Female Bullfinch

Spotted this female Bullfinch along the lane at the scrub today. Unfortunately a 200mm lens just doesn't really cut it! Nice to get a record of her, at least.

The lane at the scrub

Also seen at the scrub today: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldcrest, Robin, Wren, Blackbird and the sound of a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Salmonella?

I woke up this morning to find a sick looking Greenfinch inside the peanut cake guardian. Not wanting to frighten him, I first checked on him through my binoculars; he looked in a poor state: squatting down, listless, with deep, heavy breathing. I went outside, took the cage off the guardian and brought the Greenfinch inside. Within five minutes he died whilst still in my hands. I asked for advice on Elizabeth and Malcolm's birding forum and it was suggested that it was most likely a case of salmonella. All my feeders were scrubbed eleven days ago after I spotted a sick male Greenfinch and a sick Goldfinch in the garden. None of the feeders were dirty but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Tonight, I have brought all the feeders in, washed them all again and disposed of all the food that was in them. Instead of putting them all back out, I have refilled just three of them until I feel it safe to put the others out too. I think I'll leave it at least one month - longer if I see more sick birds. I have ordered some GardenKlens from CJ Wildbird Foods to kill off any bacteria or viruses which may be lurking under the feeders.

Time for a Refill!

When a Blue Tit can get inside the coconut, it's probably time to refill it!

Robin at the Scrub

Officially Britain's favourite garden bird, a Robin sings in the wood at the bottom of our street.

Also seen in the wood today: Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Blackbird.

Brambling Continues to Visit

The Brambling which first arrived on Thursday last week continues to visit the garden - feeding among a flock of Chaffinch.


A Blue Tit feeds from a fat filled coconut which hangs on the washing line!

Great Spotted Woodpecker

An adult male Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the garden today - this is only the second time we have seen one in the garden - on the other ocassion it was an adult female. Hopefully they will become regular visitors.

More Images from the Garden

Some images from today:

A young adult Dunnock sits on top of the peanut guardian. He can fit through the bars, but on this occasion he decided to have a rest instead!

A Robin feeds on sunflower hearts.

A Jackdaw feeds on homemade peanut cake.

An adult Black-headed Gull

Tawny Owl at Wauchope Forest, Singdean

Driving through Wauchope Forest at Singdean in the Scottish Borders, I spotted a roosting Tawny Owl low down in a tree at the side of the road. We turned the car round, located the owl, and I took some pretty bad photos! Talk about a missed opportunity! Again, these are the best of a bad bunch. There was nowhere to park so I took the photos out of the car window. Despite the bad photos, it was very nice to see an owl so close, and in daylight! It's only the second time I've seen a roosting Tawny. Unfortunately, he was slightly obscured by a light mist and some small branches - and that's what I decided to focus the camera on! Next time, next time .... ;o)

We carried on to Kielder Forest and Kielder Water. Lots of birds around? Nope. Just a single Robin! Ho hum. I tried for Crossbills next to the spill at the dam but they didn't show today. Last time I was there they were just a few feet in front of me on the grass by the spill - and I didn't have the camera with me!

Blackbirds and Bottlenose Whales

A male first-winter Blackbird came to the ground feeder today, which I had placed at the top of the steps by the kitchen door. He took some sunflower hearts from the white bowl. The only other visitor to the ground feeder today was one of our three Robins - unfortunately I missed the opportunity to take a photo as I was completely distracted by the Sky News coverage of the northern bottlenose whale rescue attempt. We get Robins in the garden most days, but it's not very often we see a whale in the River Thames! A great shame the rescue attempt failed.

Images from the Garden

The Brambling returns! We had 50+ Chaffinches in the garden today - and this Brambling was among them (centre of the photo). Too far away for a decent photo, but it may have been my only chance to get one!

Phillip, the Pheasant, feeds happily with the Chaffinches.

Greenfinches queue for breakfast (I'm looking forward to the bushes, climbers and trees growing for a greener background - I'm so sick of looking at that fence!)



My favourite garden bird, the Blue Tit, avoids the hustle and bustle of the garden by coming to feed at the window.

Female Siskin Visits Window Feeder

Apologies for the bad photo! This morning, a female Siskin landed on the window feeder. I wasn't expecting it and nor was I ready for it; the camera wasn't ready and the blinds were drawn! Despite that, I decided to give it a go and this photo was the best of a very bad bunch. Later in the day, Mr Siskin came for a visit to the same feeder - I tried to take a photo but the battery died! I changed the battery, looked at the feeder ... gone! Maybe tomorrow ;o)

Edit: Male Siskin visit here

A New Garden Tick - Brambling!

A single Brambling arrived this afternoon with a small flock of Chaffinches. I almost managed a photograph but, twice, the whole flock was scared by something soon after landing on the lawn so they all flew off again into the nearby wooded area.

Brambling is the 28th species of bird recorded in our garden.

Black-headed Gull

Photo taken today: Adult Black-headed Gull in winter plumage circles the garden before landing.

