Coal Tits Feed Fledgeling (video)

Soon after I had taken the stills yesterday I managed to a short piece of video of the fledgeling being fed. Once I had chased the Starlings away this morning the Coal Tits were back within a few seconds so I managed a bit more footage. As well as being fed by the parent the youngster also spent time hunting amongst the branches and the final clip appears to show that it had managed to find some food for itself.



While all the larger birds flew away when I took the camcorder outside to get some clearer video the tiny Coal Tits took no notice of me and carried on with the task in hand.

Coal Tit Feeding a Fledgeling

Yesterday I had put up one of the Suet Feast blocks to see whether the Blue Tits would be attracted to it. This morning, once the multitude of Starlings had departed for a while, a pair of Coal Tits kept visiting the suet block over and over again. They were obviously feeding one or more fledgelings but though I managed to film the adults the actual feeding eluded the camcorder as the youngster(s) moved to a different position after each beak full. Fortunately on one occasion they were in sufficient view to enable me to get some stills with the 50D + 400mm.











This is the first time I have seen the Coal Tits for quite a while and was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.

Friday at the Flicks (Crane Fly, House Sparrows, Starling Fledgelings)

The Crane Fly - Tipula lateralis -  busy apparently laying its eggs in the floating pond plants in my garden pond.



While I was filming the Crane Fly at one end of the pond a couple of House Sparrows landed on the waterfall at the other end and fortunately didn't notice as I turned the camcorder in their direction.



At the beginning of the week, when these were filmed, there were two or three fledgeling Starlings visiting to be fed.



Early this morning there were at least 15 youngsters all clamouring to be fed. It was interesting to note that they tended to stay in groups of three or four which were presumably family groups.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you. You never know what will turn up next.

Crane Fly, Sparrow Nestbox

I was puzzled yesterday when I saw what appeared to be a Crane Fly dipping its abdomen in the pond. Up till then I had assumed all crane flies laid their eggs in soil. On searching the internet I found that the Crane Fly Tipula lateralis likes marshy waterside environments. Most of the time it seemed to be laying its eggs in the oxygenating plants on the surface of the pond.



Maybe with the lack of rain recently this was the nearest it could find to the correct environment.


I have often looked at a nestbox positioned on a telephone pole not far from home. It looks like a standard Bluetit / Great Tit box so I was quite surprised when I saw a House Sparrow busily fetching seeds to feed the youngsters inside. It didn't go in the box but just fed its brood through the hole.

From MIDMARSH JOTTINGS

 The Crane Fly was taken with the 50D+400mm and the Sparrow with the Lumix TZ7

Feed Me - I'm Hungry

The last couple of days have been really noisy. The young Starlings have started to fledge and they all come here to be fed. The only time they are silent is when the parent has its head down the youngster's throat.

I haven't had any food for at least twenty seconds:



I can see right down to your tail.



Open wider.



OK, OK. You don't have to swallow my head.



It sounds like they are back again today. Hopefully it won't be too long before they can find their own food - quietly!

First Damsel of the Year

I try to remember to keep an eye on various plants in the pond to see if any damsels or dragons are emerging. I could make out something on one of the stems but it was quite a while before it dawned on me it was an empty larval case and I had missed out this time.



Later in the day I managed to catch a glimpse of a Blue-tailed Damselfly resting by the pond so I assume this is what had emerged from the larval case.



Plenty of sightings of the Smooth Newts and just one of the many Common Stretch Spiders which build their webs between the various aquatic plants.



Plenty of coming and going every night on the Hedgehog front but the house remains empty at the moment.

It was a noisy day yesterday as there were young House Sparrows being fed and the first of the young Starlings kept yelling for more and more food.

White Bluebells

There are a few large clumps of cultivated bluebells in my back garden which have been flowering for over thirty years. Noticeable amongst all the blue are two stems of pure white flowers. They are possibly a hybrid: Hyacinthoides x massartiana



A short while ago I labelled this photo as horse chestnut, but I think it should have been labelled as Sycamore:



For one thing the Horse Chestnut flower spike grows upwards as can be seen here:



Many of the scores of frog tadpoles in the nursery pond are developing their back legs. There are so many that I have started transferring some to the main pond. There they will have more natural food, less chance of using up the oxygen in the water and they should now be large enough to be safe from the fish.



The legs can just be made out along side the tail of this tadpole which is one of about fifty I moved yesterday. As their skin is delicate I scooped them in small batches into a plant pot saucer with the water rather than using a net.

While I was moving the tadpoles I noticed that one small ant had managed to get in the nursery pond and was walking about on the weed trying to find a way out.