The last days of February, 2024

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.

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - our garden

Greenfinch is now vying with Goldfinch for the title of 'most numerous bird species in the Pegler garden'. On the previous day to this one, we had a record total of 14 Greenfinch, which exactly matched the Goldfinch total that day. However, Greenfinch rarely stop in a useful photographic position. This is one taken from my study window.

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (male) - our garden

Here's a Goldfinch from that day.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - our garden

Friday, 23rd February          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.

Early Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus) - our garden

Sunday, 25th February          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!). 

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - our garden

Monday, 26th February          Garden  :  Undisclosed Site  :  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.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - our garden

Sorry, but I can't resist going back to the Kingfisher from that day.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - undisclosed site

That night, the trail cams caught a Hedgehog visiting one of our two Hedgehog feeding stations. Hedgehogs have been visiting to feed on warmer nights, since the first one of the year was seen on 2nd January!

 

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.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden

Wednesday, 28th February          Garden

We are still seeing a male Brambling in the garden on most days.

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) (male) - our garden

Thursday, 29th February          Melbourne Pool

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.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Melbourne Hall

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Melbourne Pool

Frustratingly, I thought that I could see a Red-crested Pochard in the far distance, but it would have added a good twenty minutes to half an hour to Lindsay's time on her own if I went to investigate, so I had to ignore it.

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

The First Seven Days of February, 2024

This blog post is a relatively short one, covering just one visit out, and some garden observations.

Thursday, 1st February          Bluebell Arboretum, Smisby

The month got off to a bright start when I decided to make a visit to Bluebell Arboretum, Smisby, which is the first village you come to if you head directly north out of our home town of Ashby de la Zouch.

Bluebell Arboretum holds a sentimental attachment for me as it was the last place I visited with my mother before she died in 2004. Shortly after her death, I made a donation to the arboretum in her memory and, in return, I was offered a lifetime permit for Lindsay and I to visit the arboretum.

It had been a few years since I had last visited and, although the trees in the arboretum would be far from at their best, I thought that maybe I would find some interesting birds. I also felt the need for some quiet contemplation and was confident that the arboretum would be relatively devoid of people. This proved to be the case, but it was virtually devoid of birds too!

I resorted to photographing a bunch of Snowdrops.

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) - Bluebell Arboretum

When I had last visited, my passion for dragonflies and damselflies had not yet developed. On this visit, I was pleased to note that there were small ponds which appeared to have very good potential for the Odonata. 

At one point a Robin came to introduce itself.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Bluebell Wood

I did get a brief glimpse of a Moorhen disappearing into the undergrowth behind one of the ponds, but didn't manage any photos.

Having made a circuit of the arboretum, I found myself in need of the ablutions, so headed to the exit. Having done what needed to be done, I remembered that beyond the west end of the car park there was a lake and, in the past, it had been inhabited by a collection of ducks - clearly imported and pinioned. Out of curiosity, I started heading towards this when a voice called out "are you a tree man, or a birder" - it was the proprietor, Robert, and I stopped for a chat. He told me that, since his wife had died, he'd found that keeping the collection 'topped up' with birds had become difficult, and he'd allowed 'natural wastage' to occur. The only pinioned birds remaining were a pair of Pintail and a pair of Teal. 

I went to have a look, and found several ducks in the lake, including what were presumably the pinioned Pintail and Teal, but also included a few Shoveler and a pair of  Mandarin. Photography was difficult as there was a high chain-link fence in front of me, and other fencing intervening too in some areas.

Teal (Anas crecca) (male) - Bluebell Arboretum

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) (male) - Bluebell Arboretum

I know that I have said this before, but I sometimes find myself surprised by how thin the heads of some species of duck are when viewed from the front - or, in this case, from the back!

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) (female + male) - Bluebell Arboretum

Whereas the plumage of the male Mandarin is spectacular, I feel that the female Mandarin has a serene beauty.

To my mind, the drake Shoveler looked somewhat sinister as it swam away.

Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male) - Bluebell Arboretum

The drake Pintail is one of the most handsome of ducks.

Pintail (Anas acuta) (male) - Bluebell Arboretum

Pintail (Anas acuta) (female) - Bluebell Arboretum

I stopped to have another chat with Robert on my way back to the car and mentioned the Mandarins. Robert told me that he considered them a nuisance as he sometimes gets up to around fifty of them and they snaffle up any food that's put out before the other ducks can get to it. 

Bluebell Arboretum is now on my list of places to look for Odonata when the season comes around.

