Sorry Mum!

Okay - I owe my mum an apology!

I didn't think she would get many birds in her garden for the RSPB survey but she proved me wrong!

Her list is as follows:-

6 Blackbirds
5 Blue Tits
3 Chaffinches
2 Collared Doves
2 Dunnocks
2 Great Tits
3 House Sparrows
1 Long Tailed Tit
3 Robins
2 Starlings
2 Woodpigeons

A total of 11 species - 1 less than me, aah never mind (I won!)

I think she did very well to say she's always complaining that nothing eats her food anymore now that the new neighbours have moved in (they removed the ivy that the Blue tits nested in every year and they have 2 cats!)

Thanks for doing that mum!

I still say the cold weather helped ;-)

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!

Big Garden Birdwatch

This weekend is the RSPB's Garden Birdwatch survey - unfortunately I can't do it as I now live in Ireland, even though I have TOLD my mum to do it in the UK!!

Over here, Birdwatch Ireland carry out a similar thing which lasts 13 weeks running from early December through to the end of February, which I've been participating in.

So far today, the following have all landed and/or fed in our garden:-

2 Robins
4 Great Tits
4 Coal Tits
4 Blue Tits
7 Blackbirds (I've never had so many in the garden!)
2 Song Thrushes
2 Dunnocks
6 Chaffinches
6 Long Tailed Tits
2 Magpies
1 Jackdaw
1 Rook
1 Grey Squirrel & 1 Rat
(okay I know the last 2 don't count!)

There's still a couple of hours daylight left so I'm still hoping for the Siskin or the Greenfinches to come back.

I'll post the list that my mum does over the weekend so I can see the differences between her garden (which has no grass, is landscaped with a few ferns & has lots of cats in the neighbourhood) and mine (which backs onto a small wooded area, plenty of cover & trees etc).

Hmmmm wonder which one will have the most birds?
Not that I'm competitive or anything!

Fox Update

We now have an adult fox visiting every night for the peanuts & apple but I'm not sure if its the vixen or not.

I know its definitely not Peanut, it sounds stupid but its not the same face!
I know Peanut would be a young adult now & would have different features but I'm sure I would know if it was him!
I don't think he visits us anymore - probably been outed by his parents :-(

Does anybody know how to tell the difference between male & female foxes?
Is it the obvious thing that males are bigger / heavier than females?
If that's the case then I would need to see both together!

Oh well....... guess I'll just have to keep feeding them!

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!

Best of a bad lot!

This really was the best of the bunch - I really need to stop taking photos through the window!

Apologies

I'd like to apologise for the lack of response on my part for the comments I've recently received but for some strange reason I'm unable to post comments on my own blog!

This is nothing I've done (or at least I don't think it's me!) but my blog has suddenly got a mind of its own and has decided not to allow me to do certain things!

I hope it doesn't deter anyone from posting comments & I'd like to assure you all that I do appreciate you looking in & as soon as its fixed I'll be replying like mad!

Oh, and another thing...... my list of Followers are not showing either for some reason :-(