October 2011 - A couple of Goldfinches visit the garden!

Friday 14th: After all the rain and cloud of recent days, today is sunny with clear blue skies. It's very rare indeed that we get Goldfinches in our garden. But today, Mel snapped some photos of these two Goldfinches on one of the sunflower-heart feeders. There is clearly a difference in the markings on these birds and we believe that one is a juvenile while the other is an adult.

The Goldfinches spent a fair amount of time on the feeders and seemed content, even with the hustle and bustle of the House Sparrows. We don't get visits from these birds on a regular basis like some, (Sandra), who live only a couple of hundred yards away! Could it be that the Goldfinches don't like conifers, as that is all we have in our garden?

April 2011 - Easter Waxwings!

Saturday 23rd: After the success of seeing the Waxwings yesterday, I had arranged to re-visit Sandra's garden and this time take my scope and video camera. So at 7:15am, I drove the 300 yards to Sandra's house with a plethora of equipment. "Why drive?" I hear you say. Well, my back has been plaguing me these past few months and lugging all this equipment 300 yards would just aggravate it more! Having set up the scope and video camera on tripods...pikelets were kindly served by Sandra...that's crumpets to you and me! Indeed, as the minutes passed and an hour with no sign of them...Waxwings, that is, we were beginning to feel that they had finally departed back to their native country!





We sat in the garden and were soon rewarded with the local bird life. Amazingly, a Nuthatch visited the sunflower-heart feeder just 5 feet away! I couldn't move to get my camera but Sandra quietly snapped a photo. A pair of Great Tits kept visiting the nest box, two Goldfinches drank water on this warm morning, the odd Collard Dove and Wood Pigeon pecked at the ground and a pair of Robins were constantly around our feet. Yes, both Robins were very trusting and one even perched on one of my tripods not two feet away! But it got better...one of the Robins landed on my knee as I sat in the sun-chair! Sandra grabbed a photo and I hope to show it here soon! With time, I suspect that Sandra would be able to get at least one of the pair to eat from her hand, but it would require enormous patience. A Sparrowhawk slowly circled overhead against the blue sky and headed towards my garden.

Finally at 9:30am the Waxwings flew over and moments later came back and alighted in the same sycamore tree as yesterday. Now we would get much more detailed views and wow, what a view! Looking through the scope showed the pinkish colouring and yellow flashes of the birds' markings. I counted thirteen individuals, Sandra, fifteen. These must've been the same individuals as yesterday. The Waxwings stayed for around 20 minutes and then at some unknown signal they took to the air and away. Well that was well worth the time spent waiting.

What a great time to spend an Easter weekend, in the Sun watching the birds!

Postscript: That morning was the last that the Waxwings were seen in that sycamore or anywhere else around here. It is now about the time of the season that they should return to Scandinavia, maybe these have. But there are still plenty being seen around the country.

Friday 22nd: For the past few days, Sandra had noticed that Waxwings were flocking to a distant sycamore tree. Using binoculars from her kitchen/back garden, she can see these birds amongst the blossoming and unfolding leaves. So this morning at 8:30am, I joined her in the Waxwing-watch and I wasn't disappointed! For twenty minutes we watched as the birds, 15 of them ate the buds. Amazing, but I should've fetched my scope! After the show we walked over to Sandra's local patch; Church Wood Plantation. Quite a few Wrens were about calling, Robins and Blue/Great Tits. The Bluebells were also out and look like they had been for the past few days.

We wandered back down the road towards my local patch; Kirk Moor Plantation Wood. Here we saw my first Black Cap of the year - a male. A pair of mating Wrens were active with, I presume the male holding a small white ball of fluff or wool in it's beak. An unidentified warbler was flying around and harassing the Wrens. It kept flying to the undergrowth were we believe it had or was making a nest. Chiffchaffs were abundant, at least four and we even managed to see one after some astute tracking by Sandra! Like Church Wood, the Bluebells were out in here too but not as many as in previous years. I also managed to glimpse a couple of Jays amongst the blossoming leaves! That was a first in this wood for a few years for me!

Monday 11th: The two Blackbird chicks that hatched a few days ago, appear to be doing well thanks to the constant feeding by both the male and female adult Blackbirds. Unfortunately the third egg has failed to hatch. We left it in the nest for a few days to make sure it was an unfertilised egg and then removed it.

