Today is not so much a question of bird-watching as bird-glancing, I have been busy over a lot of the day and have snatched moments at the kettle or the sink to look for the birds. Doubtless I have imagined it, but it has seemed that a single female chaffinch has been keeping me company.… Continue reading A solitary chaffinch
Author: baebell
More-or-less retired academic in the lively arts.
Splish splash 3
The house martins have returned to the village. The first pair have come all the way from Africa and immediately taken up their old nest site – in the gentlemen’s toilets. We’ll have to make sure that no-one shuts the door. The circular water tray at the base of the hedge motel is in shade… Continue reading Splish splash 3
Teamwork…
I’m going to bend my somewhat informal rules, to describe something that happened yesterday. I had forgotten the incident until I saw the sparrows clustered on the fat ball feeder. I loaded it up with two fresh fat balls this morning and within the hour, four enterprising sparrows had begun to reshape them. They appeared… Continue reading Teamwork…
A lack of rain
Before I could reach the top of the steps this morning, there was a wood pigeon, a ring dove and three chaffinches working the grass. They are making the most of the early morning sunshine and the chaffinch is a handsome chap, with brightly coloured plumage, but the garden is so dry that I am… Continue reading A lack of rain
Lunch with the sparrows…
There is a little group of sparrows, what looks like one male and three females, who are working steadily through the rosebed. The roses are now showing a lot of leaf and once they’ve investigated the depths of the snow-in-summer, almost disappearing amongst the blue-grey foliage, they go from rose to rose searching for insects.… Continue reading Lunch with the sparrows…
Splish splash II
‘How many sparrows can you get into a water tray?’ When I scatter the feed in the morning, there are usually a few birds that will be down on the grass to investigate it before I’m even at the top of the steps up to house level and there are some that seem to wait… Continue reading Splish splash II
The perfect spy…
The blossom on the greengage tree is on the turn, the petals are taking on a golden tinge and whilst there is still the occasional fat bumble bee working amongst the flourish, you can easily see the contrast with the brilliant white flowers on the cherry tree. This blossom is more thickly packed along the… Continue reading The perfect spy…
A love-token…
By this morning, two out of three fat balls wedged into the wire ball feeder had been eaten and there was only a marble-sized ball left which rolled around in the bottom. This provided a problem for the sparrow who returned to try to get the last of the fat; as soon as he found… Continue reading A love-token…
Balance
You don’t tend to think of the sparrows as acrobats, as they flock to the seed scattered on the lawn. They bounce from morsel to morsel almost as though their bodies are being drawn forward by their beaks. And a large group were bouncing around a wood pigeon for most of the morning. The day… Continue reading Balance
Background details…
At the beginning of most episodes of soap operas, there is usually a brief scene-setting look about somewhere familiar from the soap’s fictional world; the bustling street market, the busy cafe. We have to re-acquaint ourselves with the people and atmosphere before the action, the drama, begins…but sometimes, very rarely, it doesn’t begin immediately. Today… Continue reading Background details…
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 