Thursday 24 January 2013

A NEW GARDEN ORDER




During the recent cold and snowy weather there's been but one ruler in my garden... but today...things changed!

Up until 7.30 this morning my resident male Blackbird has been the ruler over the whole garden..seeing off all comers, size was no object be it Woodpigeons to Starlings or Robins to Dunnocks all were given short shrift!

Today, that reign came to an abrupt end when  he was ousted  by the arrival of a new ruler in the garden!

A solitary Fieldfare  has taken over as boss, seeing off the Blackbird, and anything else that came too close or stayed to long, at the earliest opportunity! Apart from the regular skirmishes and the odd preening session it has spent  the last seven hours (and still counting!) busily chomping its way through the apples I'd put out in the garden...it must be the healthiest Fieldfare for miles around! 



Just call me the boss!






 I think I need to buy some more apples!!

Once again, all these images were taken from the warm side of the double glazed windows.

17 comments:

holdingmoments said...

These are excellent Trevor.
Great close ups of a usually very shy bird.
Hard to pick a favourite, but I do like that second one. Cocked tail, with attitude.

The Herald said...

Thanks Keith, not shy this one...an apple addict I think and still chomping, coming up to nine hours now! I've had to put more apples out!!...[;o)

ADRIAN said...

A wonderful bird Trevor. I'm amazed you only have the one. They usually arrive mob handed.
PS. The refuge you have found seems perfect to me

The Herald said...

Adrian, this one must have been banished from the mob for eating all the food, it's had the best part of nine hours of eating apple today...it only left when it started to get dark!...[;o)

grammie g said...

HI Trevor...The boss looks like he means business in the second shot : )
Beautiful bird,and good photos of him!!
Gee I wish you lived closer I have a bag of apples that need to get used up ; )
Don't go falling asleep sitting there in the warmth with a cup of tea in your hand ..ouch!!
Grace

The Herald said...

Hi Grace..thank you, yeh he sure is a mean customer, he saw everything off and then ate all the apples, and for a whole nine hours.
As usual lots of photos taken and just the odd cup of tea!...lol.

How good is your throwing?...just in case he returns tomorrow can you just toss a few of those apples over the water for me!...lol...[;o)

Bob Bushell said...

Isn't it beautiful, it's one of my favourites, I love number 2, superb.

The Herald said...

Thanks Bob, It kept me entertained all day!...[;o)

Roy Norris said...

More of a colourful bird than we give it credit for normally Trevor and your great photos show this well.

The Herald said...

Roy, thank you. Yeh, beautiful colours when seen close up, a stunning bird...[;o)

theconstantwalker said...

Lovely shots Trevor..

Heather Wilde said...

A beautiful bird when you see them up close like that, or so Findlay tells me :)

The Herald said...

Thanks Andrew...[;o)

Heather, thanks for dropping by.
As Findlay says a beautiful bird to see, but it's not very often that you can get close to this normally shy winter visitor...[;o)

ShySongbird said...

Haha :-) Now what was I saying to you on the last post Trevor? Nowt so annoying as someone saying I told you so I know...but I'm saying it anyway ;-) I have noticed this behaviour every Winter in my garden, even the most dominant Blackbirds don't stand a chance!

These are really beautiful photos!! My garden is north facing and pretty hopeless for photos...I'm very envious of yours :-)

The Herald said...

Jan, as soon as I saw it in the garden early yesterday morning I remembered what you'd said...and sure enough everything, without exception, was chased from the garden! And it was here for the best part of nine hours...and when I opened the curtains at 7.15 this morning there it was again, still eating apples!..and it's still there now! (I had to go out and buy more apples!!) It seems to be more tolerant today only chasing off the Blackbirds and Starlings!

There's a problem with a South facing garden Jan...the sun (when it shines!!!)shines almost directly into your eyes, or lens!,so most things end up being back lit for most of the day especially with the low angle at this time of year, Okay for sunbathing but not too good for photography!! The snow makes a good up lighter though!

Yeh, I was quite pleased with how the photos turned out (I took hundreds!!) considering the light and the double glazing. Thank you for the kind comments.

Sorry, this reply seems to be turning into a book!...[;o)

FOREST SNAPPER said...

Just caught up with your post Trevor, fantastic bird, i have never seen one. The No2 photo stands out for me, but they are all good given that you shot through glass.


peter

The Herald said...

Cheers Peter. Yeh, a very colourful bird close up, this one has been in my garden, eating (non stop!) the apples that I've put out for it, for the last three days. I guess it will now move on as the thaw has set in and will now be able to go back to it's normal diet of worms and grubs etc...It was a true pleasure to have in the garden and to take (lots!) photographs of...[;o)