Third day with no nesting activity in the Great Tit box. I did hear a GT belting out its alarm call yesterday and last night was the first time there has been no bird roosting in the box for many months. Has she fallen foul of the Sparrowhawk or the killer black cat I wonder or just changed her mind as the Blue Tit did last year.
The title is from an old song the first verse of which is:
O dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
O dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
My upbringing was not so refined as some so I knew a different version which started:
Oh, dear, what can the matter be,
Seven old ladies were locked in the lava'try,
They were there from Monday till Saturday,
And nobody knew they were there.
These and other information about this song can be found HERE on Wikipedia.
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
Friday at the Flicks - Tadpoles, Wood Pigeon, Wren
Not the best of days today. Spent ages trying to beat a WiFi PCI card into submission, waited in for three days now for a delivery which seems to have gone AWOL and watched paint dry while the video clips uploaded to YouTube. Anyway, got there in the end though it took a while for my remaining grey cell to work out what YouTube had done with the 'embed' facility. Now I have to click on the 'share' button which then reveals the 'embed' button. Why do the encoders at these places have to keep messing about and making it more difficult to use?
The last time I filmed the tadpoles in the nursery pond was on the 2nd of this month when they were skinny little things with large external gills. This morning I filmed them again. They have matured well in the past two weeks and are now large enough to enjoy eating floating Koi sticks as well as all the algae they are scraping off everything in the nursery pond.
This morning I saw a Wood Pigeon sat on the ivy growing the other side of my fence and having a grand tuck in to the ripe berries.
Finally, also seen this morning, a Wren sat on top of my artificial wagon wheel having a very energetic preening session. It may appear to be speeded up but it is actually filmed at normal speed. To give an idea of the size of a Wren to those who are not familiar with them - the wood of the wheel is about 2 inches (50mm) wide.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.
The last time I filmed the tadpoles in the nursery pond was on the 2nd of this month when they were skinny little things with large external gills. This morning I filmed them again. They have matured well in the past two weeks and are now large enough to enjoy eating floating Koi sticks as well as all the algae they are scraping off everything in the nursery pond.
This morning I saw a Wood Pigeon sat on the ivy growing the other side of my fence and having a grand tuck in to the ripe berries.
Finally, also seen this morning, a Wren sat on top of my artificial wagon wheel having a very energetic preening session. It may appear to be speeded up but it is actually filmed at normal speed. To give an idea of the size of a Wren to those who are not familiar with them - the wood of the wheel is about 2 inches (50mm) wide.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
The Green Thing
I just received this in an email and I was so taken by it I thought I would reproduce it here.
This is an interesting perspective on today’s “Green” concern for the environment....
In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”
That’s right, they didn’t have the "green thing" in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. And clothes were recycled: kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item
to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. She's right, though; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.
They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn’t have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
It’s a crying shame that we didn’t have “the green thing” back then!
This is an interesting perspective on today’s “Green” concern for the environment....
In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”
That’s right, they didn’t have the "green thing" in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. And clothes were recycled: kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item
to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. She's right, though; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.
They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn’t have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
It’s a crying shame that we didn’t have “the green thing” back then!
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Great Tit Nest Box - Update
Not a lot of activity today, not until well into the afternoon when the female was spotted bringing some more nesting material. The video has been slowed down to half speed. In the second part you can see she sometimes has a struggle to get the moss and her body through the hole at the same time.
It is beginning to look like the start of a nest now.
The female, I assume, is still using the box as a roost every night.
It is beginning to look like the start of a nest now.
The female, I assume, is still using the box as a roost every night.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Macro on Monday - Guess What + Nesting Update
Gold stars to Glo and Jan for correctly identufying last week's puzzle photo. It was indeed part of a deceased bumblebee I found in the conservatory.
This week for the first time for ages I took some stacked photos of todays mystery object and used CombineZP to produce the final stacked photo.
Guess What: (actual size about 10mm)
Clue: just the thing for a feathery maternity ward.