Friday, 2nd February          Garden

The visits by the female Blackcap are becoming less frequent, but we see her most days. She has a penchant for the blitzed peanut and lard mix that I make. Here she is, just about to pop into the jar (out of frame) containing that treat.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - our garden

We are starting to get a few more sightings of Long-tailed Tits, but they are not easy to photograph as they are never still.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - our garden

Saturday, 3rd February          Garden

Greenfinches are continuing to pay frequent visits to the garden and, currently, their numbers are second only to that of Goldfinches, with up to six being seen at a time. I think that it was fellow blogger Sonjia (blog 'BREATHTAKING') who commented that the Greenfinches where she is in Portugal can be quite posessive and aggressive at the feeders, and I responded that this was not the case in our garden in my experience. I now find that I am having to reverse that statement as they are now exhibiting that sort of behaviour to their congeners as well as to other species. Here's one  that's on its own.

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (male) - our garden

Sunday, 4th February          Garden

We had been seeing a female Siskin on a daily basis for some time, and I had remarked to Lindsay that I wish she'd find a mate. On this day, she brought a male with her. I was unsure at first sighting as the crown was not as dark as males of the species that I'm used to seeing.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (male) - our garden

Here are the two together on one of our feeders.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (male + female) - our garden

Tuesday, 6th February          Garden

This was one of our better days for birds visiting the garden with 17 species being observed. However, only the male Siskin was photographed. I'm not too happy about showing photos of birds on feeders, but this is a somewhat clearer shot of the male of the species than others I have managed so far this winter.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (male) - our garden

Wednesday, 7th February          Garden

I was away for most of the afternoon on a medical visit, but still managed to record 16 bird species putting a foot down in our garden, and took a few photos too.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - our garden

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (female) - our garden

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (female) - our garden

 

This brings me to the end of this post. Busy times are ahead, so I may be away from Blogger for a while. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

 

The Third Week of January

My last blog post was a bit of a marathon event, so I am trying to keep it down to a shorter length by just covering one week.

Monday, 15th January          Garden  :  Peggs Green

At this time, we were still being visited by the Pied Wagtails, although their visits now seem to have dried up. They tended to arrive as a pair, the female of which had a distinctly black crown. However, we also had a grey-headed female visiting occasionally, as on this day.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - our garden

The weather brightened up in the afternoon, and I went to have another session with the relatively local Waxwings. I didn't fare much better than on my previous visit to this location. I'd been hoping to get some side-on shots clearly showing the yellow tips to the primaries and the red appendages on the secondaries, but failed on this count. I think that these were probably a group of 1st year birds (maybe females?), which would explain my failure.

This will probably be my last experience with Waxwings this winter, so here are a few more shots than usual!

Bohenian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) - Peggs Green

I was rather pleased by the fanned tail-feathers in that last shot.

Tuesday, 16th January          Garden

The female Siskin has become a regular visitor to the garden, but I guess she'll be gone when the weather improves. On this day she obliged by spending a little time just a few metres from my study window.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (female) - our garden

Wednesday, 17th January          Garden

It was a good day for bird sightings in the garden but, sadly, I failed to get a shot of the briefly visiting Grey Wagtail.

Here are a few shots of some of our other visitors that day, all taken from my study window.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - our garden

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) - our garden

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (female) - our garden

The Pied Wagtail I photographed this day was the female with the black crown to her head, usually accompanied by the male.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - our garden

Thursday, 18th January          Garden

A female Blackcap has recently become a frequent visitor to the garden, but remains rather elusive photographically. This day, I caught her out in the open, but not well posed or in a photogenic location.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - our garden

Starlings are now starting to appear in the garden on an almost daily basis, but only in small numbers.

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - our garden

Friday, 19th January          Garden

The only bird photographed this day was a Greenfinch on a frosty morning. Greenfinches went through a really hard time a few decades ago, due to trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease that prevents the birds from feeding properly. Just recently, however, they seem to be bouncing back and we are seeing greater numbers than I recall from any previous years.

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (male) - our garden

Saturday, 20th January          Garden

An exciting start to the day was given by our second visit of the winter by a Redwing. Sadly, only a single record shot was obtained, as it departed as soon as I managed to get to my camera.

Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - our garden

We have seen little of the Sparrowhawk of late, but it did put in an appearance this day. It departed without succeeding in taking prey from our garden.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our garden

Sunday, 21st January          Garden

Nothing was photographed this day, but we did end up with a healthy total of 22 bird species seen visiting the garden during the week.

 

I expect that my next blog post, featuring the remainder of the January observations, to be in about a week's time. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

December, Pt.1 - 1st to 14th December, 2023

I hope you had a great Christmas, and take this opportunity to wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year.

