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.

November 2010 - Belfast Lough.

Tuesday 2nd: Yesterday I caught a lunchtime flight to Belfast to fulfill a lecture engagement for Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society (NIASS). So today, while waiting for my return flight from Belfast City Airport, Steve, the Chairman of NIASS showed me around some of the sights and just to complete the trip he took me to Belfast Lough. Well, imagine my delight when he left me to have 20 minutes or so of bird-watching before we had to return to the airport! This is a sea lough and as a consequence, open to the Atlantic! Although reasonably mild, there was a terrific, almost gale-force wind which was so strong that I had to push against it just to keep my feet!

In front of me on the shore was a Curlew, wading in the shallows while sifting the water for food. The wader was so close and didn't seem to mind about all the ramblers close by. A FIRST for me was the close appearance of 3 Turnstones. They looked much smaller than I'd imagined and were constantly on the move.

An Oystercatcher too was close by, along with three different types of Gulls; a Common Gull and Black-headed Gull and a First Winter Black-backed Gull. But another FIRST really grabbed my attention; near two Jackdaws were three adult Hooded Crows. These are a particular rarity as they mostly confine themselves to Ireland and Scotland and only very occasionally turn-upon the English mainland! So in 20 minutes, I twitched 2 types of bird that I never seen before and one of those, the Hooded Crow which in all probability would never see in England!

Half an hour after I arrived home from Belfast, Melanie and I were pleasantly surprised to see this male Sparrowhawk perched in our garden. Is this the same male that Sandra saw in her garden last Sunday? Quite possibly, the chances of two male Sparrowhawks hunting in gardens located 200 yards apart, would be very unusual! The bird didn't catch anything and after an hour, Mel shooed it away as our pet canary was looking decidedly nervous as his cage hangs outside the back door during the day. It was a blustery afternoon and as can be seen below, the wind has ruffled the Sparrowhawks' feathers somewhat!

MAY 2009 - Robin chicks fledge the nest!

Friday 15th, well...it's all happening today with the Robins! This morning, all 6...yes we can confirm that there are 6 Robin chicks, were still in the nest. How they could all stay in without any falling out is beyond me! The nest is quite small, too small for 6 medium chicks and wedged up against the fence, amongst the ivy. By this afternoon, Melanie had reported that they had flown the nest. Both adult Robins were on hand to oversee the event and tempted the chicks out with beaks full of live mealworms.

This evening I managed to see one of the newly fledged Robins as it sat in the conifers waiting for food. Feeding the adults, I could see that they were flying to all areas of the garden and beyond to pass on the mealworms. But best of all, during a rain-free window, the two adults were possibly inspecting another site for a nest. But the manner in which they did this was something I've never seen before. Both were hovering...yes hovering in a manner similar to Humming Birds, very rapid wing-beats and both birds side by side, inspecting the ivy against the fence together. To see two adult Robins hovering side by side, three foot from the ground and in almost perfect synchronization is truly amazing! Unfortunately I have no photos of this fascinating happening.

The Blackbirds are still resident in the garden. Family 'Set-B' (male, female and two fledglings)with their second brood. Also around is an older female fledgling from the first brood. Yesterday I did see what I think is the male from the first brood eating berries in the front garden.

House Sparrow fledglings are out and about now in the garden. Some of the adults are collecting live mealworms from us and seem to be quicker at grabbing the worms than the Robins, which get bullied out! This is a surprise to me as I had always assumed that Robins can be very aggressive.

Another bird that is a very regular visitor to the garden are Jackdaws. There seems to be a group of 4 adults that attend the bird table where there is always a selection of dry food...weather permitting! An intelligent bird, sleek and very tidy-looking and can be skittish, though immune to the dive-bombing of the male Blackbird! Like other Corvids, Jackdaws mate for life and both adults take great care in rearing their offspring. Last year during late May and June/July, we had a couple of Jackdaw fledglings accompanying the adults to the bird table.