Borders Birds

And They've Gone!

2008-06-19T19:42:00.003+01:00

All three baby blackbirds fledged this morning. We are left with one little blue speckled egg.

The three youngsters have been feeding in the garden but are staying quite well hidden at the bottom in the shrubs.

Hurrah!

Day 13

2008-06-16T15:58:00.002+01:00

A Squash and a Squeeze:

Only a few days left until they enter the big wide world. They should be leaving the nest later this week.

Random

2008-06-16T09:37:00.003+01:00

The first juvenile goldfinches arrived this morning - and yesterday we had a juvenile pied wagtail following its parent around the lawn.

A bit distant but... young pied wagtail

Young goldfinch - yet to get his red face

And Albert taking on his more typical pose: (webcam shot)

Also - forgot to mention this... last week we had a new garden tick - a male bullfinch. By the time I'd focused the camera he'd gone!

Day 11

2008-06-14T18:02:00.002+01:00

This is the best I could manage today...

They sink low into the nest now when they see me peeping:

Day 9

2008-06-12T13:36:00.003+01:00

The three nestlings are doing well - and are now starting to look a little like blackbirds...

Day 7

2008-06-10T15:59:00.005+01:00

This is around the half-way stage. I guess they'll fledge sometime between Wednesday and Friday next week.

Day 6

2008-06-09T13:20:00.004+01:00

A quick look in the nest this afternoon - and the three nestlings now have their eyes open.

Day 4

2008-06-07T18:03:00.003+01:00

All is well in the blackbird's nest. The three nestlings are four days old and seem to be doing well.

Day 2

2008-06-05T12:10:00.005+01:00

One egg remains unhatched in the nest this afternoon.

(A bit blurred today! I'm snapping blind - unable to get my eye to the camera to focus it!)

A Bit Random

2008-06-05T09:00:00.001+01:00

A bit random, but here we go...

Greenfinch

House sparrow
Blue Tit (soggy!)

Albert: on patrol & keeping That Damn Cat away

Hatching begins!

2008-06-04T16:35:00.006+01:00

The eggs in the blackbird's nest have started to hatch today. So far three of the four have hatched.

Hope to get a picture every couple of days - don't want to disturb Marge and Parge too much!

Juvenile Starlings

2008-05-29T11:39:00.003+01:00

Here are a couple of the juvenile starlings I mentioned in the previous post.

They are far too noisy when they land in a 40-strong flock!

And a male house sparrow

Blackbird's Nest

2008-05-27T09:58:00.005+01:00

We might not have anything in the nest box this year - but we do have a nest in the garden... and four little blue speckled eggs - a pair of blackbirds are nesting in the rambling rose.

The female built the nest very quickly last week - and this week I had a quick look once I knew she was away from the nest and found four eggs. I don't know when they were laid. Mum and Dad are both still around.

I will try and get better pictures soon - for me it's a case of shove the camera in the bush and hope for the best. Birdman might get a better shot.

The four eggs
More central, but blurred!

And the bush. I probably don't need to point out where the entrance is, but if so, it's the gap in middle of the green bush - just off-centre in the pic.

It's not in the best place, I have to say. But fingers crossed the nest is successful.

We have masses of extremely noisy fledgling starlings around at the moment. Hopefully none of them (or their parents) will find the nest.

Time For a Catch-up

2008-05-10T22:05:00.000+01:00

This song thrush seems to be in the garden constantly at the moment - first arriving just before 8am and then visiting many times throughout the day. We must have a good supply of worms!

Goldfinch

2008-05-10T21:57:00.004+01:00

Robin

2008-05-10T21:55:00.004+01:00

2008-05-10T21:45:00.004+01:00

House Sparrow
Great Tit

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Bathtime!

2008-05-10T21:36:00.005+01:00

Great Spotted Woodpecker

2008-04-16T20:18:00.004+01:00

At last! This is the first time I've seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding up near the house - they usually stick to the feeders at the bottom of the garden. It was Birdman who spotted him (and he also took the photos).

Ignore the glare from the kitchen window ;o)

2008-04-16T20:13:00.003+01:00

Elsewhere in the garden...

Our little Coal Tit is still busy taking moss and wool

I wish this little one was in the nest box, but it's not!

Woodpigeon

And Albert (not in the garden!)

Soggy Sparrowhawk

2008-04-12T13:28:00.007+01:00

Found this chap drying out on top of the bird table this morning - another very dull, rainy day.

I've used the wrong cropping tool on some of them but I can't be bothered doing them again!

Coal Tit

2008-04-11T12:54:00.006+01:00

A coal tit has been busy taking moss and wool from the garden today.

Through a rain-soaked window:

By 1pm is was so dark it was more like dusk.

The only recent visitor to the nest box was a nosy starling this morning - only the beak was visible on the camera, obviously, as they are unable to get right in.

I can hear quite a few great tits calling when I'm in the garden, or when the windows are open, so hopefully they'll find their way to the nest box soon - an empty one will be incredibly boring to watch!

NestCam Update

2008-04-05T16:50:00.002+01:00

We've had no visits inside the box since I last posted pictures from it. Not giving up hope yet, though, because last year things didn't kick off properly until 13th April.

I don't think there's much nesting activity going on up here yet - I've got both moss and wool in the garden and it hasn't been touched at all so far.

The garden is busy on-and-off: It's busy on cold days and then very quiet on the warmer/brighter days.

No pics from the garden at the moment - the closest hanging feeders currently contain nesting material - and no one seems to want that yet! I'm trying to keep the area near the nest box as quiet as I can so all food has been moved further away for a while.

So, until I can take some bird pics, here's one of Albert the greyhound enjoying a run on the beach. He wears a muzzle off-lead at the moment as he's still got a very strong chasing instinct - which currently includes small dogs called Frou-Frou. Once he understands they're not rabbits or hares I'll be able to throw the muzzle away!

Meet Albert

2008-03-17T12:56:00.004Z

...The 40mph couch potato.

Ex-racer. Only two-and-a-half years old.

More Blue Tit

2008-03-15T17:22:00.005Z