A SELECTION

It’s been a while since my last post so I’m guessing that it’s about time I did another one?


Here’s a selection of images taken on my recent wanderings.



Female BLACKBIRD not black at all but, in the right light, showing subtle shades of brown.


A GREY HERON not looking too happy on a frosty cold morning.


Greylag Geese on final approach.


Immature Herring Gull  As I still find the ageing of gulls beyond me I’ve labelled this one as immature!

 
A COOT no doubt on it’s way to a fight somewhere?


The JAY, with it’s stunning markings and colourful plumage, is one of my favourite birds to see.


And another.


A female KESTREL with the sun on her back.


Not an ugly duckling but an already elegant and graceful juvenile MUTE SWAN.


A STARLING captured in my garden in the late afternoon light showing off it’s beautiful plumage.


A WIGEON flyover.


And finally……


What am I…..

A CANALAG or maybe a LAGCANA?



And….


Barry the BLACK-HEADED GULL who’s regretting listening to all his pals when they assured him that doing a barrel roll was easy peasy lemon squeezy.

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 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.

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.