There's a Brown Bird in the Ring......

Tra la la la la......

Not much of the suet ring left now and most of the birds that come into our garden have made the most of it!

It's only taken a week for all the suet to just about disappear & I don't think the squirrel is to blame this time - I think the birds actually got chance to eat it all for themselves!

It wasn't me!

I also bought another new feeder for the Sunflower Seeds, hopefully this one is a bit more squirrel proof than the last one.
It didn't take long for the birds to get accustomed to it!

Love is in the air........

...... everywhere I look around!

Okay, maybe not love but, by the way the birds are pairing up, breeding season is definitely around the corner!

I think the "cutest" couple has to be the Robins - he sits guarding the feeding station whilst she feeds on the fat balls, he even chases off the little Coal Tits who are only after a few sunflower seeds! When she's finished, he then flies to a high branch & sings his little heart out.

It's not surprising he's paired off already, when his territory includes the best bird restaurant in town!

We also have 2 pairs of Great Tits, 2 pairs of Blue Tits, 2 pairs of Coal Tits, 1 pair of Dunnocks (who don't stand a chance when the Robin is around!), and we now have a pair of Thrushes which I'm pleased about!


The Long Tailed Tits just arrive in a flock of between 7 and 11, you can tell they are very social birds and love company, and I've given up trying to work out the Blackbirds and who's with who!

So when Spring arrives and the first little ones are being fed by their parents, I like to think I played matchmaker a little & helped them get together!

Diseased Chaffinch?

We have a flock of around 7 Chaffinches who come into our garden every day, the other week I noticed one of the females had something wrong with her foot. I thought it was a clump of mud & seed stuck around her claws but after trying to focus on it (unsuccessfully), I realised there were lots of what appear to be little cysts.
Does anybody know what has caused this?

She wouldn't stand still long enough for a clear shot!

She seems to be well & has no difficulty keeping with the flock & feeding, I'm just curious to know what this is & whether it would be contagious to the other birds?


On a brighter note we finally had our first Siskin in the garden today - a female all by herself. I did scan the surrounding trees/scrub but couldn't see any more of them.

The rat was also very active today and kept scurrying across to the crumbs of stale cake!

And of course, the Robin not wanting to be left out of the photos!

DIY (bird food style)!

Woke up this morning to about another inch of snow, so much for our plans to go the nearest store to stock up on bird seed! The roads would be a no go!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not lazy and I don't mind walking but the thought of lugging back kilogram bags of peanuts & seed for about 3 miles in freezing cold just doesn't appeal to me so what do we do?

Well, we do what the Brits are best at........ we have to make the best of a bad job (and moan whilst doing it!)

So, after about an hour spent raiding the cupboards, chopping ingredients, melting fat...the kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it!
At least our efforts weren't in vain though and:-

• The peanut feeder was promptly filled with chopped chestnuts left over from Christmas which the Great Tits enjoyed.
• The stale bread was soaked in water and mixed with raisins, peanut butter and a bit of seed.
• The fat was melted down into a bowl and mixed with the last of the seed, raisins & chopped apple and put in the fridge to set.
• Mince pies were chopped up along with more apple.
• Another apple was peeled and cored and stuck on top of the feeder pole just to see if anything would try it!
  

Hmmmm, tasty!

I'm not sure if all of the food put out was good for them but it was better than nothing and birds aren't stupid, if something is bad then they just won't eat it!

We threw everything outside and didn't have to wait long... the Robin was straight down to investigate and promptly chased any Chaffinches & Dunnocks that appeared!
We seem to be inundated with Blackbirds at the moment who of course love the raisins and apple.

Blue Tit looking curiously at the apple!

Great Tit munching on chestnuts

My other half had the brilliant idea of moving the big plant containers further along the garden, this not only left a clear patch of gravel for food to be laid on but also exposed loads of woodlice and grubs for the Robin to feast on. And, true to form, he appeared less than 10 seconds later!

We also put out a few whole chestnuts after we spotted the grey squirrel lurking in the background.

So, all in all I think the birds actually ate better than we did today, wonder what else we can chop up tomorrow........

Winter Wonderland

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Sorry it's a bit belated!)

