3 - 134 - 818 - 36000

Wow. Have I really been prattling on about the wildlife visitors to my garden for 3 years? Yes according to the statistics. When I first started I wondered just how would people find this blog. Would they be interested? Would I find much to write about? It really started as an outlet for my photographs and I am more than a little surprised that the total has reached 818 blog entries. The whole experience has far exceeded my expectations. Visitors from 134 different countries have made over 36000 visits. My grateful thanks to one and all for visiting and for leaving lovely comments. If you can stand the pace then I intend to keep going for at least another 3 years.

Last Winter was very hard for our feathered friends and it was interesting that this photo from my first blog entry 3 years ago shows similar conditions:



Fortunately, so far this Winter, the birds have had an easier time as temperatures have been above average, here in Lincolnshire anyway.

I have been a bit lax visiting other blogs recently. Bobby's health has been up and down for a couple of weeks necessitating several visits to the vets to get his medication sorted out. The water tablets he was prescribed gave him a raging thirst. He was drinking so much his appetite dropped right off, even turning up his nose to all his favourite food. Things are getting better and a reduction in his medication is slowly restoring his interest in food.

To end with, here is the first video I put on my blog. A Blue Tit with puffed out feathers sheltering in a nest box on a very cold Winter's night.



As far as I can tell the nest box hasn't been used as a roost so far this Winter.

Have a great time observing the wildlife around you.

BBC Earthflight HD

This series seems to be a repeat of one I missed.
By accident tonight I caught the first of six parts in the Earthflight series of programmes on the BBC HD channel. The series seems to be concentrating on bird migration in various parts of the world. The photography is amazing with tight close shots of birds in flight mixed with video shot from cameras on some of the birds. Added are birds eye views of the routes and various places birds stop off to find food and the way they find it.  Programme One covers North America and follows Snow Geese and Bald Eagles among several species covered. The next one covers Africa.

The first programme is available on the BBC iPlayer HERE though I imagine it is only available in the UK.

If like me you live in the UK and missed the series then part one is repeated at 6 p.m. on Sunday on the BBC HD channel. I have made sure my recorder is set to record the whole series.

One to watch out for if the series migrates to the Discovery or National Geographic satellite channels in the future.

Mystery Photo on Monday - Guess What

Last week's Guess What is difficult (as far as I am concerned) to name accurately. It is a type of polypore or bracket fungus which I found growing on an old tree stump in the garden......

   

..... so I think a    is deserved by Andrew, Adrian, Glo, Keith and Wilma for their suggestions.

This week's mystery photo should be much easier to identify.
Guess What:




No prizes, just for fun.

Friday at the Flicks - Pheasant at the Birdy Bistro + Mobile Food

One of the fat feeders was on a string which meant it revolved every time a bird pecked at it but that was no problem for a Starling which learned to peck in the direction the food was rotating.



The other day when I photographed the Pheasant visiting the Birdy Bistro I managed to take some video at the same time.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Bobby was a bit perkier yesterday and had a shot session of barking at passers by for the first time for several days. He even managed to race up and down the garden a couple of times.

A First Sign of the Spring to Come

Towards the end of last Summer I was looking for something to replace the Lavendar bushes which had died in the front garden. I didn't want to replace them in the same position as they sprawled over the path. Any replacements need to be further back near the fence. While I was putting up the plank on the Birdy Bistro I had an idea for a long, low raised bed, mainly for Spring bulbs. All of my front garden was gravelled nearly ten years ago. Partly to cut down on the amount of grass cutting and mainly as I knew I was heading for a major operation which would curtail heavy activity for quite a while. In the gravel I planted dwarf trees and low growing bushes so it is not as bare as it sounds.

Anyway the loss of the Lavendar bushes had left a long empty space so I used some of the other planks I had to build a long, narrow flower bed. Along the back of it I planted scores of dwarf Narcissus and as a temporary measure filled the rest with Pansies. The idea is to have the bulk of the bed planted with succulents which will spread over and down the sides to hide the wood. Also I keep meaning to get some of the six inch high bamboo edging to make the front of the bed a bit more attractive.



Since then I have been patiently waiting to see when the bulbs would start to show themselves and yesterday I noticed the first to show. It could well be quite a mixture as the bulbs were rescued from a couple of old wooden planters which were falling apart so they may have got a bit mixed up. The blue labels are to remind me where the clumps of bulbs are.

    

Now I can start looking forward to a nice splash of Spring colour.

Last night it got really blowy. My weather station recorded one gust of 57 mph. That may not have been the strongest as it only takes a snapshot about once every fifteen seconds. Fortunately only one bit of repair needed in the back garden. A pole which holds up a pipe carrying rainwater to some barrels broke so a Heath Robinson session is needed later to make it safe.

Bobby is slowly improving. The sedative used really knocked him back. They couldn't use a general anaesthetic because of his age and heart / breathing problems.  We both had a good night's sleep and he was ready for some breakfast when we came back from our early morning perambulation.

Bobby Back Home

The old boy is feeling a bit fragile at the moment otherwise reasonable. Mainly as he hasn't been able to have his medication during the day.  Magda, the vet, was surprised to see that his heart is not enlarged but an ECG confirmed a leaky valve. She was very good, showing me the three X-rays and explaining what could be seen. The main problem is some congestion in the lungs which his water tablets should help with. I've managed to entice him to eat a little and hide his medication in that. Now he is sprawled out on his chair once again, sleeping off the remains of the sedative used and catching up on his beauty sleep.

Taken a few minutes ago:



The total cost was £257 which included the 3 a.m. consultation a few nights ago (that being the most expensive item on the list), injections, X-rays, ECG and all the prescribed medication for the next month. I have seen reports of vets who charge up to that (or even much more) just for an X-ray!

Where Have all the Fat Balls Gone?

I thought the fat balls had suddenly become very popular. Normally I need to add one to the feeder each day. Today I saw the culprit.



The idea of the 4inch (10cm) wide plank was for the smaller ground feeders to get at the seeds. As I had taken down one of the feeders a couple of days ago that obviously left just enough space for a determined Pheasant to have a seat at the Birdy Bistro.



...........

Bobby went for his X-ray at 9 a.m. this morning but I don't collect him another three hours yet so nothing to report. We were both woken at 4 a.m. this morning as the strong wind was blowing a tropical downpour straight at the front windows. I couldn't get back to sleep so we went walkabout at 5 a.m. - the rain had died down quite a bit by then.  A very peaceful walking time is that with no selfish speeding motorists throwing excess spray over the footpath.