Those Rooks and their Pouches

The mystery of the pouch under a Rook's beak has been solved. The answer was found for me by ShySongbird who was far more proficient than me at searching the web. She found me a reference in the International Wildlife Encyclopedia. There it explains that the throat pouch has an opening under the tongue. Here the male Rook can store food to take back to the nest to feed the young. Also it is used to take offerings of food to the female during courtship. Thank you ShySongbird for helping me out.

This one looks to be well and truly full!


The other day there were a couple of Rooks on one of the feeders. The bottom one was tucking in to the remaining fat ball. Every so often it would stop and just sit there. The Rook on top would reach down and gently peck at the lower ones head as though to say - move over, I haven't had my supper yet. Occasionally the peck would be a bit harder and a short altercation would take place and then both would settle down again.



The light was very poor and photos of the birds in motion were hopelessly out of focus. I consigned most of those to Dusty Bin except this one which I like. It gives the impression of a ghostly Rook landing on the feeders. It's almost as though one can see right through the bird.

From Blogger Pictures

Lenses and Pumps

Yesterday was the first sunny day for at least a week and as luck would have it a new pond pump had arrived in the morning. My pond has been without a pump or filtration for over a year. Two identical pumps had failed over the past few years. As is normal both were just past their warranty and the place I bought them from had closed down a while ago. They were not cheap and I had been unimpressed with the price being charged at the local garden centre. In the end I had ordered an Italian made one which looked as though it would do a good job so the first item on the agenda was to get it fixed up and working. After an hour everything was working so now there is water flowing down my little waterfall in to the pond again.



Water goes from the pump into a filter and then to an imitation water hand pump. From that it flows down the waterfall and back into the pond. The birds think the waterfall makes an ideal bath and it is regularly in use for that purpose. The other pipe resting on the side of the waterfall feeds water from a shed roof to help top up the pond. The lump of wood on a pole with a white plastic top is a home made ladybird house though I don't know if it has actually been used as such.

In the pond I saw one of the Common Newts come up for a gulp of air.



Another arrival through the post yesterday morning was a macro lens I had ordered from Hong Kong. I had decided that whenever possible I would leave my main lens attached to the camera. The 70-200mm IS lens does not have a macro facility so the nearest I can get to anything is about four feet. That is not too much of a problem as the zoom along with the sharpness of the optics and the 15Mpixels of the camera allows some fairly small crops. Anyway for the princely sum of $9.99 including postage I though I would order a +4 macro lens which screws to the front of the main lens. It works better than I expected at the price. It is useless at full zoom but at 70mm it allows me to stand a lot closer and doubles the size of what is being photographed. The depth of field is less but it is sharp and clear. How do they do it at the price?

Some examples with the +4 in place: Apart from cropping they are otherwise untouched.

From Blogger Pictures

These are all still crops but not such small ones as would have been needed with the main lens by itself.

After I had taken the macro lens off the camera I spotted a bee which refused to show me its head. Having perused a few identification sites I think it is a mining bee but then again I could be wrong.

Many thanks to Dean from MostlyMacro for letting me know that the bee looks like the Common Carder Bee. I'm learning - slowly.





The weather looks like it has returned to dull and dreary again but at least I got one sunny day.

Birds in the Garden

The new feeding arrangements are going really well with birds visiting nearly all day. I am especially pleased that after over a year of trying to tempt Goldfinches there was a pair who dropped in on and off nearly all day.

From Blogger Pictures

Most of the time they spent snacking at the niger seed feeder ...



... with an occasional sortie into the covered feeder which, amongst other seeds, contains Sunflower hearts.


Every so often they would fly into a nearby tree but it wouldn't be long before they were back again.



One of the Goldfinches was the first bird I had seen try out the new water supply.

Other bird visitors included a Wren which I always find difficult to photograph as they are either constantly on the move or when they do stop they are so small they vanish behind the smallest of obstacles.



During the Winter I had put up some roosting pouches for birds to find shelter if they needed it. I don't think any was actually used though I did once spy a House Sparrow go inside one. Today a Great Tit was investigating the outside of a roost but I think that on both occasions the birds were looking for food.



Of course a day does not go by without one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. I have tried all sorts of things to discourage it but in the end the best that can be done is damage limitation. Make sure that the wire on the peanut feeder is strong enough to withstand those teeth!



I have found another individual Rook visitor. Just look at the size of the underhang on this ones beak. No mistaking him / her when it revisits. It looks a bit on the tatty side but I think it had recently been having a paddle.



All in all, in spite of the gloomy weather, it was a good day for watching the bird visitors to the garden.

Birdy Bistro and Flirting Robins

Most of my bird feeders were grouped very close together as they hung from various strips of wood fixed to one upright. The birds didn't seem to mind but it made it difficult to find a clear shot for photography. In a rush of blood to the head I decided to space things out today. I had thought of just hanging the feeders from the cables which lead to the shed but after a little experimentation decided against that. In the end this is what I ended up with.



Not exactly elegant but it does space out the feeders better and gives me a clear view of each one. Normally any change to the feeders puts off the visitors for anything up to three weeks so I wondered how long I would have to wait to see whether the new setup would be accepted. By my reckoning it took less than fifteen minutes! After finishing hanging the feeders I then thought about water and bathing. My bird bath was fairly deep. I had tried putting large stones in it but that made cleaning it out a real chore. In the end I decided to use a gravel tray I had bought at the local garden centre a week or so ago. Nice and large but shallow. Now I might get the chance to see more birds having a good bath.

Within a short while there were the usual visitors who soon tried out the feeders.




