Smile

It is very hard these day to find something to smile about in a country run by posh toffs who wouldn't survive a single shift in a factory making the money they secrete out of the country to avoid paying their share of taxes.

This, slightly modified, poster was spotted some years ago and tickled my fancy. I think they were on sale on eBay at one time and there are many similar on there now:



A while ago I was listening to a repeat of an old Bob Monkhouse radio programme. One joke stuck in my mind and I think of it every time I see a politician on the idiot lantern:

Question - How can you tell when politicians are lying?
Answer -   Their lips are moving.

As the old saying goes - Many a true word is spoken in jest.

Wings on Wednesday - Jackdaw, Starling, Blue-tailed Damselfly

It was nice to have a Jackdaw come close enough to get a decent head crop. They usually disappear as soon as I raise the camera.



Lots of Starlings visiting at the moment. The small birds usually wait patiently until there is a free space on the feeders but the Starlings just barge in and push all the other birds out of the way. This one was soaking up the Sunshine and looking very haughty.



Joining the Common Blue Damselflies was this, the first of the Blue-tailed Damselflies.

Blue Damsels

No, not bathing beauties in a frozen lake. The first two Common Blue Damselflies to appear at the garden pond. Glorious sunshine is bringing them out and making it easier to take a few decent photos.

 

 


All the time Penny was thinking, "Are we going walkies or are you going to mess around with that camera all day?"

First Damsel

Earlier today I spotted the first damselfly to emerge from the garden pond. I assume it will be a blue tail once it gets its colour as they have been breeding there for several years. This one appeared to be fairly new and kept shuffling round the plant stem, usually just as I had it in focus.



This morning the final two baby Great Tits left the nestbox so that makes a total of five from the seven eggs which were laid. I haven't seen any babies or the adults today but I didn't last year for a few days after the last one fledged.

Friday at the Flicks - GT Babies, Newt, Penny and Monty

I don't know what happened to the baby which left the nest a couple of days ago. No evidence seen of a parent feeding anything outside the nestbox. My feeling is that it was too impatient. The remaining five are thriving and being well fed. This short video clip was taken yesterday from my six inch monitor using the iPhone4:



Sad news from the nest this morning. It looks as though one of the chicks has died. It was probably the runt and couldn't compete for food well enough and the change in the weather with temperatures suddenly shooting up won't have helped. I have switched off the internet video feed. Another must have fledged and the remaining three chicks are exercising their wings. One stood in the entrance for a short while so they should be fledging soon.

Near the beginning of Spring I spotted five newts all showing at the same time in the garden pond. Yesterday was the first time lighting conditions were right this year to take a short video of one:




Penny continues to settle in to a routine though she is an early bird. What she needed was a comfort toy, especially as she kept swiping one of my towels. This is Penny on her first meeting with Monty the Moose. As it has two noise makers inside I have kept an eye on how she treats it. If she starts to tear it apart then I will have to replace it with a silent one. So far she loves making it 'grunt' otherwise she treats it ever so gently, sometimes taking it to bed with her.



A photo of Penny with Monty the Moose:


Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you or with your own special animal companion.

Great Diving Beetle

I had taken the 50D out in the garden as I had spotted a Sparrowhawk fly past. No sign of the bird so I checked the pond for signs of life. What a surprise. There basking on a lily pad in the glorious sunshine was a Great Diving Beetle. It stayed long enough to get a few shots before diving to the bottom. That was the first indication that there were any diving beetles in my garden pond. I never know what is going to turn up next and often wonder how the various creatures arrive in the first place.

Great Diving Beetle  (Dytiscus Marginalis):

Wings on Wednesday - Coal Tit Food Larder

I was watching a Coal Tit grabbing sunflower hearts from the bird table and taking them low down into some bushes at the bottom of the garden. I had a slow wander down there to see what it was doing with them. Even though I was less than twenty feet away it took no notice of me and carried on. To my amazement it was hiding the seeds in the bark of an old tree stump:



To see better detail you can click on the picture which will take you to Flickr where you can see larger versions.