Chiffchaff on its way back?

After the last couple of days' cold weather, the birds were feeding frantically this morning. All the usual suspects were around, but a couple of interesting sightings too. One of these was a goldcrest, a bird which we do occasionally see on colder days. I wonder if it was the same bird we saw last year. I'd like to think it survived this years' harsh winter.I didn't manage a photo, as it was right at the end of the garden in the conifer tree.

The other bird I saw today was a chiffchaff- a garden first. It was flying around with the sparrows around the bird bath, so it was hard to spot at first. But it was much more active and more colourful than the sparrows so I looked through the binoculars, and realised it was a chiffchaff. I somehow managed to get my camera out and get a record shot through my bedroom window before it disappeared.

I'm guessing this bird was on its way back to Africa when it stopped by in our garden this morning. It wasn't there for long, but I'd like to think our garden bird bath and feeders will help that chiffchaff on its migration south!

We've had plenty of juvenile woodpigeons in the garden recently, like the one in the photo below:

I managed to clean out our camera nest box and re-adjust the camera today. Even though we had no nesting birds this year, a great tit pair began to build a nest, so there was a bit of moss on the nest box floor, and also some insects, so it was definitely worth cleaning it out. We had a great tit visit the box a week ago, so hopefully we will have a rooster this year.

Birds can share!

I thought I would show you some of the birds which have been visiting our garden today, that I was unable to photograph for my last posting. School was closed again today, so I was able to get out in the snow again. Usually, the birds in our garden are always squabbling, especially the Starlings. It was pretty much the same today with some species. However, its interesting to see how some birds in the garden are able to share the feeders with other birds...

Earlier on in the year, Blackbirds were quite a rare sight in our garden, and they were very timid, often allowing smaller birds to feed first. As their numbers have increased into the winter, they seem to have gained some confidence, and they are now perfectly happy to feed with other species. That doesn't stop them argueing with each other though!

The new ground bird table really has been popular with the Blackbirds and Woodpigeons. This morning, they were both seen feeding on the table at the same time. The male Blackbird was quite bold in this case, and perfectly happy to feed alongside the pigeon. The table can hardly be seen now, as the wooden legs have sunk into the snow!

Male Blackbird and Woodpigeon

The Woodpigeon eventually waddled off, leaving the Blackbird on its own. Considering the photos were all taken through the glass of the kitchen window I thought they came out alright.

A little while later, the Woodpigeon returned and was joined by a female Blackbird.

Different Blackbird, same fat Woodpigeon (above)

I noticed how a Collared Dove just sat and watched the action from the top of the feeder pole.

Collared Dove

Today, I saw a Great Tit on the hole of the nest box from the house again. I just hope it would have a look inside. Maybe we will see this tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the week, and stay warm!

Arty by accident

I am definitely not talking about my art skills in terms of painting and drawing in the title of this post- I dropped art at GCSE level for a reason! In fact, I am talking about taking photos of birds... Isn't it funny when a photo doesn't turn out how you expect it to, yet still looks good in a different way. This happened on many occasions yesterday and I thought I could base a posting on it. I found that it most often occurs that you get a strange but arty photo when you are trying to be creative with the camera. The light was fantastic yesterday, so I took photo after photo in the evening. I was bound to get a few unusual shots from the 60 odd that I took, and here they are...

The first picture below is of a Wood Pigeon in flight. Would you have guessed it- probably not, but thats just what I think makes it an interesting photo. I was attempting to get a photo of it in flight, but the shutter speed on my camera is quite slow on automatic mode, so it blurred the wings of the bird. I was actually trying to take the picture so that the pigeon was in the middle of the shot, but by accident, it ended up in the bottom left of the photo. I was surprised with the good effect.

Again, have a guess what bird is in the photo below. In fact, how about I don't tell you what it is... it makes the photo even more intriguing. Have a guess if you like as to what bird it is. I bet some of you keen birdwatchers know birds by their shape. As a clue, this is a common garden bird which likes to feed on sunflower hearts. With the fading evening light, the birds were silhouetted against the sunset, and created a great effect. Again, completely by accident, but an effective shot, if I do say so myself.


You should be able to make out the bird in the photograph below. It isn't the same bird as the one in the photo above, by the way! The Goldfinch often visits quite late into the evening, and even in the fading light, it is still easy to make out the bright colours of the bird. Not so much of a silhouette shot, but similar to the photo above. Also, not quite as shy as the more bossy Greenfinch, so easier to photograph.

