Today was less about the crowd of sparrows and chaffinches, a solitary ring dove that limped slightly, the little woodpecker who flounced from feeder to feeder to lawn or the dumpy blackbird fledgling which seems to have secreted itself in the hedge motel this evening – which is at least a more sensible and secure… Continue reading Into the light…
Tag: birdwatching
Friends lost and found…
It was the ring doves’ complicated social life that caused all the stir today; there was a deal of strutting and puffing up and pouncing, all of which scattered the little birds again and again. A group of jackdaws thought to take advantage of the kerfuffle and it is difficult to spot them amongst the… Continue reading Friends lost and found…
Running buffet…
Yesterday, I had intended to write about the blackbirds who were working to feed a nestling, a clumsy bundle of speckled brown and buff feathers which alternately staggered around the rosebed, or stayed motionless on the earth next to the drystone wall, so quiet and still that it almost disappears into the colours of the… Continue reading Running buffet…
Slippery bark
It is possible to see most of the garden from the kitchen sink, except the floor of the border right in front of the window which is screened by the honeysuckle trellis and the old beehive – which isn’t a beehive, it’s a garden shed, a very short one. The patch of lawn beneath the… Continue reading Slippery bark
A glimpse of a badger-head…
The cold weather has returned and the birds have made short work of the seed on the grass. A busy mass of sparrows and chaffinches, two wood pigeons and, at one point, four ring doves worked back and forth. The male ring dove was persisting with his follow-and-bob performance, but it still wasn’t having any… Continue reading A glimpse of a badger-head…
The Phantom Vandal…
The wire peanut feeder which sits under the roof of the little bird table is a bit of a improvised job – a taller wire tube cut down which attaches onto a couple of cup-hooks screwed onto the underside of the bird table roof. Over the years the wire has frayed and broken so that… Continue reading The Phantom Vandal…
First, find your twig…
The half coconut fat feeder is not proving as generally popular a some of the previous ones have done. Most of the small birds seem to prefer the three-quarter nut, which they find easier to disappear into completely, whereas the half nut requires a balance or grip which most of the birds don’t seem able… Continue reading First, find your twig…
The sun-bathing ring dove was back today, ensconced on the grass in a patch of sunlight, lazily pecking at the odd morsel, lolling from one side to another and stretching up a wing to take the warmth. It seemed so relaxed as to be almost dozing in the sun and I couldn’t help becoming a… Continue reading
Oops…
Whilst the good weather meant that I had to refill the small water tray after the song thrush had been for a bath, elsewhere there were great comings and goings all along the wall of the rosebed today. The wren worked conscientiously through the stones, busily disappearing into the little tunnels and dark cracks. It… Continue reading Oops…
Hither and yon…
Today there were a series of moments, familiar and curious. There was a blackbird performing an extensive grooming session in the freshly turned earth and ash around the base of the currant bushes. It would scratch around its ear canal, on its offside, then flare its wings and pose for a while in a shaft… Continue reading Hither and yon…
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 