At times, at the end of February, it looked as if spring was on its way as, although it was officially recorded as the wettest February on record, temperatures were quite mild, occasionally reaching double figures. This is an account of some of my (mostly garden) observations during this period.
Thursday, 22nd February Garden
I was away from home for much of the day as, in the early afternoon, I had to take Lindsay to hospital for a physiotherapy appointment following her knee operation. This was a quite hazardous journey as we were having torrential rain and encountered much flooding along the way. Fortunately, our car has a very generous ground-clearance and we were able to pass through the floods, but the journey took an hour and a quarter each way, instead of the usual 45 minutes.
I did manage some photos of birds in our garden in the morning before the rain started.
We are regularly getting three Carrion Crow visiting the garden. I think that these are a pair with an all-but-adult youngster, and this theory is strengthened by the fact that that, in recent days, two of the birds are trying to chase off the third, suggesting that they think that it's time the youngster left home and find its own way. Here is one of the birds.
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| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - our garden |
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| Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (male) - our garden |
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| Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - our garden |
Fortunately, the rain stopped during the night, and the flooding had almost disappeared by the time I had to take Lindsay back to the hospital to have her sutures removed. As we arrived back home, we remarked on a fine patch of Crocus in our front garden.
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| Early Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus) - our garden |
In the spirit of trying to pay a little more attention to the very common birds in our garden, I offer the Woodpigeon. This always strikes me as being one of the least intelligent of bird species that visit us. To watch a pair of them trying to banish each other from the feeding tray is nothing short of commical (note to self - must try to capture this on video!).
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| Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - our garden |
This was a quite remarkable day, because of my encounter with a Kingfisher and Barn Owl, as reported in my previous blog post.
The female Blackcap was with us again this day, and has now become a daily visitor once more.
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| Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - our garden |
Sorry, but I can't resist going back to the Kingfisher from that day.
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| Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - undisclosed site |
Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - our garden
Tuesday, 27th February Garden
Wren put in an appearance on this day, and this was taken from my study window, approximately 15 metres away.
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| Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden |
We are still seeing a male Brambling in the garden on most days.
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| Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) (male) - our garden |
On the last day of the month, it being a leap year, Lindsay decided that she wanted to try going out for a short walk. I took her to Melbourne (Derbyshire, not Australia!) where we had a quick visit to the charity shop in the hall courtyard before heading to the nearby Melbourne Pool. Lindsay didn't get very far before she needed to sit down on a convenient low wall, but it was significant progress.
I continued along beside the pool for a little while, as I had my camera with me. There was little to photograph in the short time before I needed to return to Lindsay. Here are a couple of birds that I did photograph.
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| Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Melbourne Hall |
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| Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Melbourne Pool |
This brings me to the end of February, and this blog post. I'm hoping that my next blog post will feature a little more in the way of non-garden observations. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard
Some lovely birds visiting the garden. That Brambling is starting to look quite nice and good to see the Blackcap. Saw my first Chiffchaff yday but still awaiting a Blackcap. Hopefully the flood gates should open soon. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThe Brambling is still visiting us most days, Mark, as is the female Blackcap which, I guess has over-wintered here. I've not seen or heard a Chiffchaff yet, but I suspect that it won't be long.
DeleteBest wishes - - - Richard
Hello Richard,
ReplyDeleteYou managed to take a perfect photo with the carrion crow, the plumage is very easy to see, the kingfisher is of course great again and the hedgehog is very cute, but isn't January 2nd a bit early for hedgehogs?
Greetings Frank
I was quite pleased to get the feather detail in that Carrion Crow, shot, Frank.
DeleteJanuary 2nd is exremely early for Hedgehogs to be around, but they will come out of hibernation briefly on warmer nights in winter and top themselves up with any available food, and this has been a very mild winter, with it not only being the wettest February on record here, but the warmest February on record too.
Best wishes - - - Richard
Lovely to see Carrion Crows in the backyard. Miriam’s crows still come a couple times a day, generally five of them, and they only have to announce their presence and they know she will be there with snacks! Occasionally she is out when they come and I dispense the food. They tolerate me but no socialization, none of the small talk that goes on with her. They are clearly HER crows. It’s wonderful to see these sleek, glossy birds so close. Glad that Lindsay is doing well. May it continue thus. Best wishes from Miriam and me - David
ReplyDeleteThat's good news about Miriam's crows, David. Ours will make a noisy fuss if there's no food out, but they don't hang around if I go outside to put food out - they just watch from a distant tree.
