try the 100-400mm lens to see how it would cope with photographing the Moon. I was quite surprised and not a little pleased with the results which contained good detail even after cropping.





I wonder what is special about pond water. Although Bobby has a bowl of water next to his food bowl it seems that the water in my nursery pond must have a taste more to his liking.



A good job he was drinking from the opposite end to the place where I had put the frog spawn for safety.

More Frenzied Spring Cleaning and Hedgehog Visits

Yesterday morning the Blue Tit was once again working hard to clean out the nestbox. The video runs at about double speed to keep the file size down. No soundtrack on any of these video clips.



Once the bird had had enough of cleaning the interior the outside was given a thorough examination.



During last night a Hedgehog made two visits to the feeding area. This one has been seen twice before this year but I'm fairly sure it is not Henry from last year so I will christen it Horace as from its size it could well be a male.



The IR light only reflect from one of his eyes so I guess Horace is blind in one eye for some unknown reason. This should not affect his ability to find food as Hedgehogs have poor eyesight and rely mainly on their excellent sense of smell.

Friday at the Flicks (The Early Rook, Bathing in the Rain, Frogs)

It's the early Rook which catches the left over mealworms:
(Silent video capture)


Once again a Wood Pigeon was making the most of a rainy day to have a wash and brush up. They often stand on the raised edge of the pond and use their heads to splash wather.


Some video clips of the Common Frogs which visited the pond a few days ago:
(It was a windy day so there is some noise on the soundtrack)


 Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.