Blackbirds by the Dozen

I normally fill all the seed feeders just before it gets dark so there is plenty of food for the early risers. Also over the past week I have been scattering seed over the frozen snow in the back garden so the ground feeders also have plenty to go at. I scatter it about as that saves many arguments as the birds don't have to get too close to each other.


Since the start of Autumn I had rarely seen a Blackbird in the garden. Then a few started to arrive when the temperature dived below zero.. The numbers have continued to grow up to a peak yesterday morning when I counted twenty one feeding at first light. I have always found that Blackbirds seem to be one of the first birds in the village to be up and about each morning. Unfortunately that means the light levels are far too low to try for a photograph of the multitude.

As well as the Blackbirds there have been up to ten Wood Pigeons grabbing as much food as they can. That is another reason for scattering the seed. If it is all in one place then one of the pigeons will sit on it and keep all other birds away.



There was nearly one less Blackbird this morning. I was doing a bit of filming when a shape came hurtling out of the sky. A Sparrowhawk had dived in aiming at one of the birds feeding on the lawn. Fortunately for the Blackbird the raptor was noticed and within a second the garden was empty and the air filled with alarm calls.The Sparrowhawk flew up to a nearby branch empty clawed. It was amusing to watch as two Wood Pigeons sat on a nearby branch and just stared at the hawk as though to say - come on if you feel tough enough. Needless to say the camcorder wasn't pointing in the right direction to capture the action.

There have been far fewer Goldfinches since the harsh weather arrived. Often I will se a lone one at the feeder and just occasionally three or four. This one was captured in one of the short bursts of sunlight we have had recently.



It looks as though we are going to get a short respite from the cold weather for the next few days. I hope to get my drive cleared as I have my yearly  scan, x-ray and blood tests on Monday.

Mini Ice Sculpture in the Garden

I leave the pond pump running all year, that is until it freezes up which it does in really cold weather. The water is pumped through an imitation hand water pump and returns to the pond down the mini waterfall. I check it each day this weather to see whether it is still flowing. From a distance yesterday it looked as though it had frozen. When I went closer I saw the water was still flowing but was falling through a ring of ice above the waterfall.



I tried taking a few photographs but none could really show the effect so I took a short piece of video.



As there are frozen splashes of water around the area I guess the scattered water has been freezing while the larger birds have been bathing in the pool at the top of the waterfall.

A bit on the chilly side this morning. -8.1C when we went for our early morning constitutional.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Well - I guess I get the gold star again. Maybe it was a bit obscure last week. Centre Court referred to Wimbledon and yes, it was a flower. Amongst other things Wimbledon is associated with strawberries and cream. The photo was of a strawberry flower taken in November when the plant had no chance of producing any more fruit this year. Thank you to all who had a go at identifying it.

   

The funny looking object above the flower is my home made lighting for the microscope - a bright white 12V LED.

Hopefully this week's puzzle picture will be a bit easier.



Clue: A product of last week's UK weather.
No prizes for a correct identification - just a bit of fun.

Snowy Weather at the Birdy Bistro (Belated Friday at the Flicks)

Another senior moment, or is that senior week these days? My body clock seems to be running a day late - blame it on the snow. That slows everything down. Anyway - over the past week I have been taking snippets of video of some of the regulars visiting the garden during this unusually early cold period.



Woke up this morning and was more than a little surprised to see we had had over an inch of additional snow over night. At least it was easier to walk on than the uneven solid ice on the footpaths yesterday. Ice spikes may well give a grip but uneven lumps of frozen snow play havoc with the ankle and knee joints. One good thing at the moment - the temperature is +1.3C and even the icicles have shrunk overnight though I have a feeling it will soon be back below zero.

How do ducks keep their feet warm on frozen ground? A lady got in touch with my local radio station yesterday. She said her ducks settled down on the ground and then tucked their feet up under their wings.
Not daft are they?

Front Garden by Night and by Day + External Robin Video Link

We may well be at the end of the present batch of snow showers but with this morning's temperature dipping down to -8C it will be a while before it disappears completely.

This is my front garden as photographed a couple of nights ago:



And the view this morning:



In this part of the country we expect to see views like that once every few years in February, not the beginning of December.

There is a photographer who goes under the name GoldfinchGarden on YouTube who has some really great bird videos. This morning he sent me a link to his latest - a slow motion close up video clip of two Robins feeding from a hand, though not at the same time as there was a bit of an argument as to who would get the seed. It's not over violent and well worth viewing. The video can be found HERE.

Don't Shut That Door

Only a little scattering of snow overnight but it's making up for it now as bursts of heavy snow move in from the North Sea. Every so often Bobby took a tour of the garden and had a quick burst of energy dashing through the snow. After a while he decided enough is enough and came hurtling back indoors. It's a good job I am ready to open the door as he would never be able to stop on the packed snow and ice outside the back door.



Yesterday Lincolnshire ground to a halt as the drifting deep fine snow on the fields covered the roads as soon as the snow ploughs cleared them. Even the postal delivery didn't materialise.

Weather condition are so unusually bad that the Lincoln Christmas Market has been cancelled. The first time that has happened since it started about 28 years ago. Normally 100,000 people visit the Christmas Market and the authorities decided that road conditions were so bad, with no sign of immediate improvement, that it was too dangerous for all concerned.

Temperatures have hovered around 0C which allows some snow on the shed roof to start melting but the resulting drips of water are turning to icicles.



The first time I have seen any icicles for quite a few years and that one, taken yesterday, is steadily growing..

Strange November, White December

November was a real mixture for temperatures here. The average for the month would be 7C to 10C. The month started about 10 degrees above average and ended about 10 degrees below average. These were the temperatures for November as measured by my weather centre.



December has started with plenty of snow - shades of 1947? - not quite but it is very unusual to have so much snow here at this time of year. My back garden has about 6 inches (15 cm) of snow and my grocery delivery has been cancelled as the road conditions are atrocious. Many think of Lincolnshire as a flat county. Well it is near the coast and in the south of the county but not far from me there are several steep hills and main roads surrounded by open arable land. Even the snow on my roof is blowing about so I can imagine what some of the drifts will be like. On top of that it has started snowing again.

This morning the Great Tit was a bit later again in leaving the nestbox. Here a video of it superimposed on still views of my front and back gardens.



I cleared the snow from the feeders, put out a fresh saucer of water and scattered some seed on top of the snow. It didn't take long for some of the regulars to find it.

Wood pigeon sinking up to its belly in the snow:




A few of the Starlings, too cold to argue:



The only good thing about having snow covered roads through the village - for once traffic is moving well within the speed limit.