WET BIRDS

It rained today, as it did for most of yesterday…and the day before that. I guess tomorrow, it will rain again?

So, stuck indoors looking out at the watery view I noticed that the birds coming to the garden feeders were struggling to keep dry. A lot of the the birds were recently fledged youngsters and it was noticeable that they were suffering the most.

This young Blackbird was continually running backwards and forwards across the shed roof trying to shake off and dodge the raindrops.


A recently fledged Robin looking rather grumpy!


One of the many (wet) young Starlings that were in the garden.


The adult birds were not doing much better at keeping dry.

                     Wood Pigeon 


                     Collared Dove


                     House Sparrow


Starling

So what do you do if you’re soaking wet and stuck out in the rain?…..


…..Cast an eye to the heavens, like this young Starling, and say “I wish this bloody rain would stop”….


….Or, like this Blue Tit, just shrug your shoulders and shake it all off…


….Or maybe, just give it a bit of a ‘twizzle’ like this young Goldfinch?

Or perhaps like this young Starling….
 
….you tuck your head under your wing and go to sleep!

For one visitor to the garden the hard work has to go on come rain or shine. This Blue Tit (there appears to be only one) has, for over a week, been coming to the garden at regular intervals, from early morning to late evening, grabbing some food and quickly flying off…doing the ‘food run’ as I call it.  This morning he/she was being closely followed by five, very newly fledged and noisy, youngsters? I hope they survive the rain and make mum or dad’s hard work worth it?


Sorry for the dark and grainy images but they were all taken through the double glazed windows.
Oh!…and did I mention that it was overcast and RAINING?


I’m off to polish my wellies now!!

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!

A FEW FROM THE WARM SIDE OF THE WINDOW

As predicted it snowed quite heavily yesterday during the middle part of the day and left a covering of about three inches. I could see that the birds in the garden were having trouble getting any food from the snow bound feeders so during a let up in the snow I braved the elements and cleared  a patch on the ground and put down a good helping of seed.

As soon as I'd scurried back into the warm the birds began to come down to feed. After watching them for about ten minutes and being the 'sharp as a tack' person that I am it suddenly dawned on me ...photo opportunity!  So that's how I spent the next couple of hours...laying prone on the floor on the warm side of the patio doors taking lots of dark grainy out of focus photos...but, you know what?...apart from the crick in my neck I thoroughly enjoyed it...birding in the warm, a cup of tea close at hand ...you can't beat it!!


Here are a few of the better ones (with a massive amount of help from Photoshop!!)

Blackbird (male)

Blackbird (female)

 Blackbird (female)

 House Sparrow (male)

Collared Dove

IT RAINED TODAY....

.....nonstop for the whole bl...y day!!

I took a few photographs of the poor soaking wet birds that have been visiting my garden feeders.

Not very good photographs, I hasten to add, as double glazed windows, the rain and the resulting bad light all add up to high ISO settings and therefore very grainy photographs. 

Still, I guess, it was something to keep me occupied while I was sitting...watching...the rain...raining...all day!!  

male  Blackbird

female  Blackbird

Collared Dove

Robin

Starling

And life must go on whatever the weather... a just fledged House Sparrow gets a feed.

And it's still raining!!

LOCATION - LOCATION - LOCATION

 

 

This is the Third and final instalment in a series of three posts with, not many words of wisdom,  just a selection of images that I hope you will enjoy. Each post dedicated to a different location that I've had the pleasure of visiting since the beginning of the month.

 

 

 

 During the snowy weather that we encountered earlier in the month I took a trip to Stockgrove Country Park which is located near to Leighton Buzzard on the border between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. 

The birds are quite tame here, due to being regularly fed by members of the public, and will come down to feed only a matter of inches away from the watcher, so I knew that with the lying snow and frozen conditions the birds would be hungry and there was potential for some good photo opportunities with excellent 'up lighting' provided by the snow.

 

 

Unfortunately the promised sun failed to appear, however, I did manage to get a few reasonable shots....

 

 

 Mr and Mrs Blackbird...

 

 Blue Tit...

 Robin...

 Dunnock...

 

 

And an inquisitive Jay came down from his lofty perch for a closer inspection!...

Now, I couldn't resist the opportunity to include some more images, again taken in the snowy weather and from another location, but this time taken from a bit closer to home...my back garden!

Unfortunately, due to me being a wimp and staying in the warm, these images were taken through my double glazed patio doors so are consequently a bit 'soft'...

Goldfinch...

Starlings...

Male and Female House Sparrow...

 Dunnock...

Female Blackbird...

And last but not least is 'Woody' the Wood Pigeon...