Macro on Monday - Guess What

A full house last Monday with Adrian, Jan, Keith, Glo, Matron and Wilma all gaining virtual gold stars for the correct identification of a water lily. The first one to open in my pond this year.



I wonder if you will do as well this week:
Guess what:


Clue: Don't be mean with the cream.

No prizes for a correct identification. Just for fun.


All seems to be progressing well in the Great Tit nest box though it looks as if two of the eggs are not going to hatch.

Streaming Video Tests

The tests seem to have been reasonably successful though from the log I can see some don't seem to get as far as the video stream. Not sure why. It will need thinking about. I only have a total uplink speed of just over 400Kb/s so the frame rate could be slow when more than one person is logged on. Also things will slow down if I am using my computer for web surfing. No cable / fibre optic connections available here unfortunately.

The link will be available from time to time, not necessarily every day, or all day but it will always be in a new post so it can be found easily.

My thanks to those who let me know how it was working, or not as the case maybe.

Still Two Eggs to Hatch

I had hoped to get some streaming video on the net. I set up a channel with Ustream but every time it tries to connect to my video Adobe Flash crashes, and yes, it is the latest version. I have also downloaded a free program for streaming video but have yet to find a server to connect it to. Anybody know of a good, easy, free one?

Yesterday morning a fourth egg hatched but the remaining two are still intact. Only time will tell whether they will all hatch. Here are short clips from this morning. First the male has just fed a baby, a view of the chicks and eggs and finally the female returning to the nest.




No sign of the rain I was expecting over night. On our early morning walk I noticed how many trees were beginning to shed leaves which shows just how dry it has been. The water table in my garden is usually an inch or two below the surface but yesterday it was a good six inches down. Doesn't stop the weeds from growing though!  I can see the wind is getting up - the forecasters managed to get that bit correct. It is the only time you can see Wood Pigeons flying backwards as they try to fly into the wind.

The brat pack arrive with a vengeance each morning. A couple of dozen Starlings, mainly juveniles, all screaming to be fed. I had to laugh yesterday. One of the youngsters had had such a thorough bath that it couldn't take off and this morning one was going through the motions of having a good bath but it was stood next to the water, not in it!

Now there are Three

A third Great Tit chick hatched late yesterday afternoon. There are still three eggs in the nest but I wouldn't think it will be long before the rest hatch.

This morning Mr GT brought a tasty morsel but I don't think he has got the idea of how to feed his babies as yet.



I had just started uploading the video clip when I noticed that another chick has hatched. Now there are four hungry mouths to feed.

Friday at the Flicks - Extra - First Two Great Tit Chicks Hatch

When Mrs GT left the nest for a short while this morning I could only see four whole eggs and at first I thought she might have broken a couple of them. Then to my surprise I could see small  movements as one of the chicks was emerging from the egg shell. Soon there were two tiny baby Great Tits resting for a while after the exertion of breaking out of the shells.

Since then Mr GT has been very busy bringing food and they often have a tug-of-war as she tries to pull small pieces off to feed such tiny mouths. If it is too big she eats it. If small enough then the babies get fed.

Friday at the Flicks - Hungry Hedgehog, Jackdaw, Fledgeling House Sparrow

I seem to have been neglecting the Hedgehog visits recently so here is a short clip taken a few nights ago.



Jackdaws are regular early morning visitors at the moment but they normally disappear as soon as they spot the slightest human movement. This one seemed to be oblivious and may well have been a youngster.



Feeding the youngsters is in full swing here with Starlings and House Sparrows all bringing their offspring. Here I concentrated on a fledgeling House Sparrow.



The nesting Great Tit is continuing to take great care of her eggs, constantly turning and adjusting their position. The male continues to bring food for her.

STOP PRESS: The first two chicks have just emerged from their eggs. 


If you want to watch something completely different then, at the time of writing, the latest EVA from the International Space Station can be watched live HERE

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you..

Eight Days On and Still Nest Building

On one of her short flights out of the nest box each day Mrs Great Tit returns with more nesting material. With luck she will now be just past half way in incubating her eggs. Mr GT is becoming more frequent in fetching food so it is looking promising for them to bring up a healthy brood eventually.