March 2011 - Sandra's Garden

Saturday 5th: Early riser again this morning...another 6am start! I'd arranged to go into town again to view the Waxwings and take Sandra as she hasn't seen these birds yet, herself. Well we got there at 7:10am and who should be there with the same intention? Rich from Work, he's the person who passes on all the tips. He had been outside the Post Office since 6:30am but they hadn't showed yet. I was in confident mood but half-seven came and went, eight o'clock and still no sign of Waxwing! Ten minutes later and three flew over calling probably with the intention of eating the berries on the cotoneaster tree. Well, they never got the chance, a male Sparrowhawk darted out from somewhere, possibly a nearby rooftop and chased the Waxwings! They all shot off at a rate of knots never to be seen again. Disappointed Sandra and myself took a tour up to another location on the other side of town to check of a Waxwing haunt. Another no-show. House Sparrows, Blackbirds, Black-head Gulls and an interesting 1st Winter Common Gull was all that we saw. A quick drive-thru to the Post Office, just to make sure there were no Waxwings about and then home. What a let-down! I'll just have to go for it again next week as they'll be heading off back to Scandinavia soon.

At least Sandra's garden held some surprises. A pair of Great Tits were in the garden and the female was giving some serious consideration to the nest box. We reckon that she was in there a for at least 10 minutes. The photo shows her just squeezing out!

The usual suspects were there; Goldfinches, Greenfinches (no photos), a pair of Dunnocks, a Robin, some Starlings and most surprising of all, a Rook! We'd already seen three Rooks earlier on our way to town but this time the bird actually perched on a post in Sandra's garden! It didn't come down to the lawn for a meal but flew back to a nest atop a tree across the road.

What do you think this bird below is? Maybe an immature Goldfinch?

January 2011 - Sandra's Garden

Saturday 8th: A dry but cold and sometimes sunny day, I called round to Sandra's house on an errand and as she gets a good variety of birds, took my camera along... just in case. Well as I've said before on this blog, there must be something in the trees over there as Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Great Tits and Blue Tits are regular visitors to her garden.

This afternoon a few Goldfinches fed from the feeders, always a pleasing sight. A couple of Greenfinches provided competition for sunflower hearts while a couple of male Chaffinches alternated between the feeders and the ground.

Over on the other side of the garden, a Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock and Robin were in the buddleia bush. Every now and then a Collard Dove or Wood Pigeon would touchdown, scattering the smaller birds to the neighbouring gardens.

December 2010 - Bittern at Potteric Carr YWT

Friday 10th: Wow! What a day! An early start at a snowy Potteric Carr. Snow that fell in the area over a week ago was still lying deeply over all the nature reserve. All the marshes and lakes were totally frozen with no waterfowl at all (Ducks, Geese etc) to be seen. I have never seen it like this before. Where are all the birds? Well the only birds to be seen were the usual garden & woodland variety in small numbers, namely; Bullfinches, Chaffinches, Siskins, Goldfiches, Reed Buntings, Blackbird, Mistle & Song Thrush, Redwings, Pheasants, a few Moorehens, two Water rails and one BITTERN. Yes, Bittern, these are very elusive waders, part of the Heron family, that spend most of their time skulking amongst the reedbeds. During the harsh weather, especially when the lakes are frozen, this is the best time to see Bitterns as they tend to come out into the open more.

Sandra and myself happened to go into Willow Pool hide, expecting to see the usual song birds gathered around the feeders. What greeted us when we opened the door to the hide were the hushed words, "Bittern!" A mass of birding-paparazzi and cameras with lenses as long as your arm! The target in question was not 500 metres away hidden in a mass of reeds, but 10 metres away amongst the frost ravaged undergrowth!

It was close but looking at it through a fellow birders' scope was just fantastic! This is not an every day occurrence, these are amongst the rarest native birds in the country. I've been lucky enough to have seen Bitterns before but always at a distance and heavily camouflaged amidst a mass of reeds! But it got better, the bird came out of the undergrowth and as it slowly walked through the snow, the birding-paparazzi let loose, the sound of cameras working furiously (mine included) to capture these treasured images. It stood there for a while, posing like a celebrity-starlet while the volley from the cameras continued. It then made ready, launched itself into the air and its huge wings took it leisurely gliding off to the far side of the frozen lake. Afterwards the birders started congratulating each other and checking photos, one even chirped, "Luck's in today, think I'll buy a Lottery ticket". A cuppa was needed now to relax, if nothing else showed today then seeing this was worth the free entry..... thanks Potteric Carr!

