Thursday 9 April 2009

Thursday 9th.April 2009

Well , I'm glad today's weather wasn't that of Tuesday and Wednesday . It has been damp and miserable right up to mid afternoon , when it sort of brightened . Fencing in today's conditions would have been uncomfortable and dangerous , so I'm glad we finished yesterday , late afternoon .
The weather did give one advantage , a good look at who was coming to the feeders in the garden . The most surprising thing was that what I thought was the odd one or two Redpolls seen in the garden , turned out to be a flock of definately 8 , and possibly a dozen . All morning I could hear what is described in my book as 'a buzzing nasal trill' and I think that describes it perfectly . I saw at least six in next door's garden feeding on seed heads , all the while buzzing to keep in contact . Eventually , a male came to the feeder , and I got a shot from the back bedroom window . With that , I went down to the car port , and got a shot of a female - just before the camera batteries went flat . It was the last photo chance of the day , but I think she was taking 'feeding in the garden' a bit far , when she used the back of one of the patio chairs to sit on .
The Blut Tit nest is still ongoing , and apart from the odd beakful of hairy type material , she was also bringing feathery type materials , so the nest might be nearing completion .
Other visitors today included ,
a male Chaffinch , proving he can hang in there with the best of them ,
a male Dunnock , surveying all he owns , a male Greenfinch , checking no one is looking before he feeds ,
and a Goldfinch , wondering , what that lens is doing there .
Down at the pond , the majority of the frogspwan has turned into tadpoles , and the majority of the jelly , having being eaten by the newly emerged .
Down the bottom of the garden in the wilder patch , Green Alkenet-Pentaglottis sempervirens , often found on waste land , is in flower . A superb little blue flower with a white eye , like most of the rest of the Borage family. Finally , I know in this world that we live in , it is not 'PC' to say anyone is 'backward' , but I can't think of any other way to describe this Squirrel .





3 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Enjoy the Redpolls Greenie, A great bird to have in the garden. You've done well this year for good garden species.Cuckoo tomorrow?

Ken. said...

Hi Greenie.
Nice selection of birds on feeders, especially the Redpoll.As for the Squirrel, hopefully it is on the ball,and not like it's mate....stoned.

ShySongbird said...

Brilliant post again, full of goodies but I'm groaning after Ken's 'stoned' comment!!