What's buzzing or flying near you 2024 ?

I've seen robins and tits do that fluttering - yes it is a mating display. Sounds like you have a great view into the tops of the trees. I have a decent camera but goldcrests are really hard to photograph since they are tiny, high up and never stop moving!

Sometimes you see the adult birds feed each other as part of courtship. I believe it's the male bird demonstrating that he will be a good provider when she's on the nest.

 

Saw these ladybirds huddled together this morning and breathed a sigh of relief.



The ladybirds were so late last year I ended up buying some, as well as the larvae, because an aphid infestation had turned my Csar plum into a Savoy cabbage. Couldn't have beared it if they did as much damage to my green gage and Victoria plum.

 

Male of a pair of Greenfinches, very infrequent visitors to the garden.

 

Sometimes the female shakes her tail to ask for food... Seen quite a few do this in the last week or so; Robin, Great Tit and Blue Tit. Had Firecrest and Goldcrest here in previous years, superb to see!

 

The goldcrests are regular visitors here, but I didn’t realise that they had a ‘crest’, although I suppose the name is a bit of a give away! I’ve never seen a firecrest, although I always look carefully, as I’ve read they sometimes hang around with flocks of goldcrests.
Our house is on a hill, and our bedroom window looks straight into the branches of several Scots pine in the front garden.

 

They seem to like our Yew trees, I often see them flitting about.

 

We get goldcrests here too, but they tend to hide a fair bit - conifers are always a favourite for them. I often see then flitting in and out the many conifer hedges round here.

 

Interesting visitor to the garden today. An ichneumonid wasp. Lovely markings on it. Not the best photo but it just wouldn't settle.

 

Love those, I got some in the garden last year.

 

Chiffchaff in the garden this morning. And yesterday I disturbed these poor ants under my compost bin lid, they were going frantic trying to save the eggs.

 

Just had to snap this parakeet as I was doing the washing up on Saturday. Photo is through the kitchen window. We get about 5 whizzing around here and they are still a novelty for us. They seem such happy birds.

Then at about 2 pm the usual 2 buzzards appeared. They are regulars and live in trees on the edge of the golf course.

Early yesterday at about 5 a.m. (6 a.m new time!) a blackbird started up at the front of the house - very loud. At the back a thrush was also heard. It was still dark, but dry with a lovely moon. The dawn chorus can be very loud - it's like a past world. We have single glazing and everything can be heard!



The pear blossom is just coming out too.

 

You might live to regret the Parakeets moving in, they are incredibly noisy and tend to terrorise other birds.

 

Some interesting birds in our garden recently. The most numerous at the moment are Siskins, upto 50 at one time (which is unprecedented). Today a Redpoll was with them and strong-armed his way onto the feeders. But the stars in the last couple of days are Bramblings, upto 5 today, male pictured below.




And then just before lunch a couple of Mallards took up residence on the lawn. I had to escort them off the premises when they started pecking at my emerging plants.

 

We have a colony of those damn parakeets in the nearby NT garden. There's a resident colony in one of the parks in Glasgow, but they've made their way out here now too. Fortunately, they mainly stay over and around the NT garden, but they did venture into the garden once, a couple of years ago. The fly overhead quite often - en route back to Glasgow.

Magpies have now started building their nest properly in the conifer at the back of the garden. They're being very choosy about the bits of blackthorn they're using. It's very amusing watching them
A healthy, mature Scots pine was sadly removed last year just along from me. There was 2 side by side, and the crows/magpies always nested in them, so I'm guessing these have been displaced a bit because of that.

 

Clear skies and low flying kites.




And lower down, in a different sort of blue…