WHAT'S BUZZING OR FLYING NEAR YOU 2018

@martin-f No 5 is a Greylag Goose.

G S Woodie.


Reed Bunting.


Stock Dove.


Female Linnet.

 

Thank you S,
The pictures of the water birds are from a pond i used to fish as a young lad, the far bank is sand and sand martins nest there, i will pop over and try and get a few shots of them, i am presuming they will arrive at a similar time to swifts/swallows that haven't arrived at my location yet,

A few more pictures from yesterday including the sand martin nest holes.

 

@martin-f Sand Martins are normally the first to arrive, then House Martins and Swallows and lastly, Swifts but they are all late this year, so are the other summer visitors. I saw my first (2) Swallows this morning by a large lake but no Sand Martins.

 

WARNING: Gross picture!

Arrived home from work yesterday to see this little piece of "nature" occurring on my path

Spoiler: Yuk!

 

Thank you @strongylodon we usually get them a little later than down south so it might be a week or so for me.

 

I saw a wasp with one last year M,

 

If there is a southerly wind and clear skies, some birds will carry on after crossing the Channel and not stop here (so we will miss them!!) and be seen first further North.

 

31st May was the first house martin spotted here last year, i will make a note this year.
WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2017

 

A couple of armchair shots of pond visitors.

 

Same here @martin-f, taken sitting in the conservatory and through glass giving less than sharp pics.
The original pair of Siskins turned up today with two youngsters, it seemed too early and I first thought they were two more females. Then I thought I saw the male 'kissing' or' bonding' with the female until I realised he was feeding one! The young ones didn't have the soft yellow around the base of the bill as most do so I wondered why I hadn't seen them before now.

Mum dad and the two nippers (right).








A bemused onlooker.

 

Good parents to see them through the bad weather we had, no doubt without your help feeding them probably wouldn't have survived so rewarding .

A Magpie has built a nest a few doors away and keeps visiting the garden i must admit there not my favorite bird.

 

Why don't you like the Magpies @martin-f ?

 

Hi luci, IMHO they have lots to answer to for the decline in our songbird/others bird population, they are like a bird of pray and will take juvenile birds along with chicks in the nest ive even seen them catch mice.

 

I thought it would probably be for the reasons you stated. They and the Crows get a lot of bad press. As you say, in some respects, they are similar to birds of prey. I've heard people revile them and Crows and then say how wonderful birds of prey are . We have a breeding pair of Crows and Magpies nesting in the garden ( Crows in pine tree, Magpies in Hawthorn trees ). I feed them - and anyone else who likes it - wet cat/ puppy food and kitten biscuits. Perhaps offering them a high protein, meat based alternative deters them from taking chicks. I've never seen either species do this, but that's not to say conclusively that they don't. I'm not sure if newly born chicks need live food in the same way as other bird species need live insects, worms, etc.