12th January - Garden Birds

I know it has been a while, Happy New Year!

The garden has been quite busy just lately, the cold snap just after the New Year bringing some special birds into the garden.  The Blackcaps are back, not just one, not just two, but three. 

A male.

Another male.

And a female.

I have experimented with putting banana out in the tree, and the Blackcaps have taken an instant liking to it.  The males being very feisty chasing away anything that comes anywhere near them.

Blackcaps are now regular winter visitors, but probably not the same birds as we have in the summer nesting, but migrants coming from the low countries in Europe and Northern Germany.

The female

After a snack of bananas there is the need for a drink.

Another welcome visitor is the Redpoll, not sure if we still call it the Lesser Redpoll, but that is the species we have here.  A male, with a very bright red forehead and breast.

We have also had a pair of Siskin, but I have not been able to get a clear photograph of them.

There is always a Wren present, but we only get little fleeting views.  Today it was showing very well.

Then down onto the patio and searching around the log by the bird bath.

Then along the fence and underneath the plant pots, always searching the vegetation for small insects and spiders.

And checking all the crevices amongst the slabs

The Robins as well as the two Blackbirds are now quite tame, we have either 3 or 4 Robins in  and around the garden.  If we are in the kitchen you can guarantee there will be a robin looking at us

One that has the garden as its territory, but this doesn't stop the others coming in.  When they do there is conflict, as each robin tries to get the higher ground in the trees while pushing out their red breast to try to get domination

They are also very much in song, this being more the case when it is mild, the singing starts or never stops through the night.

One of the surprises has been the Long-tailed Tits.  They now seem to have learnt my call when I go out to feed the Blackbirds.  They will happily take the mealworms from the dishes and the porcelain bird feeder.  Interestingly, the Blue Tits and Coal Tits have no interest in them at all.

The bird bath too is a big attraction.

They do though love the buggy nibbles.

During the day there is a pair that are around, but these are joined by six others later in the day.

The forecast is for the weather to turn a lot colder at the end of the week with frost and maybe snow.  We may yet see more interesting birds turning up.

Please check my other blog for my trips outside of the village 

2nd November - How Dare The Premier Ignore My Invitations

October turned out to be a very dry month with more than average sunshine.  The buddleia continued to flower, and as a result there were still bees and Red Admiral nectaring on the flower heads late into October.  A Hummingbird Hawkmoth was seen last on the 21st October, but the Red Admiral hung on until the 27th, which was in fact a very cold day with a very biting north easterly wind, but with plenty of sunshine.

Another "Red", the Red Kite has also been about, flying low over the gardens in search of any sign of food.  This one came over the garden one afternoon towards the end of the month.

Such a beautiful bird.

With the clocks going back the evenings have seen some lovely sunsets, the clouds going a stunning purple and red.  This week has also seen the first real frosts of the autumn, with ice on the car windscreens and frozen water in the bird baths.

Our Blackbird is still around, but there is a female Blackbird that seems to have the upper hand, she is clearly the dominant bird, and will chase off our blackbird should they both appear at the same time.  The female knows the call and will appear almost immediately with the male coming after and waiting his turn.  We estimate that he must be going into his fifth year, which for a wild Blackbird is quite old, although the oldest recorded is 14 years old.

With the cold morning weather this week there has been considerable activity in the garden.  On Wednesday there was my highest ever count of 36 Goldfinches around the trees and on the feeders.

While the Rowan berries on the tree outside my office has attracted the Starlings, keeping them away from the meal worms.

I think I prefer the Starlings winter plumage to that of their summer breeding plumage.

The rowan berries were also attracting the Robin, although it was welcome at the meal worm tray.

The Blue Tits though were exploring the buddleia, the density of flower heads probably holding small insects and spiders.

They always look quizzical.

The acer trees still have plenty of their leaves attached, but over the next week I expect them to fall quite quickly as the short days and lower temperatures kick in.

25th - 28th September - And The Red Sun Sinks At Last Into The Hills of Gold

Following on from the wonderful summer, we are now experiencing a full blown Indian Summer.  The last week has seen cold nights but glorious sunshine through the day with the temperatures reaching as high as 23 degrees in the middle of the week.  The cold nights and lack of rain has also contributed to the leaves on the trees starting to change colour already, could this year see colour in October rather than into November.

