I said I wouldn’t write anymore about birds unless we had a quiet day, well went to the gym this morning, came home & it has more or less rained ever since, so yes it is one of those quiet days. The pictures below were all taken this afternoon of birds I have not included on my blog so far, 1/ A Greater Spotted Woodpecker. 2/ A juvenile Blue Tit. 3/ A Greenfinch. All shots were through double glazing with rain on the windows, so not my best ones, but there was no chance to take the camera outside to take them.
I thought I would also include a list of the birds we have spotted from indoors or out in the garden, not sure if I have left any off but this is roughly it.
Tit family are, Blue, Great, Coal & Long Tailed. Siskin, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Redpoll, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Pidgeon, Collar Dove, Sparrow Hawk, Buzzard, Blackbird, Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Wren, Tree Creeper, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Dunnock & Robin. A total of 28 birds, which is great. We have seen Osprey a fair distance away feeding on one of the Rainbow Trout Lochs that I fish & also what we believe was a Hen Harrier quartering in a distant field. We frequently hear Tawny Owls & once a Little Owl, but non outside the list are ones that we can class as regular visitors to us.
Just been through the bird book & as a further addition will add the following, Brambling, Nuthatch, Oyster Catcher, Warbler (not sure which one , but think Garden), Goldfinch, Bullfinch & Red legged Partridge. So total now stands at 35.
One visitor that comes daily is the Sparrow Hawk, an unwelcome guest who normally has a bird a day, you do not see it everyday, but the feathers are found of various small birds in certain places in the garden. On one occasion I was in the garden & tried to frighten it away & it came straight at me, I swear that if I had not have ducked it would have got me.
On the other hand our Buzzards are fairly friendly, I have mouse traps in our tiny cellar & in the loft as they are always trying to establish themselves in our house & if I do catch a mouse I will throw it into the field & daily the Buzzard will swoop low over the house to see if there is a meal for him. Where it thinks this meal comes from I have no idea, but it knows it has a regular source of food to feed its youngsters. A pair most years nest in a nearby Oak tree & this year I think they only had one young one.
Lets hope tomorrow brings a better day as I am going on a guided walk over some nearby Limestone pavement, so guess what tomorrows blog will be on?