No prizes - just for fun.
Great Tit Nest box Update:
The nesting material continues to arrive, usually early morning and late in the afternoon.
Wren:
This morning I spotted the Wren going in the roosting pocket. The first time I have seen it for several days so all seems to be OK in that direction.
This week for the first time for ages I took some stacked photos of todays mystery object and used CombineZP to produce the final stacked photo.
Guess What: (actual size about 10mm)
Clue: just the thing for a feathery maternity ward.
No prizes - just for fun.
Great Tit Nest box Update:
The nesting material continues to arrive, usually early morning and late in the afternoon.
Wren:
This morning I spotted the Wren going in the roosting pocket. The first time I have seen it for several days so all seems to be OK in that direction.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Pages From a Hedgehog's Diary
April 9th 2011
While I was walking my usual nightly mile or two I met this lovely lady Hedgehog eating at the Birdy Bistro.
I went across to her and said hello but she was only interested in her favourite dinner of dried mealworms. Every time I spoke to her she just ignored me or gave me the cold shoulder. I tried over and over again, using up all my best snuffle chat up lines.
What lovely glossy spines you have.
Do you come here often?
Your dark eyes glitter like a moonless sky.
What's a pretty hedgehog like you doing in a place like this?
Do you fancy a walk together round the next garden?
She did let me join her for a quick meal.
Over and over I tried to strike up a conversation. I even kept inviting her to follow me but every time I wandered off she just went back to eating.
You can see from this speeded up video just how hard I was trying.
It was over half an hour before she made a move. A couple of hours later we were seen by a human as we snuggled up together in a dark corner.
Whether I managed to persuade her to go back to my place I will leave to your imagination.
While I was walking my usual nightly mile or two I met this lovely lady Hedgehog eating at the Birdy Bistro.
I went across to her and said hello but she was only interested in her favourite dinner of dried mealworms. Every time I spoke to her she just ignored me or gave me the cold shoulder. I tried over and over again, using up all my best snuffle chat up lines.
What lovely glossy spines you have.
Do you come here often?
Your dark eyes glitter like a moonless sky.
What's a pretty hedgehog like you doing in a place like this?
Do you fancy a walk together round the next garden?
She did let me join her for a quick meal.
Over and over I tried to strike up a conversation. I even kept inviting her to follow me but every time I wandered off she just went back to eating.
You can see from this speeded up video just how hard I was trying.
It was over half an hour before she made a move. A couple of hours later we were seen by a human as we snuggled up together in a dark corner.
Whether I managed to persuade her to go back to my place I will leave to your imagination.
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Hedgehog Meeting and More Nesting
What a glorious day Friday was in more ways than one. Temperatures, according to my weather set up, reached about 22C outside and almost 27C in here.
Playing through Thursday night's video captures I saw another Hedgehog encounter. No charging or bullying this time. Looked more a 'Is it time to make babies' type of meeting. It was a pity that they met up right at the edge of the camera's field of view. The answer seemed to be 'Not tonight. I've got a headache'.
Looking through Friday's captures from the Great Tit nest box I saw that some small amounts of nesting material were brought in. There was also a lot of nest box fluttering. Things are beginning to look up in that direction.
I haven't seen the Wren visit its nest but I have heard and seen it around the garden. The roosting pocket is directly above one of my paths down the garden but I have kept away from that area.
Playing through Thursday night's video captures I saw another Hedgehog encounter. No charging or bullying this time. Looked more a 'Is it time to make babies' type of meeting. It was a pity that they met up right at the edge of the camera's field of view. The answer seemed to be 'Not tonight. I've got a headache'.
Looking through Friday's captures from the Great Tit nest box I saw that some small amounts of nesting material were brought in. There was also a lot of nest box fluttering. Things are beginning to look up in that direction.
I haven't seen the Wren visit its nest but I have heard and seen it around the garden. The roosting pocket is directly above one of my paths down the garden but I have kept away from that area.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
