Delusions of grandeur…maybe?

Now listen up…without fear of contradiction and with hand on heart I can say that……



…..I’m the top honcho..the number one…the boss of this garden



and if anyone has anything to say…oh!….er!…



…did anybody see where my nuts went?



Taken through my patio window early this morning.

A NEW GARDEN VISITOR

Yesterday morning as I sat looking out of the window whilst drinking my first cup of tea of the day I noticed some movement underneath a bushy shrub that grows in one of the borders and out popped a Robin, the first I've seen in the garden for a few weeks now, accompanied by a juvenile that's just moulting into its adult coat. While the youngster sat on a low perch and watched intently as the adult bird, all the while 'ticking' and bobbing up and down, moved around and visited various locations in the garden..a water bowl on the lawn, some of the feeders, the bird table, the ground feeder and even into the small tree/bush where all the small birds seem to flee to when something in the garden panics them. Thinking about this behaviour later it dawned on me that it looked as though the adult was giving the youngster a guided tour of where to find everything around the garden!

And I guess my thinking was somewhere near the mark because this morning at roughly the same time as yesterday the young Robin (no Adult?) appeared and followed almost the exact route around the garden as the adult had 'shown it' yesterday.

I guess it's a case of once shown never forgotten.

Isn't nature wonderful?

A GARDEN VISITOR

 A regular visitor to my garden bird feeders...unfortunately the sunflower hearts disappear rather quickly!



Top half ?...

Bottom half ?...

The complete article!...

It may be a greedy so and so but you have to admire it's skill and dexterity!

HIP, HIP HOORAY.....

....I got my camera back today!    (it was on Friday actually but it didn't scan as well!)

So, needing to test that it was working okay, I had two options...option 1.   to go out into the arctic conditions that seem to be passing as Springtime at the moment or option 2.  stay indoors in the warm and take pictures through the window of the birds visiting the garden.

Which option to choose was a no brainer really... so it was on with the thermals and the woolly hat and....ooops!!.. sorry,  I got carried away there, what I meant to say was ...on with the kettle, crank up the central heating, make the tea and then sit back and enjoy  the birds as they came down to feed in the garden!

After heavy snow on Friday evening/Saturday morning it snowed lightly, but continuously, for most of the weekend and the light was dull and grey meaning that high ISO's were required so not great images but at least I know that the camera is working okay once again.

Starling

Woodpigeon

This young Woodpigeon  was clearly on a steep learning curve as only a couple of days earlier it had crashed, not once but twice into my patio doors, thankfully with no apparent ill effects, and here it's sitting atop the bird table wondering what on earth all this white stuff is!

 

Goldfinch

female House Sparrow

Collared Dove

There are two Robins visiting the garden at the moment. I assume that they're a bonded pair as they tolerate each other and are feeding close together. A few days ago I saw, briefly, one of them clearly displaying to the other.

This female Blackbird, who I think is building a nest in a tall shrub at the end of the garden and 'sees off' any other Blackbird that comes into range, struck this weird rigid, contorted stance and held it for quite a few seconds. I don't know for what reason, maybe a threat or display?

I can't wait for the next couple of months to pass when we can move into Spring and experience some decent light during those warm sunny  days with the wild flowers starting to show their beautiful colours and the butterflies taking to the wing  and the build up to a long hot Summer....aahhh!....Oh!.. bugger!.... I forgot,  it IS Spring already!!

Take care and stay warm!

IT SNOWED AGAIN TODAY......

........not heavily, but nonstop since 9am this morning! So what better things to do than indulge in another spell of bird watching from the warm side of the window!

The main item of interest was watching how my 'resident' male Blackbird has decided that he is boss of the patch and aggressively sees off all comers, from Robin and Dunnock to Starling and Woodpigeon, size is no object all get short shrift if they linger for too long!!

However some were allowed to stay for long enough to have their photo taken!

Pied Wagtail, a new garden visitor!

Even Mrs. Blackbird got the same treatment as all the rest!

Goldfinch, as many as 14 on or around the Sunflower Heart feeders.

Dunnock

Robin, the previous 'boss' of the garden!

Starling

Woodpigeon

 It looks as if it's going to stay cold and frosty for most of next week so I suspect there'll be lots more bird watching through the window to come!

Whatever your doing during this coming week make sure to stay safe and warm.