Who Will Be First?

When I was ordering my usual supply of bird seed from CJ Wildlife I looked round for some replacement feeders as mine are getting well weather worn and grotty even after cleaning. I spotted a different seed feeder. The Fiesta Diner is ceramic with a steel wire hanger. Depending on the colour they range from £4.95 to £7.95 each. Needless to say I chose a couple of the cheapest:

   

When they arrive the only thing which needs doing is to screw on the perches making sure not to lose the tiny nylon washers which protect the ceramic glaze. Being glazed they should be easy to wash and keep clean. There are three holes in the bottom to let rain water drain out. As well as the feeders they also make an identical product without the holes so it can be used as a water feeder.

Once the first was hung up it was a case of wait and see who would be the first brave soul to investigate it. I doubt that many would need three guesses! For about an hour the old feeders were visited but for this one many gave it a good dose of looking at from a safe distance:



Then at last the first user arrived:



Yes, a juvenile Starling - they get everywhere!

Once others saw that the Starling didn't go up in a puff of smoke or get transported to another dimension they soon began to make use of it.

Friday at the Flicks - Early Morning Visitors

A few live video grabs taken early this morning of some visitors to the bird table:

Female Blackbird, Female Chaffinch, Dunnock, Juvenile Robin, Robin, Juvenile Blue Tit, Male Chaffinch.



There are three juvenile Blue Tits which visit every day, mainly to the peanut feeders.
Regulars missing from this video - House Sparrows and, of course, Starlings. Both managed to get in on the act via the sound track. Also heard in the background is a Collared Dove.

iMovie on the MacBook produced a 230MB file which was squished down to 90MB using the excellent HandBrake app to cut down the uploading time.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Seeing Me, Seeing You

Quite a few male Blue-tailed Damselflies around the garden pond recently:



Unfortunately I couldn't see any females.
Just look at the size of those eyes.

Woodpecker Wednesday

Lovely to see at least one of the juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers visits the peanut feeder nearly every day. There is only one at a time so it may be the same one. It is impossible to tell.

Tuesday Twister - Guess What

All seems to be going well with this series of puzzle photos so far. Congratulations and virtual gold stars go to Adrian, Roy, TexWisGirl, Wilma and Ragged Robin plus Alimary who sent the answer by mail. Everyone sussed that it was a twisted snowman. In fact when I looked again at the original I think it may well have been a snowwoman:

     


Now for the new twisted photo.  Guess What:




Please put any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed next Tuesday along with the answer.
No prizes. Just for fun and a virtual gold star.

Orange Ladybird

Nearly home from walkies one afternoon when I saw what at first I thought was a small moth flying towards us. Quite a surprise when it landed on Penny's back.

Poor record shot only as Penny was trying to say hello to a neighbour and wouldn't stand still:



It turned out to be an Orange Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata) which can have between 14 and 16 white spots. They can be bright yellow or orange and feed mainly on mildew though will sometimes eat aphids. They are more a woodland species frequently found around Sycamore trees but are spreading to Ash. There are plenty of Ash trees round here. I don't remember ever seeing this particular variety before now.

Scary Homer

A local entry in the village scarecrow contest:



On first meeting Homer Penny thought it was a person and was wagging her tail as she always does when she meets anyone. That turned to distrust and some anxiety when she found the 'person' didn't move or say anything. Obviously a new experience for her which she found scary. Next time we passed Homer she just ignored him.