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 MAN FROM THE NORTH AND ROSEMARY'S DUCKS

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of meeting up with a fellow blogger.  

Adrian  the self styled old age traveller of Adrian's Images fame, he who keeps us entertained with his dry and witty musings as he wends his way around the country in his camper van accompanied by his faithful sidekicks  Alf and Molly, had come to visit  'our patch' for a couple of days.  

I'm not going to bore you with the details of what we did or where we went, Adrian tells it much better than I ever could in his blog.

 
The first day was spent walking around Keith's local lake, Caldecote.  And later a photo session with some ornamental ducks on the pond  at Adrian's camp site. The evening before Adrian had chatted up and worked his charm on Rosemary the proprietor'ess of the campsite who came and unlocked the gate to the pond and allowed us to go in and take photographs at our leisure . (there was a high electric fence and cage around the pond to keep out the local foxes and other unwelcome visitors!)


Rosemary's Ducks

                       
                        Bahama Pintail                                 Silver Bahama Pintail

                         Marbled Teal                                              Ferruginous Duck

                                Chiloe Wigeon                                Cinnamon Teal

                                           Mr and Mrs Carolina Wood Duck

Day two involved an early start and a visit to Summer Leys reserve in Northamptonshire. Unfortunately the wildfowl on the water were mobile and distant after being disturbed be a group of people using boats to undertake some sort of survey work. 

A distant Shelduck adds some colour to the grey water.

One highlight of the day was seeing a beautiful pair of Bullfinches as they visited the feeding station and also a paddling cock Pheasant. 

He looked none too happy getting his feet wet!

A female Reed Bunting bracing herself against the wind!

And further on a group of Goldfinch shining in the sunlight as they busily fed on some Teasel  heads.

 

And to round the day off Adrian treated Keith and myself to a meal in the local pub.

Thanks Adrian, it was a pleasure to meet and walk with you,  I hope you enjoyed your all too brief visit to our local patch. Perhaps next time you'll be able to stay a bit longer and we can show you more of our local sites, and maybe with some sunshine thrown in for good measure!