did you knock?

Swallows roosting in our porch. They have had one unsuccessful attempt to breed already. Something (probably local sparrows) raided the nest and chucked the eggs out. They will probably try again.

the white sparrow

just one more for old times sake, the amazing sight of  an albino (or leucistic) sparrow in the garden of Spot's new(ish) abode

autumn colours

Once again it has been exceptionally mild this autumn. Mushrooms are out in abundance and they provide a few flashes of vivid colour in an otherwise black and brown world. It was genuinely amazing and pleasing therefore to see the brilliant flash of blue of a kingfisher flying swiftly through the bare trees deep in the woods at Inny foot. The rivers are quite swollen, fast flowing and turbid now and I wonder how kingfishers are seeing enough fish to survive on.

meal times

breakfast

 

lunch

a rare privilege

We occasionally see a flash of brown and yellow through the trees and hedges in the garden as a sparrowhawk swoops down on a sparrow or goldfinch but never before have I seen one sat so close to the house, posing for a photograph, and in the pouring rain.

hovering

A souther hawker dragonfly. These dragonflies are very territorial, and will often hover around an intruder, providing a rare opportunity to photograph a dragonfly in flight. Meanwhile a male moorhen is tiptoe-ing across the lily pads. We have been cut off from the internet for the last 7 days and Spot is most unimpressed!

a long way to go

The second broods of martins have started leaving their nests. This little chap was found just outside our front door, he/she could flutter but not fly. There was no obvious injury and he would soon come to grief on the ground, so he was put back in one of the nests (the right one I hope) where he is now to be seen perched on the edge chirruping away.

Notice the little feathers on the legs, a characteristic feature of martins.

Post script 23/08/2014

After another two days in the nest this martin appears to have fledged. Having held this scrap of life in my hand for a few brief moments, I can only marvel that it can make it all the way to somewhere in Africa (no one knows quite where, see this link for more information). 

wire trip

the first of this year's new swallows gathering for a geography lesson on the way to Africa.

round two

swallows and martins have raised one brood, and now have started again. This is a swallow nest (they tend to nest inside buildings eg barns, rather than on the outside like martins, this nest is in the porch of our near neighbours) and this brood have just hatched. There may be a third brood before they leave. The first brood help with feeding this and subsequent broods.

the gathering

the rooks have heard that some people are complaining about the noise they make early in the morning .... they are planning their next move. Hitchcock eat your heart out.

bit of bread and butter no cheese

The air is full of the calls of yellowhammers. They are fairly easy to spot because they like to sit on the top of bushes, trees and telegraph poles to broadcast their presence. There seem to be a lot around locally even though they are becoming increasingly rare nationally (see link).

fledging day

all the young blackbirds flew the nest this morning except this tail end Charlie (Charlene I think). It may well be the bird rescued earlier in the week.

After we checked all was well, it eventually left the nest this evening. It has had quite an eventful start to its life.

a trip to Lundy 3

 One of the main reasons for going to Lundy at this time of year is to see the puffins at Jenny's cove. They are not easy to spot without binoculars and telephoto lenses, and the air is full of kittiwakes, razorbills and seagulls. However, if you look closely at the bottom left hand corner of the picture below

 and in the grassy area of the picture below, one can just about make out puffin-like puffins. I am not quite sure about the congregation on the rock emerging from the sea,

 but there were a lot more of them nesting on the cliff face (razorbills, and guillemots?).

There are also a lot of wheatears about, with a distinctive black eye line and flashing white tail feathers, which I think are designed to draw predators away from their nest sites.

We stayed on the island for about 4 hours, and then took 2 hours to get back to Ilfracombe, and another two hours to drive home....so a very long day travelling but worth it to see a little gem.

blackbird update

things are coming along nicely in the blackbird nest. However, I think magpie predation may have started even though the nest is right next to our front door. I found a small chick on the ground. It was alive and warm. It was not under a nest, and the nearest nest is the one above. I am fairly sure that a magpie had just snatched it out of the nest and was frightened off when I returned home this morning. I am not absolutely sure it was one of the blackbirds but I have put it back in that nest. Time will tell whether it develops into a duck or a swan.

we're still here

A pair of blackbirds have decided to nest in the wisteria by the front door. This allows me to get very close without disturbing the female who is sitting (somewhat stoically) on her eggs despite the constant comings and goings, barking and general shenanigans around her. With any luck we should be able to watch events develop.

morning prayers

rabbit at prayers this morning, and this afternoon a visitation by a small flock of goldfinches. Goldfinches form flocks in the winter but are meant to be fiercely competitive  in the breeding season, so it is surprising to see so many at the same time now.

bit of a stretch

Even by our standards this was a bit of a crowd. The squirrel (who looks very brown for a grey) is the new kid on the block, and the two jackdaws were most displeased and tried to drive him away, whilst the rook and the pigeon looked on.

things we find in the attic

It is little surprise that we seem to have a lot of wasps about in the late summer. There were at least three of these beautifully constructed wasp's nests in our attic. No bats thank goodness. And the martins returned today although after a brief reconnaissance of the old nest site they didn't stay.

we're back

The swallows are back. I saw two last Friday (11/4). Usually these early birds fly on, but this year they are already investigating the nest they built last year in our neighbour's porch, and flying around the house (hence photo). I think this is the earliest that I have recorded them returning since 2005. There are some beautiful views now just before the leaves open and the canopy closes in.

on Weir Quay

We paid a visit to Weir Quay this morning. There were surprisingly few wading birds about apart from this grey heron, and a couple of shelducks waddling about. The black flight feathers on the grey heron are very noticeable. The male shelduck (the one on the left) has a little red knob at the top of his beak, otherwise the male and female are very similar.