birds – Dragon goes Wild

Twit-twoo

Dragon — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:00:30 +0000

In the last few weeks, I’ve heard owls on a regular basis around here, but I’ve never managed to spot one…. until last night! It took me a while to figure out just what it was I could see perched on a wooden stake, and it wasn’t until I set up my camera that I realised it was an owl!

#staywild

More snow?!

Dragon — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 20:00:54 +0000

We had more snow overnight, and although it stopped during the morning, the forecast was for snow from about lunchtime.

Instead of steps in the garden, it looks like we have a very steep slope heading up to the grass!

More finches and blackbirds have been flocking to the nearby feeders again – there was some food scattered on the ground, plus the seeds that have been knocked out of the feeders by the pigeons.

“Blackbirds don’t visit bird tables or seed feeders”…. unless it’s very, very, very cold (-1C today, but it’s meant to feel like -7C with the windchill).

I’m not sure how much seed he managed to get out, but at least one Blackbird spotted the walnut cake that was in the garden and decided that made a tastier (and easier) meal.

The snow might have been unexpected for the wildlife, but it did make some unusual patterns on the rooftops as it was blown about in the high winds.

#staywild

Cawing Crows

Dragon — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 10:00:56 +0000

I don’t think you could miss the crows as they fly over – this one seemed intent on making as much noise as possible, before it landed in a nearby tree.

#staywild

Another day, another Jay!

Dragon — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 10:00:55 +0000

Who needs a tree branch to perch on, when there’s a ‘house sold’ sign in just the right location?

#staywild

Charming Goldfinches

Dragon — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 14:00:57 +0000

I heard some small birds outside, so I grabbed my camera…. I wasn’t quite anticipating so many goldfinches though!

They eventually landed in one of the trees, and started eating what I guess was insects from it.

#staywild

Watching the birds

Dragon — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 10:00:26 +0000

I looked out of the window initially, to try and spot the small birds I could hear. I managed to catch sight of one in a nearby tree.

But then I noticed a larger bird arrive, and head straight for the seed feeder. I know that pigeons have tried knocking the feeder sideways in the hope that it will spill some seeds onto the ground that they can then eat, but I’ve never seen a Jay try to eat from the feeder before!

There are definitely two Jays living nearby as I’ve seen them both in the trees, but as I was watching this bird, another flew down onto the grass.

….closely followed by a third

Giving up with the seed feeder, then they flew over to some more open grass, where they started fighting over who would get to eat the leaves (I get the idea these three were young Jays!)

At this point, a fourth Jay joined them, but it wasn’t long before they realised that the leaves weren’t all that tasty and they retreated to the trees again.

#staywild

Pigeons!

Dragon — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 14:00:39 +0000

#staywild

Ever tried taking a photo of a fast moving small bird?

Dragon — Mon, 29 May 2017 14:00:53 +0000

If there’s one disadvantage of trying to take a photo of those rapidly moving small birds, it’s how swiftly they fly! After multiple photos of just a clear blue sky where it had flown out of the shot, and others that were just a blur as it changed direction as I took the photo, I got lucky.

It’s not the clearest, but so far it’s the best photo I’ve managed to take…. although I’ve still not been able to identify the bird!

#30dayswild

Blue Skies and Soaring Birds

Dragon — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 11:00:15 +0000

#30dayswild

A Charm of Goldfinches

Dragon — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 15:00:59 +0000

I’ve noticed a couple of small birds flying around recently, but they never seem to sit still enough to be able to identify them! However, after they flew off the roof and zoomed past the window, they landed on the seed feeder in a nearby tree.

Undeterred by the pigeon landing on the grass nearby (I guess the pigeon wanted to scoop up any seeds they’d dropped), they spent several minutes taking as many seeds as they could.

I’m sure these two Goldfinches are the birds I’ve been spotting flying past the window the last few days – they can blend into the trees remarkably easily when they land. Not content with just sampling the seeds from that particular feeder, I spotted them on a different feeder a while later, until a crow landed on the garden fence, which made them fly off.

They also like to take the seeds from teasel plants, which will be a good excuse to grow another teasel on my allotment. Surprisingly, we don’t have a problem with birds taking the fruit from the allotment, although we do have some local Roe Deer that like to nibble their way through most of the things we grow (strawberries and runner bean plants are a particular favourite of theirs).

#30dayswild