DeleteBest wishes to you and Miriam - - - Richard
Enjoyed your footage of the Hedgehog. I haven't yet mastered the correct settings for my trial camera, but I think my latest failure for results was low battery! You really could have done without the journey though the floods to get to hospital and back Richard/Lindsey.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards to both....Pete.
Hi Pete. I don't know what batteries you use in your trail cam, but I use rechargeables. I used to use NI-MH rechargeables but They needed recharging too frequently. The problem is with NI-MH batteries that they deliver an initial voltage less than that of a non-rechargeable, and that voltege soon drops off, down to an insufficient level to work the camera. A couple of years ago, I switched to Lithium Ion rechargeables. They deliver a good 1.5 volts which remains constant until the battery is exhausted. They are much more expensive than NI-MH batteries but so much better, and worth their weight in gold.
DeleteBest wishes - - - Richard
Lovely set of phots here Richard and many of them I have seen in our garden. I tried to watch the video but the Wifi just is not good enough here. I am getting very frustrated with it!
ReplyDeleteI presume that you are still waiting for news?
Wishing you both good health, cheers Diane.
Hi Diane. Swakopmund featured in a TV programme we watched last night, in a 'the worlds most dangerous roads' series. Driving over dunes to get there, and other major hazards had me wondering about your own experiences there.
DeleteI'll update you 'off-line' about the latest situation.
Best wishes to you and Nigel - - - Richard
Hello Richard, great photos of your gardenbirds and the ones on your way to hospital and back for Lindsay her therapy. Good to read she is already walking some short distances. Great. The rain was here also more than less but tommorow we will have a day with sun and 18 degree here in the south.
ReplyDeleteHope that same sun is on the other side of the Channel.
Warm regards,
Rooos
No such luck with the weather here today, Roos - cloudy, with heavy rain forecast for the afternoon and a maximum temperature of 12°.
DeleteLindsay continues to make good progress, and has even managed to drive the car a short distance to a place where she can take a short walk.
My very best wishes - - - Richard
Me alegra que Lindsay se esté recuperando bien, pronto me llamarán a mà para operarme, ayer estuve a consulta. Tus fotografÃas están preciosas. Abrazos.
ReplyDeleteGracias Teresa. Tiene mis mejores deseos para su próxima cirugÃa. Espero que sea tan exitoso como la experiencia reciente de Lindsay.
DeleteCuidate mucho - - - Richard
Muchas gracias Richard. Abrazos.
ReplyDelete🤞🤞
DeleteHi Richard
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images of birds, and the Hedgehog, love them. The Brambling are superb and the Kingfisher.
We have been very lucky with the Brambling visits, Bob. We still have a male visiting the garden most days.
DeleteBest wishes - take good care - - - Richard
First and most importantly, Gini and I are heartened to read about Lindsay's progress. Outstanding news!
ReplyDeleteYour garden continues to be a real oasis, especially considering how limiting your conditions have been for traveling away from home. I know they are common, but photographs such as yours showing how beautiful the dove are in the proper light should remind us all to not take them for granted.
The Kingfisher continues to remind me of a brightly colored jewel.
All is good on this side of the world. We are celebrating our anniversary next week. Where else would a couple of "seasoned" Floridians go for such a celebration? You guessed it. The biggest swamp we could find: The Everglades. If you don't hear from us by July - send help.
The kind words of encouragement from yourselves, and other 'on line' friends, have helped us get through the past 18 months Wally - thank you. We are now looking forward to a brighter future.
DeleteI hope that you both have a wonderful time in the Everglades. Is your anniversary one of the major ones? I hope that we'll be hearing from you long before July!
Best wishes from England, where the weather continues to be disappointingly wet - - - Richard
Beautiful photos with beautiful birds. Have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Caroline. I hope that your weekend has been drier than ours and you have managed to enjoy nature. Best wishes - - - Richard
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