Well nothing much did happen for the rest of the day. Except that both I and Sandra yomped through the snow and around the rest of the NR, getting extremely wet boots and feet, only seeing the occasional bird. Tired after trekking through the snow, we departed just before the sun set.

September 2010 - Fairburn Ings RSPB

Friday 24th: It's true what they say; "what a difference a day makes"...or two! Last Wednesday, myself and Sandra went to Old Moor RSPB and the weather was warm and even sunny at times... so warm that shirt-sleeves was all that we needed. But today...today here in Yorkshire it was blowing a right old gale! Heavy rain all the previous night only relented at around 8am this morning! A grand day to spend outside watching birds! So fleece and jacket was required but the gloves were left behind and were sorely needed at times. We drove up to North Yorkshire to visit Fairburn Ings RSPB near to Castleford. Setting off early we got caught up in the "rush-hour" traffic but by 9.30am we were parked in a bleak wind swept car park wondering; "is this worth it".

Well we needn't have worried, within the first 30 minutes we had already twitched a Kingfisher at close-quarters that obliged by constantly fishing and gave us around 20 minutes of breath taking views. Marvelling at the antics of Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit and others on and around a closely situated bird table. After all this, anything else would be a bonus. Well during our long and wind-swept trek around the NR we were to get that bonus!

On our trek down to the village-end of the lake, the usual suspects were seen; Cormorants (17), Mute Swans (lots), Mallards (quite a few), Coots (too many to mention) but also Shovelers, Gadwalls, two Herons, eight white Geese that were probably farmyard related and Grebes, both the Little variety and Great Crested of which we saw five adults and one adult shepherding three immatures that were probably about 3 months old! But the bonus was another two Kingfishers that flew in front of Sandra and the female Goosander sitting on the bank of a lake that I would have walked right past if Sandra hadn't motioned to me!

Having slogged back to the car (at least 3 miles were covered in total) we ate a hearty bunch of sandwiches and drank tea while watching the Tree Sparrows on the feeders. House Martins wheeled overhead in the steadily bluer skies and out of the blue glided a Buzzard! We watched through binoculars as it slowly wheeled around in the sky - what long wings it has!

We had a quick tour of the feeders by the Visitor Centre and over at Pickup hide we watched in amazement as a Kestrel was mobbed for some 10 minutes by three Carrion Crows! To finish the day, we drove up to Spoonbill Flash, but alas no Spoonbills! Here were lots of dabbling and diving ducks, the usual suspects a Black-tailed Godwit and two other waders that have yet to be identified but what was to be the last highlight of the day was the Kestrel that spent some time in front of our hide hovering and dropping to the ground in its search for food. And we got some good close views as it wheeled in front of the hide...binoculars weren't needed it was so close! But the very last highlight was when we got back to the car and Sandra nervously fed a band of Mute Swans tuna sandwiches!

May 2010 - Goldfinch touch-down again!

Saturday 15th: Once again the Goldfinch (a single this time) has landed on the niger-feeder. This too stayed for some minutes and Mel was quick to grab the camera and take a few snaps! It even spent some time looking in a bush close to the feeder. We are hoping that it may take up residence in the garden. But the lure of Sandra's Bird Cafe was too strong and after a while it took off towards her place!

A male Chaffinch was again here early yesterday evening and again Mel was on hand to take a couple of snaps. The female Chaffinch visited today mid-morning but no images are available for that.

As you would expect at this time of year, the garden is still busy with birds feeding and generally doing bird-things! Even the Jackdaws are regular visitors to the garden at the moment, taking monkey-nuts and eating crushed peanuts. We didn't get a supply of live mealworms this week until yesterday and so with stocks completely depleted, we started feeding the Blackbirds and Sparrows grated mild cheese and soaked-brown bread. The birds still take this but prefer live food which is much more nutritious. Mel managed to find a local supplier as a stop-gap measure and I collected the mealworms last Wednesday. But fortunately we received 500 grammes through the post yesterday and all is well.