So, all in all, I had great fun taking these weird shots by accident. Why not have a go yourself!

Big walk, pub lunch, huge butterfly

My last post showed some slight disappointment on the wildlife front, and ducks and swans were the only features. The moist grey morning on Saturday turned into a beautiful sunny day, and before you knew it, we were at the start of a long walk in the countryside. Well, not that long, just hilly. The damp ground soon dried out and it became suddenly quite warm. It actually felt like the end of summer rather than mid-autumn. Sad to say that it's been grey and cloudy here all day to today so make the most of the blue skies in the photos below.

As a small kid, I've always walked in the countryside with family, so Saturday was no different. As always too we saw plenty of wildlife on the way. On the way there, the first sighting was a group of Long-tailed Tits with Great Tits in the woods. I noticed their tendency to stay in large flocks. The next thing I saw was a little surprising. A Red Admiral butterfly was basking on the trunk of a tree on the edge of some woodland. I got a little bit closer and saw the sheer size of it. It was massive and very colourful, especially with the light shining on it. This also made me think; isn't it a bit late for butterflies. After all, it is now half way through October. I have to say that I was quite pleased with how the pictures of it came out.

I had a some delicious fish and chips at the pub. While I was eating, Red Kites flew overhead. I took a picture and watched them circle over my head almost as though it was eyeing up my chips. In case you didn't know, Red Kites were introduced in Bucks between 1989 and 1994. Since then, their populations have gone through the roof, and it's hard to go a day without seeing one. They are mostly a rusty red colour that is easily recognisable.

After lunch the walk seemed much harder after I was filled with food. The good weather continued throughout the afternoon and it was nice weather for walking. We took a different route back, so there was even more to be seen. In the Autumn, the countryside is full of empty fields. These are great for seed-eating birds. Unfortunately, the boring old pigeons that raid our garden bird feeders are part of this, but other interesting birds are attracted too. Pheasants are particular fans of this kind of land, as the picture of a female shows below.

The Woodpigeons on this occasion scattered when we got near them in their huge numbers. They all follow suit and they are gone quite quickly. Above we could hear and see Skylarks, and there were other unidentifiable birds feeding on the ground. Before Saturday, I had no idea how popular the seeds in fields are to birds like these. I also thought that pigeons rely on garden bird food. Obviously not! Overall, a great day out. When I got home, with a map measurer my dad worked out that we had done 8.4 miles. Not bad for a day's work!

Just to note that I might not post quite as frequently at the moment as I have GCSE's coming up and I need to focus on them. You may notice that most of my posts will be at weekends. I will definitely not rush posts though and will still have fun blogging.

All photos taken by me on a walk on 11-10-08

Garden update

I'm glad I can now post something with some of my own images and videos. The feeders are quite busy at the moment, but larger birds such as Magpies and Wood Pigeons are taking over. The hanging bird table on our feeder pole, and the fat are particularly popular with the Magpies. They are also keen on the peanuts I left loose on the table. I have to admit that they are very entertaining to watch, but they are very intimidating to smaller birds, such as Blue Tits. When the large birds have gone, the smaller ones take advantage, and take as much food as quickly as possible. As I was outside, I noticed the return on the Starlings in our garden. They had a nibble at the fat balls before disappearing.

Male Greenfinch and female House Sparrow:

Young Robin: Collared Dove: Junenile Goldfinch: Starling:

Goldfinch:

Blackbird:

Magpie:

House Sparrow video:

Blue Tit and Coal Tit taking brief snack from feeders:

Birds and animals update

This morning, I went outside to take some pictures and videos of our garden birds and animals to show you. Firstly I would like to mention the strange absence of starlings recently, who used to feed on the fat feeder in large numbers. However, these starlings have been replaced by the slightly more dull and cheeky magpies. The magpies eat the fat balls as much as they can, before flying off with the rest of it in its beak. I took a picture of a magpie yesterday (probably a juvenile) because of its short tail. I am a bit confused though, because whenever I see this scrawny looking bird, the tail hasn't grown an inch since last time. I took pictures of blue tits, house sparrows, robins, wood pigeons and magpies. I also, as promised, got a good shot of 2 lizards basking in the sun. I have seen plenty of lizards lately, and they seem to like overgrown areas, with small open areas too bask in. The seed mix I am using at the moment is much more popular with the smaller birds, such as blue tits and great tits. I also spotted some long-tailed tits in our front garden yesterday. Please click on the images to enlarge them: