Saturday 31 January 2015

Deathstrike

It's easy to admire birds of prey when you see them.  I've taken photographs of sparrowhawks before (click on the label at the bottom of the post) and their appearances around the garden have been more frequent in the past weeks but as far as we've witnessed one has never managed to take out a bird around the feeders.

On Friday, one got lucky.  Terry took these photos after witnessing a sparrowhawk crash into the kitchen window with it's prey gripped in it's claws.  Fortunately, I had left the camera in the kitchen as I had been taking a few shots of different birds on the window feeder before I left for work.  He managed to snap a couple of pics before the bird took off with the blackbird it had grabbed on the wing.
















































Sunday 25 January 2015

Idle Weekend






















Over the past two weekends we've visited the Idle Valley Wildlife Reserve in Retford.  The reserve is looked after by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and a small army of volunteers who maintain the various habitats on the site. The main area is a large lake that is a haven for waterfowl and is an important stopping point for wintering birds (although we never really saw anything more exotic than seagulls and swans on our visits).






















There are several different walks of various lengths around the reserve.  We opted for the one of the shorter walks around the main lake that took us alongside Idle river.  It's not a big river by any stretch of the imagination but when it bursts its banks it can cause flooding for the locals.

"White water" on the Idle





















While walking around the lake we spotted a hovering Kestrel and were able to get close enough to get some photographs of it.























North Notts College also have a facility at the reserve which they share with the wildlife trust and a small cafe.  There are regular events at Idle Valley throughout the year ranging from stargazing evenings to nature walks.  It's worth checking out the website to see what's on.





Sunday 18 January 2015

Garden Gremlins






















We've always had one or two squirrels that make themselves at home in the garden.  They can be quite entertaining chasing each other around the garden and through the trees.  For all of their cheeky charm they can be a nuisance.  They can wade through a bird feeder full of sunflower hearts in less than a morning.
You scratch my back...

I may not be the grey squirrel's biggest fan, but nor would I do anything that would injure or hurt them in anyway so we've opted for more preventative measures to stop them stealing the food by adding chilli powder.  They can still help themselves to the peanuts we put out, the feeders themselves tend to restrict them from guzzling the lot.



They can be a bit brazen when it comes to feeding.  The picture below is just before he makes a leap for the window feeder.  He almost seems to be checking if the coast is clear.

Casing the joint























The inevitable outcome was squirrel and window feeder taking a tumble.

It's fun to watch them speeding through the treetops and the incredible distance they achieve when leaping from one tree to another.  Their agility is second to none.























As of last Sunday, we currently have four squirrels in the garden.  We watched them chasing one another but we aren't sure if they are a family unit or two pairs that are defending their territory.  Some of them also seemed to have developed a taste for chilli as we've spotted greys munching at the coated sunflower hearts with enthusiasm.

We're going to need to come up with a plan B.
























Saturday 10 January 2015

Harbingers



























There's an old joke in the UK -  you can always tell it's Christmas when the Creme Eggs are in the shops.  This got me thinking about the informal ways that I mark transitions within the year.  Snowdrops flowering in January are a reassurance that Spring has appeared on the horizon.

Before then, the unofficial start of winter for me is the appearance of the Fieldfare which seem to appear as soon as the first heavy frost has appeared.

The Fieldfare are a type of thrush that winter in the UK.  They don't partake in the food on offer in the bird feeders but they are partial to frost frozen apples that have dropped from the trees.  If they can't get those, then the berries on the trees are their food of choice.






























When the Fieldfare arrive, we generally see the odd one or two, but as the days progress, their numbers explode.  Quite often we see flocks of a hundred or so birds powering across the garden or sitting in the branches of nearby trees.























Fieldfare are skittish birds.  They don't come near the house and I've spooked them countless times simply by opening the door when they are forty feet away and safely perched in the treetops.  This has made them difficult to photograph (grey skies have not helped matters) but last weekend, with a sunny winter sky gave me the best opportunity so far.

They aren't the best pictures I've ever taken but given their nervousness I'm not going to complain to much.

Sunday 4 January 2015

All and Sundry

The last sunrise of 2014


In the past few weeks, we have replaced damaged bird feeders and have just started to experiment with different food stuffs.   Over the past few months the type of birds that we've had at the feeders have been pretty consistent, sparrows, robins, great tits and blue tits.

The blue tits in particular have finally discovered the window feeder that we've affixed to the kitchen window. I bought the feeder on a whim but it took weeks before the birds seemed to take any interest in it.

























When the snow and cold weather arrived on Boxing Day, temperatures in the area barely climbed above zero during the day and the nights where subzero for the next week.  Subsequently, the feeders have been busier than usual.

Long Tailed Tits band together during the winter to share heat during the night.  They also tend to stay close to each other during the day so it's not uncommon to see over a dozen of them on the fatballs and the peanut feeder.



With so many birds around, there has been plenty of squabbling.  Robins, starlings and blackbirds are constantly skirmishing with each other but one of the strangest confrontations we have seen  was a squaring off between the normally mild mannered woodpigeon and  a jackdaw.  The jackdaw is very partial to the bread that we throw out and most birds keep out of its way.  The woodpigeon was having none of this and chased the jackdaw away from the bread.  Bizarrely, the woodpigeon doesn't eat bread.


Woodpigeon vs Jackdaw






























We've also spotted more greenfinches and coal tits around than normal.  Coal tits are small timid birds that fly onto the perch of the feeders, grab some food and fly off in a matter of seconds.  We have counted five greenfinches on one feeder at the same time with one of the birds actually feeding the others which makes us think that they are part of a family unit.


The elusive coal tit and a greenfinch





















The Greater Spotted Woodpecker has also been a more frequent visitor to the nut feeder.  It won't tolerate any other birds on the feeder and will quickly chase off any that dare land on it.


























At the moment, we've been refilling the bird feeders three times a week.  With so many birds around it was only a matter of time before the predators paid a visit.  We`ve seen plenty of  opportunistic  fly-bys  from sparrowhawks and kestrels hoping to catch a inattentive bird while feeding.  They've had some success judging from the circles of feathers we keep feeding in the garden.

One bird that I am hoping will return is the pale pink female bullfinch that we saw on the hedge checking out the feeders.  It was the first time that I had seen a female bullfinch before and would love to be able to get some good pictures of her.