Chaffinch

A male Chaffinch on top of the table (all taken through the kitchen window, as usual)


And a female

Mushrooms

I am not familiar with any fungi ... other than closed cup, button, fly agaric and liberty cap ;o)

I found the following today whilst on a short walk with Birdboy, and as there was not much bird activity going on, I thought I'd take a few pics and try to ID them using Google ...

... and I failed!

I think I've got one right, but I'm lost on all the others.

I think this is a Trametes versicolor, which apparently used to be used as a hat decoration. You don't see many of these on Ladies Day at Ascot!

Fungi
Fungi
Fungi

Whilst looking for fungal identification help I came across the rather excellently named Fungal Jungal website. However, it was the not-so-excellently-named First Nature that I used. Or, at least, tried to. Oh, and I also found Dreamy Feet. Luckily I don't need any help from that one.

Fungal Jungal

First Nature

Dreamy Feet

Greenfinch

A male Greenfinch resting on top of the table this morning

BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch 17-23 September

The figure in brackets shows the highest number of that species recorded in the garden at any one time this week.

Greenfinch (14)
Chaffinch (13)
House Sparrow (5)
Blue Tit (2)
Collared Dove (1)
Starling (c.65)
Woodpigeon (4)
Robin (1)
Goldfinch (2)

Juvenile Goldfinch

There is still very little happening in the garden at the moment. I haven't seen or heard the Long-tailed Tits since their initial visit on 11th September. Our single Robin is still around, though not singing as much.

The Whites, Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies are flitting around the buddlieas in small numbers.

We had a juvenile Goldfinch on one of the peanut feeders this morning.

Juvenile Goldfinch - minus the bold red face s/he will soon have

Feeding with a Greenfinch

Great Tit

BTO/CJ Garden Birdwatch 10-16 September

The figure in brackets shows the maximun number of that species recorded in the garden at any one time over the past week ...

Long-tailed Tit (3)
Blue Tit (1)
Chaffinch (8)
Greenfinch (6)
Robin (1)
House Sparrow (5)
Woodpigeon (1)
Goldfinch (1)
Coal Tit (1)
Starling (15)
Collared Dove (1)
Great Tit (1)

Fort Knox

Fort Knox! I've put a red hanging ball feeder inside the caged feeder to keep the fat upright and away from the edges. We have large flocks of Starlings in the winter, and although I'm happy to feed them, I also like to give the smaller birds a chance. Finches, Tits and Sparrows, Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens can all fit through the bars, but so far no Starling has managed to get in (although I know people who haven't had as much luck with theirs).


Let me in! I need the fat!

A House Sparrow

Our Resident Robin

This is our resident Robin. He is currently a daily visitor and seems to be claiming our garden as his territory.

New Garden Tick - Long-tailed Tit!

At last!! I knew they'd arrive eventually as I see them regularly at my local patch (which is roughly 20 seconds walk away!). This morning we've had not one, not two, but three Long-tailed Tits feeding on the peanuts at the top of the garden near the sunflowers.

No photos at the moment because I managed to scare them away when I walked past the back door to get my camera, but hopefully they'll be back sometime soon.

Our full garden list can be seen here:


http://www.bordersbirds.co.uk/2006/01/complete-garden-list.html

BTO/CJ Garden Birdwatch 3-9 September

Nothing much to report for the past week:

Blue Tit (4)
Greenfinch (9)
Chaffinch (11)
House Sparrow (10)
Starling (c.60)
Robin (1)
Blackbird (1)
Woodpigeon (1)

Woke up to a very cold morning on Friday (3.5C) and found hedgehog tracks through the dew on the lawn. No hogs have taken up residence in the hog house yet.

A Robin has been here daily, singing on the fence, among the sunflowers and on top of the hanging feeders.

The four Blue Tits on Sunday morning were all juveniles.

BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch 27 Aug - 2 Sept

A low number of species recorded in the garden this week - around half the average.

There was a surprise visit from around 75 Starlings on Friday - probably foraging for leather jackets in the lawn.

We had a walk out to the lighthouse in Berwick on Friday afternoon, and stupidly I forgot to take my binoculars. Not so much happening bird-wise but I did note Common Tern (love watching them dive bomb headlong into the sea and come back up with a catch!), Eider, Common Scoter, distant Cormorant (or possibly Shag - must remember bins next time!) and a distant LBJ, on the walls surrounding the lighthouse before we reached it, which I think was a Rock Pipit but it was too far away for a positive ID.

Must go again with the telephoto lens as the terns were very close at times.

The poor garden list for the week:

Blue Tit (2)
Starling (c.75)
Chaffinch (20)
Greenfinch (11)
Woodpigeon (1)
Coal Tit (1)
Goldfinch (1)

A Little Bit More from the Starlings