Still Busy

Here's a list of the species I have recorded so far this week. The figure in brackets shows the highest count at any one time:

Chaffinch (flock of 29), Goldfinch (3), Greenfinch (30), Blackbird (3), Dunnock (1), Black-headed Gull (7), Starling (40), Jackdaw (3), Woodpigeon (1), Blue Tit (2), Great Tit (1), Robin (1), Pied Wagtail (1), Carrion Crow (1), Pheasant (1), House Sparrow (1), Coal Tit (1) and I am pleased to say that both Siskin (2, male & female) and Yellowhammer (1 male) have returned.

Total species so far this week=19.

The maximum number of species I have recorded in the garden in any one week is 20.

We had a delivery of sunflower hearts today - a 50lb (!) sack (22.7kg) which we purchased from the local pet shop. We need to find a suitable container to store them in otherwise we'll be attracting mice as well as birds! We'll look for a new dustbin this weekend.

Talking of this weekend, on Sunday we're going to Kielder Forest in North Northumberland where I'll be looking for Crossbills. I have seen Crossbills there before - very closely - so I'm hoping for a repeat performance; this time with my camera. I'll take some mixed seed, peanuts and sunflower seed too - the birds in the car parks are very friendly! Might even get to see some more red squirrels - if we're lucky.

Kielder is one of the largest man-made forests in England, and is also home to Europe's largest man-made lake. The whole area of Kielder covers 200 square miles.

Winter at Dundock Wood

Today at Dundock Wood: Flocks of Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Greenfinch. Also: Coal Tit, Robin, Wren, Blackbird, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Ring-necked Pheasant.

Highlights were, as usual, Goldcrest and small families of Long-tailed Tit. This is a great area to get close to Goldcrests - I always locate them by their call first and then pin point them to a few rhododendron bushes; often near to the bench in the above photograph. I Had the camera with me today so decided I'd try and get a few photos of them - not an easy task as they are so tiny (they weigh less than a ten pence coin)and are never ever still! Today it was made even harder by the untimely arrival of what must have been the (very noisy) Coldstream and District Ramblers Association!! The Goldcrests all departed as the ramblers arrived! Better luck next time!

Heard the drumming of Great Spotted Woodpeckers close-by but didn't manage to locate one this time.

During one visit to Dundock Wood last year, I was stood watching a family of Long-tailed Tits flit from tree to tree when I heard a rustling noise close behind, I turned round to see a
roe deer looking right back at me. Unfortunately he scarpered immediately!

Photos: Dundock Wood, part of the Hirsel Country Park estate in Coldstream. It is a rhododendron and azalea wood and is in full bloom during May and June - a mass of pinks, purples, yellows and reds.

Chaffinch

Photo taken today: A lone male Chaffinch selects sunflower hearts from the top of the steps by the kitchen door.

A New Garden Tick - Siskin!

We've had our first Siskin today - a solitary male on one of the mesh peanut feeders. Unfortunately he was too far away to photograph this time.

I am planning to either move a feeder or get a new one (ANOTHER one? Our neighbours must think we're mad!) and place it near the kitchen window or door to try and photograph each species.

It has been very busy in the garden again today; there was a flock of 30 Greenfinch and 28 Chaffinch at one point - and it's not easy to count that little lot!

The male Yellowhammer from Tuesday made another appearence today - he examined the ground feeder and then flew down to the bottom border where he was promptly bullied by a male Greenfinch. Exit Yellowhammer stage left!

The Window Feeder

One of our hanging feeders is attached to the French door which overlooks the back garden and is used regularly by Blue Tits, Goldfinches and Coal Tits. As the garden has been exceptionally busy over the last two days, and with all of the other feeders constantly in use, the visits to this feeder have been more frequent. These chaps made several visits each today:

A New Garden Tick - Yellowhammer!

A new garden tick today - a male Yellowhammer! Saw him only very briefly; he landed in the bottom border near the logpile, I went to grab my binoculars (which Sod's Law states will be on the other side of the room) and when I returned he was gone! The garden was very busy at the time, so he either arrived with the Goldfinch (flock of 12), Chaffinch (15) or Greenfinch (apx. 23).

Food, Glorious Food!

We provide food for our garden visitors all year round.

• Always available: water; peanuts; sunflower hearts and nyjer seed
• Scraps are provided as and when we have them: cheese, bread, pastry, cooked potato etc
• During the winter we provide (home made) peanut based fat cakes
• Occasionally we provide live mealworms, mixed seed & black sunflower seed
  

We have eleven hanging feeders, a bird table, a ground feeder and a peanut cake guardian.

In addition to the feeders, we have one nest box (25mm entrance, suitable for Blue Tits and Coal Tits) which is situated on the back of the house in a Southeast facing position and we also have a bird bath.

We have borders around the edges of a medium-sized lawn. The largest border runs along the fence at the bottom of the garden and was designed and planted with birds and butterflies in mind.

We have built a small logpile in a bottom corner which has proved popular with many of the species which have visited the garden but is especially popular with the Robins, Wrens, Blackbirds and Dunnocks (and even our resident Pheasant!).