Lesser Whitethroat (?)

My thanks to Keith for confirming my ID.

A short while ago I was watching the House Sparrows actually forcing the Starlings to vacate the feeders when I happened to notice a different bird on the cables leading to the shed. At first glance I thought it was a Blackcap. Anyway I grabbed the camera which I always leave on multi shot and fired off a few seconds. It wasn't until I looked at the results and checked with my books that what I had seen best fitted the pictures and description of the Lesser Whitethroat. Definitely a first for my garden whatever it was.

A Sheepdog With Wings

Unfortunately there are no photos to go with this. It started early this morning as we returned from our walk. As I entered the gate I could hear a House Sparrow giving his alarm call. A male was sat on the woodwork nearby and as I walked past the corkscrew hazel I spotted a young sparrow on the ground. Papa was warning me to keep away, which I duly did.

Later in the morning while I was carrying out a bit of much needed pruning I saw a male House Sparrow with a couple of youngsters on the lane. The youngsters were hardly able to flutter their wings let alone fly and the male was behaving just like a sheepdog, weaving back and forth behind them as it ushered them across the road to shelter under the hedge on the opposite side of the road. A behaviour I have never seen before. Many parent birds will call to their youngsters to get them to move but this fellow was definitely gently forcing the young ones in the direction he wanted.

Friday at the Flicks - Hedgehog, Hoverflies

There hasn't been a deal of activity here recently. Also I have been experimenting with some of the effects in Corel Video Studio.

I only switch on the night recording equipment every so often to check that Hedgehogs are still about. This one had obviously got the scent of something but couldn't work out what.



It was only an hour ago I spotted that the hoverflies were attracted to the pond lilies, especially the white ones:


Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Wings for Wednesday

As I mentioned last Friday, Thursday afternoon found a large flock of gulls which spent a lot of time soaring and diving above the village. At first I though they may have been using any thermals from the built up area to gain height but on a longer observation they were diving about too much for that. In fact their flight activity was much the same as that observed when watching Swallows. On second thoughts I assumed they were feeding. I couldn't see anything but I guess the farming activity nearby may have been driving a lot of insect life up into the air.

Fortunately they continued their activities for a while after we had returned home from our afternoon perambulations so I was able to stand in the garden with the 50D and its 100-400mm lens. It was quite a feat to keep any birds in the viewfinder, never mind about focussed. As the gulls were flying all over the place I left the lens on auto focus though I did shorten the focussing range so it didn't have to hunt too much.











It looks to me as though the flock was Black Headed Gulls, or at least all those I managed to get in reasonable focus were.

While we were out and about I took a short piece of video with the Lumix TZ7:

Macro on Monday - Guess What

First the answer to last week's puzzle - not a cucumber plant, not a corgette but definately Corkscrew Hazel. The large photo was of the first fruits my plant has produced - hazel nuts? Congratulations and a virtual gold star to John (Hedgeland Tales) for his correct identification.

   


On to this week's puzzle:
Guess What:


For those who like a cryptic clue: Messy glue dish B..

No prizes - just for fun.

Preparing for the Next Brood

As it has been quite a while since the Great Tits fledged and there has been no more activity seen in the camera nest box I decided it was time to clean it out.

The box conveniently has removable panels at the front which makes cleaning a doddle.




The nest wasn't as high as I had imagined though it was probably compressed towards the end with the weight of two adults and four youngsters. The camera can just be seen at the top of the box.



The nest and the bottom of the box were alive with fleas and mites so it was as well to dispose of it.




Hidden well under the moss was one of the two eggs which didn't hatch.



The box was brushed out and then sprayed with Ark-Klens. That was left to dry for an hour and then the box wiped out with kitchen tissues. Once the front panels were re attached the box was ready for any prospective roosters or nest builders.

Friday at the Flicks - Early Morning Corvids, Young Blue Tits, Hay Making

Long before I get up in the morning there are many birds visiting the Birdy Bistro. At the moment there are several young Crows and Jackdaws with the occasional Magpie:



When the young Blue Tits visited earlier in the week I was able to take some video of them as they helped themselves to the peanuts.



On yesterday afternoons walkabout there were scores of seagulls over the built up part of the village. They were there for well over an hour but I didn't see them visit any of the fields which is where they are usually found. We ambled across to lane which divides two fields to see if there were any gulls there. No gulls but the farm workers were busy gathering hay the modern mechanised way. The crop had already been cut. First the fallen hay stalks were raised up so the bailer could easily do its work. Then the bales were loaded on to trailers to take back to the storage area.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.