Once again I was able to see the male Robin feeding the female. Sometimes he would dive in to the covered tray and take a piece of Sunflower heart and take it to the female who sat on the fence waiting.

From Blogger Pictures

Unfortunately this little piece of action is so fast that so far I have not managed a photo of it. The nearest I got was this:



The male on the right had just picked up a piece of Sunflower heart and offered it to the female on the left. She had taken it immediately and by the time the camera fired she had already turned her head round. Oh well, gives me something to aim for in getting a snap at the right moment. I must remember to put the camera on rapid fire next time!

A Thrush, some Jackdaws and Rooks' Beaks

This morning I was pleased to see the Song Thrush was in the garden again. It was near the bottom of the garden and at first I thought it was a female Blackbird until I picked up the binoculars and checked. Then I dashed through to get the camera. I managed to get a hurried photo just as the Thrush pulled a worm from the grass.



Unfortunately for the Thrush it wasn't the only bird interested in worms. Before it could take advantage of its catch along came a Blackbird who chased the Thrush away.



It didn't go far away and soon returned to look for another breakfast snack only to be scared away by a Starling.



The poor old Thrush really did look sorry for itself and after another look round that part of the garden went off to pastures new.

From Blogger Pictures

A couple of days ago there were four Jackdaws feeding on the lawn but they all scattered as soon as they spotted me through the kitchen window. Two of them came back and carried on feeding while I took some photos. Most of the time they stayed very close together and often moved identically. They would both reach down for a seed at exactly the same time. Synchronised feeding!





Those bright, light coloured eyes always look so piercing and intense.



Now this 'hair style' looks very modern and wouldn't be out of place at any night club!



As I mentioned a short while ago I had a look through my Rook photos to see what variations there are in beak markings and I think I have found five individuals which visit the garden.



There is quite a variation with some which make them easy to spot. The one bottom right has a curved top section to its beak so that it does not close completely. The top right one has a hanging growth (skin?) under the beak. Others have wart like features on their beaks. There are a lot of Rooks in two Rookeries locally so no doubt I will be able to spot more individuals in the future.

Finally: Here is a link to a short audio capture of a Song Thrush.

Underwater Romance

Yesterday being a Bank Holiday I spent the best part of the day pottering round the garden. I soon get irritated by crowds and noise (grumpy old man syndrome) so I keep out of the way on such days. After a misty and drizzly start it turned out to be a lovely warm day for the time of year.

Checking the pond I spied a pond skater (common water-strider, Gerris lacustris) so fetched the camera. I had to wait a while as it was dashing around all over the place and occasionally leaping up. Eventually it rested a while for me to get a couple of portraits.



Earlier on I thought I had briefly spied the tail of a disappearing newt so I hung around every so often to try to get a better view. Eventually I was rewarded by seeing not one but four newts all in view at the same time.

Later I saw two Common Newts which were staying very close together and it appeared to be a male following a female. These shots are rather murky as they were on the bottom of the pond.



After a while what appeared to be the female came to the surface and spent a while probably laying eggs on the pond weed. The middle picture shows quite a fat belly which is what leads me to believe it is the female.



She stayed there a while and then moved on to another clump of weed where she spent more than a minute in the same spot.



As there were fish around I stayed near this area to keep them away. When she had finished I gathered some of the weed from this spot and transferred it to the nursery pond where the frog spawn is so that if there were any eggs they would have a chance to hatch. There was a short mass of jelly about an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide. Whether this was laid by the newt or a great pond snail I am not sure. Only time will tell.

I was fascinated by the way the great pond snails move from one area of the pond to another. Sometimes they slither round the outer edge but many other times they float upside down and let the breeze take them across the water. As they reach new pastures they wrap them selves round the stem and start browsing on the algae there.



About 2 p.m. the weather started to change, drizzle and getting cooler, so we went for afternoon walkies and then I called it a day on the photographic front. By 3 it was raining and it rained on and off the rest of the day.

Nesting Fever

There has obviously been a rapid increase in the number of birds constructing their nests. Several times a day I see female blackbirds with beaks full of nesting material. This morning I watched a House Sparrow pull off a piece of half dead grass. It then ran it through its beak as though testing it. Obviously it failed the test as the bird put it down again. The Collared Doves are taking material into my specimen Leylandii (It is about 70ft tall even after having about 30ft cut off the top a couple of years ago) I am tempted to have it felled completely but so many birds use it for nesting and shelter it will probably stay as long as it remains safe.

I am coming to the conclusion that the Blue Tits have abandoned the idea of taking up residence in the tit box. The contents have remained undisturbed for four or five days now. This following one day where there was a lot of activity and everything looked just fine.



Yesterday a Great Tit again visited the Robin box and spent a short while investigating it.

This morning for only the second time ever I had a Goldfinch visit. It was sat on the clothes line and may have been looking for the niger seed feeder which had been close to that position. I had moved it a couple of days ago to a more secluded spot further down the garden so I shall have to wait to see whether it finds the new position.





Otherwise it has been lots of the usual visitors. There has been an increase in the numbers of House Sparrows visiting the feeders. Rooks now seem to be amongst the regular visitors to the lawn.



I am beginning to see differences in the Rooks. Individuals are often easily spotted by looking at the shape of the beak. Most have various lumps and bumps and each beak is different. I will have to go through my collection of photographs and see haw many different individuals I can pick out.

Lastly a picture of a Starling in flight. Not a brilliant photo as it was a distance away. I like it as the bird was caught at the moment when the wings were closest to the body. It looks to me as though it is jet propelled!



Happy Easter to all. Have fun birding or just relaxing. John