February 2010 - Wren in the house!!

Thursday 25th: Not content with waiting outside for his fix of mealworms, our local friendly Wren has now taken it upon himself to come into the kitchen for a bite to eat. Though unsure of himself: he cautiously looks around, grabs a mealworm and then off he goes. We suspect that he has watched a female Blackbird coming into the kitchen to get some mealworms and learnt from her! This short video was taken by Melanie at 11am last Thursday.



The videos below show the female Blackbird who we suspect the Wren has been watching. She has been coming to the kitchen for over a year now and has raised at least 2 broods in the garden. We know it is the same female as she has a distinctive hump on her back of feathers that she developed last year while raising her broods. We believe that she comes into the kitchen to avoid rival Blackbirds as they tend not to come in and she can eat all the mealworms she wants without getting mobbed. Melanie also captured these videos.

February 2010: Wren and Robin pair.

Sunday 21st: Snow fell early this morning and we woke up to a good covering of 4 inches. That means the birds will need some extra food to sustain them through another cold-spell. The coming week is forecast for more snow and it's going to be bitterly cold! Our friendly Wren is as ever perched in the lilac tree by the back door, waiting for mealworms. But he is not alone. House Sparrows, 4 Blackbirds, a Robin and the ever present cheeky Starling keep him company. But for one so small, he appears to be more than a match for his bigger rivals and is always nipping in to grab the tasty morsel. What the Wren is doing now is calling for our attention when there is no mealworms available and wow, has he got a loud call!

Melanie has been saying to me for this past week that there are two Robins that have paired-off and settled in the garden. Well yesterday, I finally saw this for myself and managed to grab a none too great photo of both Robins together! We are both hoping that just as last year, they raise a brood in our garden.

The female Sparrowhawk has still been making the odd visit to the garden. She was here this afternoon but stayed only briefly. Mel has taken to shooing her off as she has a tendency to harass 'Sunny', our Canary, who spends the day in his cage hanging outside the back door. A couple of days ago, the Sparrowhawk was stood on the plastic roof above the door trying to peer into the protective barrier that Mel has built around his cage

February 2010 - Hyde Park, London

Saturday 6th: Went down to London to the Astrofest convention in Kennsington. Met up with Neil from Dawlish, Eddie, Dave and Brian. After looking around the stalls and spending a little money, I ventured that we go and to Hyde Park as it was a 5 minute walk up the road. This was my first visit for....about 30 years! In all that time, it's not really changed at all. As you can see from the image of the BT Tower, which looks closer than it really is, Euston is not that far away, 3 miles I think.



Anyway, I wanted to sample the bird life here and see what was about, unfortunately I had not fetched my binoculars, only the camera. There were plenty of Gulls, most Black-headed, though I did count 6 Common Gulls and I suspect that there were plenty more around the lake. It was perishingly cold and the breeze coming off the water didn't help!

What intrigued me was that while people were feeding the waterfowl, they were being surrounded not just by lots of Gulls and Mallards but Starlings and Feral Pigeons! Didn't see any House Sparrows though. The Starlings for instance, and there were very many of them and Pigeons were right at the waters' edge in an effort to get to the food before the Mallards etc! Walking back to the tube, I did catch a glimpse of what I was certain was a Peregrine, that familiar call and sleek flight are a give-a-way! A good day out combining Birding with Astronomy.

February 2010 - The Wren joins the mealworm Crew

SNOW FELL AGAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THE WEATHER HAS TURNED COLD AGAIN SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP FEEDING THE BIRDS

Wednesday 3rd: For sometime now, we have had a solitary Wren patrolling the garden. Now, since last Thursday, the Wren has been coming to the back door and taking mealworms. It takes one then flys to a nearby perch and devours the morsel, returning soon after for another. In fact the Wren is proving to be a serious rival to the Robin! Both are usually waiting at the door first thing in the morning and both seem to call for our attention...demanding mealworms!

As you can see from the above photos, both the Robin and Wren use the same perch close to the door when they call for mealworms. They have almost come to blows over their rivalry. Meanwhile, the Blackbirds have not totally departed the scene. There is still a female from who reared a couple of broods in the garden who visits when she can much to the annoyance of a male Blackbird who is trying to mark-out his own territory. A younger female will also take mealworms. We believe that she is the offspring from one of the five broods raised in the garden last year. A small group of House Sparrows also hang around for mealworms, not to mention a lone and very persistent Starling!