I'm ending the year with an account of my wildlife sightings and photography in the first part of December. This almost exclusively consists of sightings of birds in our garden! I hope that you don't find the lack of variety too boring!

Friday, 1st December          Garden

This was a frosty day starting at -3°C and only rising to 0°C, but sunny for most of the day.

During most winters, we get a little fed up with the Starlings that tend to arrive in great numbers, consume all the bird food,  and noisily frighten away the smaller birds. It is a relief when, eventually, they depart to somewhere else. However, this year we are seeing very few and are now getting excited when they do appear.

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - our garden

We were still getting regular visits from Pied Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - our garden

The above photos might make it look as if the weather was pleasantly warm and sunny but, where the sun wasn't shining, it looked a little different. Below, in photos taken in the afternoon, you can see the depth of the frost.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - our garden

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - our garden

Saturday, 2nd December          Garden

It was frosty again, with -3°C rising to 0°C, but freezing fog and mist for much of day. We were out visiting our son for much of the afternoon. I did manage to get some shots through my study window of a male Pied Wagtail on a frost-free perch only about 7 metres from my seat.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - our garden

Sunday, 3rd December          Garden

We awoke to a light covering of snow. The birds were impatient for me to go out and feed them. It warmed a little during the rather dull day, through which it drizzled with rain for most of the time, although some of the snow remained until the end.

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - our garden

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) - our garden

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden

Wednesday, 6th December

There was a very heavy frost in the morning, but the day was sunny, which raised temperature from -5°C to 1°C.

We had two Stock Doves visit on this day. Here is one of them.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - our garden

A male Bullfinch was still a regular visitor.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden

That night, the temperature was forecast to rise to 5°C during the night

Saturday, 9th December

After two very wet days, the day again started wet, but a few degrees warmer than it had been, rising to 8°C by mid day, when we had some sun. I photographed the Sparrowhawk that alighted briefly in our Rowan.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our garden

However it soon turned windy, with wind speeds up to 45 mph (72 kph).

Sunday, 10th December

The day started quite bright.  In the late afternoon I went to the location of my most recently found Little Owl site, which I had not visited since the spring, and was disappointed to see that the nest tree, and all the other trees on that particular edge of the field, had been completely removed. I had hoped to see some winter thrushes here too, but I only saw about half a dozen Fieldfare as they noisily flew across the road in the far distance.

The only thing I photographed was a heron that had been behind a fence on the far side of a horse paddock, but took flight.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - near Normanton le Heath

Tuesday, 12th December          Garden

A very dull damp day, but having three male Bullfinches visit was exciting. We've had five Bullfinches before (male, female, and three juveniles), but three adult males together was a first. I managed just one record shot with all three in it!

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden

Wednesday, 13th December          Garden

A dull, but mild day. The Sparrowhawk was back.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our garden

We get visits from Greenfinch most days at the moment - usually just one or two, but we have had up to four. This is a species that seems to be recovering. having been devastated by a virus a few decades ago.

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (female) - our garden

Just the one Bullfinch was spotted this day, but it did pose for a photo. It is a long while since we last saw a female Bullfinch in the garden, but fingers are crossed.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden

Thursday, 14th December          Garden

Dull and wet weather removed any incentive to go out, and I was glad that I stayed at home as we had four wagtails visit that day. The first item that I photographed, however, was a heron on the back neighbours' roof, while we were having breakfast.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) -from our house

Later in the morning, a Bullfinch visited. Without a shadow of doubt, Bullfinch is the most messy eater of all the garden birds!

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - our garden

A few minutes later, the Bullfinch was still here when what I originally thought was a White Wagtail arrived, but my local birding expert, Rhys Dandy reckons it was a female Pied Wagtail. Assuming this is the case, it would appear to be a 1st winter bird. White Wagtail is the nominate bird of this species, with Pied Wagtail being a race of the species, largely common to the UK.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (female) - our garden

Almost immediately, it was joined by a Grey Wagtail, and this time I got a few more shots than I managed on its previous visit. This one seemed to have a much darker breast than I'm used to seeing. I think that it is a 1st winter bird.

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) (1st winter) - our garden

Later in the day, a pair of Pied Wagtail arrived, with the female being a different bird to the earlier bird as it had a black (rather than pale grey) crown. However, I only got shots of the male on this occasion.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) (male) - our garden

We also had a Stock Dove pay us a visit.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - our garden

This brings me to the end of what (for us) was a rather special special day, even if the weather was lousy.

It also brings me to the end of this blog post, which I hope has not bored you with too many images of Wagtails and Bullfinch (both of which are rather special for us) and it just remains for me to wish you all the very best in health and happiness for 2024. Please take good care of yourselves and Nature - - - Richard