We awoke yesterday morning to a winter wonderland and a menagerie of feathered friends!

What a nice way to start 2010!

We took a walk to our local woods (Knocksink Woods) which was covered in snow - there is something quite magical about snow, it makes you more aware of the landscape, especially when there's nobody else around.

The small pond was nicely frozen ...

We saw quite a lot of deer tracks going down to the rivers edge, unfortunately we didn't see any deer though.

We also saw some other tracks which we have no idea who they belong to. Again these were going down to the waters edge and we only saw one set of them.

If anyone has an idea of what they are, I would be grateful.

Back home and the garden was still just as busy with Blackbirds, Magpies, the usual array of Tits (including Long Tailed I'm happy to say!),

Dunnocks, Chaffinches, Robins ...... even the Bullfinch edged a bit closer ... though still not close enough for a decent photo!

And we had another new visitor who was taking an interest in the chopped apple.......

A Blackcap!

We even had 3 Greenfinch land on the nut feeder briefly, before being chased off by the Robin.

All in all it was a very good day for garden birds, I'm hoping this is a sign of things to come!

Dry Spell

We actually had a bit of a dry spell this afternoon and the birds certainly made the most of it! At one time I counted 4 Blue Tits, 4 Coal Tits, 2 Great Tits, 1 Robin, 1 Long Tailed Tit, 7 Chaffinches and 1 Greenfinch all darting to the seed tray and feeders. The Great Tits were chasing the Blue Tits off the nuts, the Blue Tits were chasing the Coal Tits off the fat square and the Coal Tits were chasing anything that moved!

Great Tit

Long Tailed Tit

Robin

I spotted this fungi growing out of a branch high up the old Oak tree, I've no idea what it is but I thought it looked cute (if fungi can ever be described as cute?!)

Told You!

I knew today was going to be good.............

Faithful Coal Tit.......

Faithful Robin.......

........And 2 new visitors - an adult & a juvenile (I think) Greenfinch, first time seen in our garden!

Busy, Busy!

I have a good feeling about this weekend! I've refilled the feeders this morning and already the garden is buzzing with activity - Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Robin, Chaffinches, Wren, Dunnock have all fed so far today and it's not even lunchtime yet!
And I've heard the depressing whistle of Bullfinches close by (can't see them yet though).
There is a definite wintry chill in the air which is probably why they've all come down for a feed and the trees are almost bare of leaves making it easier to spot (& photograph) the birds,.

Yes I definitely have high hopes for this weekend.......

Impatient So and So's!

I can tell the new feeder is working (or should I say the sunflower seeds are) as it was empty after 3 days! The Coal Tits have been busy. Decided to refill it this morning before going to work, mainly because it's dark when I get home now. Whilst I braved the strong winds trying to re-instate the full feeder, I was "moaned" at by 2 Blue Tits, 3 Coal Tits and a Robin all waiting impatiently in the ferns - anybody would think they hadn't eaten for weeks!!
Hopefully the weather might be calmer / drier this weekend so I can take some more photos..... fingers crossed Siskins might be around by then too!

New Feeder

I don't know why but I always feel a nervous anticipation whenever a new feeder is put up in our garden. I sit watching it impatiently waiting for something to land on it, having little bets with myself as to which bird will be the first! It's usually either the Coal Tit or Robin, but today nothing has ventured onto it, so far.

I hate to admit it but I've become complacent when it comes to our wildlife - I've been moaning for some weeks now that our garden is empty of all bird life, when in fact the Coal Tits have been down every day. These poor little things have to eat the equivalent of their own body weight in food EVERY DAY and they are rewarded with me sighing...."oh it's only a Coal Tit"! I forget that 4 years ago I hadn't ever even seen a Coal Tit before!

I'm so desperate to attract new birds into our garden that I'm beginning to ignore the regular, faithful ones!

How can I forget the Robin who sings his heart out every morning at first light? Or the Blackbirds who keep diving into the undergrowth to eat berries?

Some people have never even seen any of these birds before.

I ought to be grateful for what birds we do get and not impatient for the ones we don't.
And anyway winter is just around the corner.........who knows what that may bring in?!