Goldfinch galore

Firstly, I would like to mention that I have been very busy recently, having fun getting this blog started for you to see, and so far, I am very pleased with how its going!

In the last week or so there has been a large group of visiting goldfinches. I have seen juveniles too, but was unable to get a picture of them. The juveniles are only briefly in the open, so it is difficult to capture them on camera. Unfortunately, we are just about to run out of nyjer seed (which goldfinches adore), right at the critical moment, so I may see an absence in them for a while. They are becoming a little interested in the ordinary seed mix though, so fingers crossed, they will stay a bit longer. Today, I saw 5 at one point, and below, are a few pictures and videos I managed to take. The video clips are quite short, because I am currently using the internal memory on my camera, and it is running out! Again, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

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 However, these starlings have been replaced by the slightly more dull and cheeky magpies.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:

Strange Fox sighting

Yesterday, at around 08:00, in broad daylight, I spotted a rather thin looking fox trotting across the back garden. It had a half-hearted attack on a ground-feeding pigeon (which flew off without injury), and took a look at our pet rabbits before casually walking back to the end of the garden. It then jumped the fence at the end. All of this happened within a minute, and couldn't manage to take a picture of it. If I see it again, I will have a camera within arm's reach. I think it may have been a juvenile, as it was quite clumsy. I have seen a family of foxes on the railway bank at the end of the garden in the past, and i did once see one stood on top of the rabbit hutch.
Will hopefully post something to do with some of our garden reptiles soon.