My doorbell captured a couple of deer, muntjac?, in my front garden at 3am. A very brief visit, as something spooked them and they ran off.
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The kingfisher has not been back, though I put some mealworms on the ice just in case. Other birds have spotted them, but not had the courage to venture onto the ice. Only one starling, a grey wagtail and a pied wagtail were bold enough, and reaped the rewards. Since then we have had a few inches of snow; the first here for many years. The resulting light levels has made photography possible, and the garden is still alive with birds and squirrels. The squirrels would have had no experience of snow, and buried loads of nuts in it. There will be peanuts everywhere when it thaws. A couple of snow-lit photos of a dunnock:
This autumn has been mild but very wet and overcast. The activity in the garden has been almost absent, both birds and mammals. Only the squirrel, and 2 of her offspring have been at all active. But this week the weather has turned very cold, frosty, and sunny. The pond is frozen all day, and the garden is teeming with birds: sparrows, starlings, pigeons, blue tits, great tits, longtailed tits, and a few less common visitors. But the highlight has been a kingfisher! I first saw it on Dec 7th, at lunch time, sitting on a post which is part of a new photo set. It didn't hang around, but that afternoon I optimistically built a kingfisher perch over my pond: I saw it just as it flew off the kingfisher perch on 9th Dec. Today I sat in my conservatory/hide from about 10.30 am, with my camera, and was rewarded at midday with another visit. It perched for about 10 mins mostly peering down at the ice in the pond. Tomorrow I'll try to thaw a hole in the ice, to encourage it, if it returns. Other visitors have been: fieldfare, redwing (no photo yet), grey wagtail and pied wagtail. The long-tailed tits visit about twice a day in a gang of 7 or 8. The starlings are looking splendid and enjoying the ivy berries.
I felt honoured today, when "my" squirrel carried 5 kits from somewhere south of my garden into the trees behind my pond. She must have made a new drey up there, but I couldn't see it. Maybe the old drey was threatened in some way, or, more likely, there just wasn't room for all the kits.
A badger has been visiting, but not every night. I had a good view of a Great crested newt on the bottom of the pond, today. Not full grown, but larger than a common newt. Really pleased!
The weather has been warm and sunny, and the field beyond my garden has been harvested. The birds are finding food elsewhere, and visits have been scarce. However, there has been a lot of grass snake action in the pond. The two babies are a lot longer now, and more adventurous in searching for food. They are often seen in the afternoon. One tried to creep up on a large frog, but wasn't quite fast enough:
Over the last weeks more linnets have been visiting: several males, females and juveniles. They favour the small pond. There have also been family groups of goldfinches, and an occasional greenfinch. A new generation of Brimstone butterflies is around, and I had my first sighting of an Emerald damselfly. A Red underwing moth died on my floor. The blackbirds enjoy figs from my greenhouse. Sparrows fighting:
Common Darter, and Emperor dragonflies on pond. Ichneumon wasp (Dusona falcator?), and an unidentified fly. The grass snakes have been very active in the heat (40 deg.) and I've seen the two babies, and a much larger one. A juvenile Yellow Wagtail has appeared. The blackbirds have discovered cherries and figs. The squirrel is getting bolder.
More linnet photos. They are coming several times a day, but very briefly - to drink but not to bathe. The male seems to be getting even more colourful. There is a very shallow pool tucked away amongst the weeds, which is also well attended. I've put gravel in front of it, for no particular reason, and the soil in front of the gravel is bare and dusty. The sparrows love to dust-bathe in it. Black-tailed skimmer. A new one for my pond. Also my first successful attempt to get a dragonfly on the wing. I've seen a few adult frogs, too, this summer, which is encouraging. Nearly all the newts have disappeared, presumably lurking around the rest of the garden.
Really excited to have this pair of linnets coming each day to drink at the pond. They only stay for a few moments, so I've had to have the camera poised. I hope they'll keep coming and perhaps get the confidence to stay longer.
A cool, cloudy day yesterday, but I sat by the pond for a while with my camera, and saw some interesting things. First was an Emperor dragonfly doing some serious egg-laying amongst the waterlillies. There was also a damselfly attacking a small cranefly and a wasp attacking a moth in the apple tree. Then I noticed a grass snake swimming in the shallow end of the pool. It swam in between two rocks. Shortly afterwards another one swam around at the other side. They both looked small - maybe this years brood? Lovely to have at least 2 in my pond.
Fox with cub visited together 2 nights ago.
Nice views of woodpecker mother feeding junior. Arty photos of pigeon and sparrows. Birds very active. Juvenile woodpecker came down to bathe early in the morning, so photos taken in shadow, through double glazing: The pied wagtail has been a regular visitor, and today kept bringing beakfulls of insects to wash in the water. Presumably to moisten prior to feeding to nestlings. A blackbird was sunning itself on the log pile, having been busy eating all my almost-ripe cherries. I also saw a frog in the pond - a rare visitor. Gravel garden alive with butterflies - small tortoiseshells and an occasional meadow brown. The hummingbird hawkmoth was back, too. Frankenstein's tit (the weird looking one) seems to be regrowing its feathers. Just as well, poor thing.
Hummingbird Hawk Moth and mystery bird identified I sat in the gravel garden this morning with my camera, watching the butterflies, and wished that a Hummingbird Hawk moth would appear. Sure enough, one did! Right next to me. I nearly fell off my chair in amazement. Also today I heard back from an expert (Robin Chittenden) with the name for a bird I couldn't identify. It's a Whitethroat. It has been coming to bathe in the pond, but it skulks in the bushes looking just like a sparrow, then dashes out and straight into the water. By the time I have the camera up, it is soaking wet, and very hard to identify. I'm still hoping to get some dry photos of it one day. The fox has been coming for several nights, now, but I haven't seen the badger for about 2 weeks. Last night there was a lot of foxy interest in one of the hedgehogs. Doesn't seem to be a problem for the hedgehogs.
So many baby birds being fed today: The end of my pond looks like Blackpool beach on a bank holiday. A goldfinch posed nicely, and the post feeder was visited by a weird looking great tit. May have been fledging, or, more likely diseased in some way. A bit worrying.
Improved the post feeder. Now larger birds like starlings can land. Mixed blessing! The sunlight on it in the early morning and in the late evening is really good. Nice to see the woodpeckers using it, although they are there and gone again in a jiffy. I've already got some action photos of the starlings fighting, although the photography is not perfect (whites often blown). Must try harder! Saw my first cinnabar moth a few days ago, and another flew into the conservatory today. Managed a lousy photo of it just for the record. Waterlillies are blooming well in the pond.
Had fun today with my new bird feeder post. The robin is still the most obliging. It has also started coming into my conservatory to eat the dead flies on the floor! (We are having a major fly invasion in the village at the moment). The beach at my pond has a little water spout which the birds love:
Yesterday I put up a new feeding post hoping that I could photograph birds flying onto and off it. Today it was visited frequently by a robin, and once by a starling who knocked the tray off the top. It is now better secured. No other birds have noticed it yet.
Today I also saw my first speckled wood butterfly of this year - a rather tatty specimen. |