Not One but Two

While I was getting Bobby ready for our morning walk, and I was still on auto-pilot at 7 a.m., I spotted not one but two Stock Doves on the lawn. Needless to say the camera wasn't handy at that time and by the time I had fetched it they had both flown away.



The photo is from the batch I took the first time I saw one. My main program for processing photos is PaintShopPro X2 and I have only recently found out that plugins designed for PhotoShop are also suitable for use in PSP so I have been gathering a few free ones to experiment with. For the above photo I emphasised the lighter and darkened the darker parts and added a border.

Another program I have found is a free version of  PanoramaPlus by Serif.  The new header was made using that. (The text being added later in PSP) The original photos were taken years ago. I forget which camera I used and it is not recorded in the photo files. I know it was a very low quality camera I used to put in my shirt pocket. The free version of PanoramaPlus has a fixed, fairly low size for the finished panorama which it produces very quickly and even works out the right order to stitch the photos. v2 of the program, which I now have, has more facilities and a choice of size for the final panorama which can take a while to produce if a large size is chosen and there are many individual photos to join together. The few times I have taken shots for panoramas I have worked hand held and PP soon sorts out any differences in horizon position or tilts in camera angle.

A Trip to the Vet

It is three months since Bobby started the medication for his deteriorating back leg joints so he was due for re-assessment. His progress has been very varied depending how active he has been but on the whole is doing about as well as can be expected. We agreed to add in a pain killer as Bobby can get quite uncomfortable by the end of the day. Also he has an old injury to one front leg which occasionally plays up.



When I first collected him from the Ark (rescue and rest home) I had him checked over by the vet and was told he had the beginnings of a cataract in one eye. I have noticed this cloud over more over the years so I asked the vet to look at that as well. Poor old Bobby not only has a cataract but probably retinal damage as well. The pupil in that eye doesn't respond to light but does respond when light is shone in the other eye. Unfortunately there is nothing which can be done for that.


In spite of all that Bobby still manages to enjoy life, still goes bonkers when it is walkies time and keeps a good appetite.

AudioBoo replaces eSnips for me

This is just by way of a test.

Regulars may remember I had problems uploading the recording I had made of a birdsong to eSnips. Their automatic checking kept refusing the file as a possible copyright infringement. I emailed their techinal department at the time but they have never been back in touch.

This morning I discovered another site, AudioBoo, which is free to use and so simple to create an account and upload files. I uploaded the same mp3 file as a test.



Once the file is on the site it is just a question of copying and pasting the code for their player into my blog. Job done.

One Triumph and One Failure

From time to time the Blackbirds have attempted to collect seed from the feeders but  they had found it too difficult balancing on the ring perches. A short wile ago I attached a 'saucer' to the bottom of the feeder to catch some of the seed scattered by the Starlings. One female Blackbird found it made just the ledge she needed to join the smaller birds which she did without bothering the other birds already feeding.

Female Blackbird, House Sparrow, female Chaffinch:


On our way back from walkies yesterday I stood for a while under a tree watching the courtship attempts by a male Chaffinch. He was singing and bowing from side to side. Every so often he would fly to a branch a bit closer to the female. This went on for about a minute as he gradually closed the gap. She was listening and watching his every move. Eventually he landed on a twig a few inches away from his intended. I could just imagine the look of frustration and disappointment on his face as she promptly flew away just as he was about to hop on to her branch. Oh well. If at first you don't succeed ..........

Wrong nestbox Sunshine.

Looking through the video captures from yesterday I spotted that a Great Tit had made a very brief visit to inspect the Robin nestbox. It was so brief I just took a still snapshot from the video.



I saw the same thing happen last year. Just one very brief inspection. Now I am wondering whether to put a different front on the box so it would be suitable for Great Tits.  Yesterday I fixed my old Robin nestbox on a fence hidden behind a bush. There is no camera in that one but I can just see it and would be able to take photographs if it were to be used by a Robin.

Friday at the Flicks (A bit of Spring Cleaning)

Some video clips from this morning's activity in and around the Blue Tit nestbox. A thorough investigation of the surrounding area followed by the removal of some of the dried grass stalks I put in last Autum when I cleaned the box. Sound Track - Rumores, a MIDI file played on a Roland keyboard.



This is just the sort of activity observed last year a few weeks before an attempt was made to build a nest so things are looking up.

What a kerfuffle trying to upload the file. I have had nothing but problems with failed uploads ever since FireFox was upgraded to v 3.6. Google Gears no longer works with Firefox so bulk uploading is out and normal single uploads often fail. The last few times I have had to resort to using IE.

Four Pigeons and a Stock Dove

There have been anything up to six Wood Pigeons in the garden each morning picking up the spilt seed. Especially since the local farmers activated their gas 'cannons' to scare them off the crops. This morning it was a plasant surprise to see the Stock Dove timidly joining them.



There are still a good number of Blackbirds visiting each day. It was amusing to watch a confrontation between a pigeon and a Blackbird. Neither was going to give way. The Blackbird crouched down, beak open and the Wood Pigeon was gently flapping its wings together in front of it as if to try to box the Blackbird's ears. In the end it was the pigeon which had to retreat.

When I first looked out of the window there were six Jackdaws on the lawn which scattered as soon as they spotted me. At the same time a lone Rook sat in a tree checking whether it was safe to join the others for breakfast.



But as soon as it spotted me watching it took off.



This has been our third sunny morning in a row and a certain hairy monster misses no opportunity to soak up the warmth. Bobby grabs a suitable morsel and rushes outdoors to find the right place to enjoy breakfast.



Yesterday we went for an amble through the only wild area left in the centre of the village. There were lots of birds about, Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Great Tits and several I couldn't identify so it looks a good place to go by myself and spend an hour or two with camera in hand. The only things which would stay still long enough to be photographed were a few Rabbits in a meadow.



As usual there were a few House Sparrows sat in my thorn hedge soaking up the warmth from the sunlight.



The Blue Tits continue to make occasional brief visits to the nestbox so there is still hope they may eventually make up their minds and choose my box this year.

Regarding the mystery bird song my thanks to those who suggested Mistle or Song Thrush as being a possible contender. I  found a couple of reports, from 2008 on the Manchester Birding Forum, of Mistle Thrushes singing in flight so I may be getting nearer to a solution.

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=96752&p=3&topicID=15192795

One refers to it being mentioned in BWP which I take to be Birds of the Western Palearctic. (outside my price range) One description I saw likened the Mistle Thrush flight song to the sound made by the sort of rattle people used to (still do?) take to football matches. That seems to be a fairly reasonable interpretation of the sound I hear quite frequently round the village.