A Bit Random

A bit random, but here we go...

Greenfinch

House sparrow
Blue Tit (soggy!)

Albert: on patrol & keeping That Damn Cat away

It's Not All Doom & Gloom!

A couple more sick Greenfinches appeared in the garden on Tuesday.
Head tucked under wing, he goes to sleep

I'm doing all I can in keeping the feeders clean - and I'm following the BTOs advice of still feeding them. The BTO have said it's better that the birds come and feed at a clean feeding station than being forced to go and look somewhere else and ending up at a dirty one!

It's not all doom and gloom, however, (apart from the weather!) - our little Blue Tit lodger returned to the nest box on Monday and roosted overnight. I have no pictures though as he returned after dark and left too early for the camera to pick him up! I know he's been in the box, though, because of the, erm, poo :o)

Also, I'm pretty sure we have a hedgehog (or hedgehogs, maybe?) in Hog House today as I placed some more straw in the entrance and it's gone. I'm not risking peeking at the moment - it's getting close to hibernation time and I don't want to put them off. I'll probably use the straw technique to monitor things for now!

More Garden Randomness

Here's the sick Greenfinch (taken yesterday). I have emptied and cleaned the water dish each time she's been on it.

And here she is compared to a healthy Greenfinch - her larger 'fluffed-up' size is very apparent. Both pictures were taken yesterday. She hasn't been seen today.

Our Robin lands on his favourite look-out post
Male Chaffinch
Woodpigeon. I like these. They vacuum up the mess :o)
Female Greenfinch
Proving difficult to photograph, as usual. The Blue Tits are rarely still ...
... and when they are, they turn away!

Fighting again. Tsk!

Of all our garden birds, these Greenfinches are probably the most quarrelsome - closely followed by the Goldfinches.

This 'n' That

It seems to have been a day of sick birds today: a female Chaffinch has hung around the garden all day and a young Greenfinch (photo included) has shown the first signs of illness (salmonella or trichomoniasis in both cases), then we had a male Chaffinch with Fringilla papillomavirus (crusty legs) and a further two possibly sick Chaffinches, but I didn't get a good enough look at them to be sure.

I didn't manage any photos of the Blue Tits as they didn't come close enough to the kitchen window, the Coal Tit was far too quick for me and the Great Tits didn't show.

So, here are the photos I did manage to take today:

Greenfinches. The one on the right was trying to peck the seeds out through the plastic, but he soon got the hang of it!
Male Chaffinch came along for a quick drink
... as did these Greenfinches
Yikes! As quarrelsome as usual!
Female House Sparrow on top of the ladybird house

This is the sick Greenfinch. Anyone who has had similar sick birds will know what I mean. Maybe it's not immediately obvious from the photos, but they are always a lot bigger (fluffed up) than any of the others Greenfinches in the garden. They are also listless, stay close to the food source and have heavy/laboured breathing, among other symptoms. This bird is in the early stages ... two or three more days and if he's not recovering (as can sometimes happen) then he'll be close to death.

Greenfinch

A male Greenfinch resting on top of the table this morning

Window Strike

I heard the dreaded thud of a bird flying into the back door this afternoon and from the few feathers it left behind it was obviously a Greenfinch (he hit the window about 8" below a big sentinel of a Peregrine!). I found him round the corner half-hidden by an upturned garden tub.

He was alive but clearly stunned. As the weather was reasonable, and he was quite well hidden, I decided to leave him there rather than stress him by moving him somewhere dark and quiet (as is advised). I checked him twice and then after around twenty minutes he flew off to the nearby wood. Happy ending!

The position of his leg was a bit worrying, but when I checked him ten minutes later he'd pulled it back under his body.

Whose Line is it Anyway?

I know what I prefer to see on the washing line, and it isn't clothes ...

Male Greenfinch




Bald female on a very rainy Tuesday this week

Sick Greenfinch

I found this sick female Greenfinch in the garden this morning. Most likely a case of salmonella- the first one I've seen since the end of winter. We managed to catch her and place her among the shrubs where she was away from the feeding stations and had a bit of cover, but she didn't stay there long; she flew out and landed on next door's shed roof where she promptly put her head under her wing. She stayed there for about half an hour.
She is currently sat directly below one of the hanging feeders near the kitchen door. I never know what to do when this happens ... Do I hope she flies away so I can abdicate all responsibility? Do I leave it to nature or do 'we' end her life (which clearly isn't going to last much longer)? The last one isn't something I can do, personally, so I'd have to hand that one over to Birdman.

One-legged Greenfinch

We have had a one-legged Greenfinch in the garden for the past two days. He seems to cope pretty well, but his balance on the feeders is a bit dodgy. There is usually some sunflower seed on the ground but he chooses to feed on the hangers instead.

I wonder if it is the same Greenfinch that got his leg caught in the Gardman feeder recently?

Apologies for the painfully bad photos. He was too far away, but they do show his stump.

Stumpy

Trapped Greenfinch

This afternoon we returned home and were greeted by the sight of an adult male Greenfinch caught in one of our three Gardman hangers.

Gardman hanger:

The poor bird was trapped by his leg in the gap between the fixed & removable hooks - he had clearly been there for some considerable time as his leg was damaged through the bird struggling to free himself (there was significant blood visible) and the bird was visibly distressed.

Luckily for this Greenfinch we returned in time to free his trapped leg. I'm not sure if his leg was broken but it's certainly a possibility. Anyway, we freed him and he flew off with no apparent problem. I hope he survives - I don't fancy his chances if his leg is broken or if he develops an infection. Current weather conditions are not favourable.

I have emailed Gardman to see if anyone else has reported this happening.

Soggy Birds

A day of persistent rain usually results in a garden full of activity and today was no exception! The rain brought the birds in from the nearby wood - at one point we had 65 Chaffinch alone. There was a great mixture of species throughout the day; Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, House Sparrow, Starling, Blackbird, Siskin, Brambling, Black-headed Gull, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, and Robin all put in an appearance today. Twelve species were recorded as being in the garden at the same time (that was everything other than the gull and the corvids).

The following photographs were taken through the kitchen window:

Soggy but still beautiful - Goldfinch




Soggy Starling

Soggy Blue Tit

Very soggy and sorry looking Greenfinch

And the soggiest of them all - Siskin.

Wot No Food?!

A male Greenfinch and a female Chaffinch - Wondering where their food has gone since I removed most of the hanging feeders:

Soon after I took the photo of the female Chaffinch, she flew onto the window ledge and looked through the kitchen window. Definitely trying to make me feel guilty.


(It worked!)

No Fighting, Please!

Greenfinches fighting (not kissing!) over the sunflower hearts!

We had another sick Greenfinch in the garden today - the first one I've seen since February 1st. The first case of Salmonella was January 30th. Feeders have been reduced from eleven to two for the time being.

Some Images from Today

There was a massive reduction in the number of birds visiting the garden today following the removal of most of the feeders and the relocation of the remaining ones. Today, all I put out was one sunflower heart feeder and one mesh peanut feeder. We still had Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch but in much smaller numbers. A couple of Blackbirds also visited - and took the halved pears I put out for them. Also: a Robin and, the star of the show, a Goldcrest (see below). We placed the sunflower heart feeder closer to the kitchen window, so I took the opportunity to take some photos - but the weather was very dull.

Robin

Goldfinch

Greenfinch (male)

Greenfinch (female)

Chaffinch (female)

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.