With the warmth have come the butterflies, the Buddleia in the garden is flowering again, and is in full sun during the height of the afternoon, and at this time of year we usually get a Painted Lady visiting the garden.  This week was no exception.  As I stepped out into the garden late afternoon on Tuesday 25th I saw one flying around the flower heads, I rushed upstairs to get the camera, and when I came back down it wasn't there.

There were though two Red Admiral, another butterfly that hasn't been that easy to see this year.  The buddleia hangs over the fence,and with the house wall behind it there is a lovely bokum behind the subject.

The Red Admiral looking superb.

The two would nectar on the flower heads, and then spring up and circle around the bushes and then settle once again.

But when they were on the buddleia they were intent on making the most of the nectar.

Finally the Painted Lady returned, for awhile it stayed on thee other side of the fence, but eventually it came around to my side.  This time the bokum was a window reflecting the deep blue sky.

It then settled on a flower head with the orange background.

Like the Red Admiral it would take off and circle around the trees before settling once again.  As it did this it would lift the body upright with the wings spread out.  You can see that in this position it was not nectaring.

While the wings are not being used to warm the butterfly through the veins, they do catch the sunlight and direct it to the body.

The following day at about the same time I noticed another orange butterfly on the bushes.  The weather was just the same, clear blue skies and sunshine, but this time it was a butterfly that I would normally see from March onwards, but this year I haven't seen at all, until this afternoon.  A Small Tortoiseshell.

It would seem that the Small Tortoiseshell has had a very poor two years, this year I have seen figures that state the populations have reduced by 70 per cent.  

It was nice to finally see one this year, I was giving up hope.

With not seeing one at all this year I took the chance to photograph this one.

A Peacock was also about, butt I never managed to pin it down, as it prefered to nectar on the other side of the fence.

At the start of the week just after sunset I had seen a Hummingbird Hawkmoth around the flowers, it wasn't seen Tuesday, but today, Wednesday it was back, and I was able to get some photographs.

Again some lovely backgrounds.

The next day, Thursday, the Hawkmoth was back again, this time preferring to fly around the flower heads in the sun, and with the orange background.

They are the closest we will ever get to having Hummingbirds in the garden, and the way they move around the flowers is exactly the same as the Hummingbirds I had photographed in Costa Rica.

The hummingbird hawkmoth is a day-flying moth with a wingspan of about two inches. It has a brown, white-spotted abdomen, brown forewings and orange hindwings. It is very swift on the wing and an expert hoverer. The wings beat so rapidly that they produce an audible hum and can be seen only as a haze. The darting movement from one flower to the next with the long proboscis uncoiled completes the illusion of a hummingbird.

This species does not normally over-winter here, although some do finding crevices and holes where the over winter in cocoons.  The population is replenished each year by new migrants. However, if winters become milder in future, we may see them over-wintering more frequently. 

2017 was a very good year for sightings, and they may have struggled this winter.  The southerly winds recently have probably brought them into the south of the country.

Finally a different angle.

The feeders are once again busy, dominated once again by the Goldfinches, but also up to four Greenfinches,and a single Redpoll a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately we had a break out of trichomonosis, but after bringing the feeders in for a couple of weeks this seems to have gone.  Please though, do keep your feeders clean, and if you see small birds behaving strangely, and not flying away if you approach them do clean your feeders and take them down for a week or so, the birds will come back.

When we returned from holiday at the start of August the House Martins had fledged and the nest was empty.  However the House Martins then set out to have a second brood.  There are young still in the nest today, you can see one of the young here.

They must be about to fledge as the parents fly around the house calling as if to tell them to leave the nest, where upon they will fly around the estate here with their parents for a few days before embarking on an incredible journey south, across the Sahara and into southern Africa.  When you look at the little bird in the nest you have to wonder how they do this.  They typically are gone by the second week of October.  One day they are all flying around the house, the next they are gone and won't be back until the end of April

Our Blackbird is going through the moult.  He will still come for food early in the morning and last thing at night.  The body feathers are looking very good, but he is currently going through a moult of the feathers on the head and neck which gives him the appearance of a monk!  As soon as he has eaten enough he flys off to the safety of the surrounding bushes.  While in moult the birds are very vulnerable, and careful about where they are.

Here are a couple of photographs of him earlier in the month

We have been feeding him now for at least four years, and we are heading into our fifth winter.  I am not sure how long Blackbirds live for, but he is doing very well.

It has been awhile since I posted on this blog, and as I have said before I am concentrating more on sites away from Four Marks, but every so often I will post and keep providing updates locally.  Lets hope the wonderful weather continues.