Chiltern Birder

Finally I am seeing some activity in the garden. At the weekend birds appeared in the morning but mostly vanished after lunch. Blue tits are active taking sunflower hearts and the goldfinches are back on the nyjer seed. I think I had a siskin on the nyjer seed as well but she (I think) was partially hidden by the feeder and I couldn't get a clear view. Greenfinches and chaffinces are around and one or two sparrows but no starlings yet. A blackbird has come back to the garden to join the robin and dunnock in the undergrowth. I am feeding sunflower heards and nyjer in the feeders and have just started putting out whole sundflower seeds. The ground feeder has a fat block, oatmeal and a specialist blackbird mix. I will have to order some fat bars for the feeders soon which should bring the starlings back in force if last year was anything to go by.

On Thursday and Friday mornings this week the bridge over the Chess at Latimer has been partially obstructed in the morning rush hour by parked cars and people with binoculars studying the river. Clearly twichers but watching what? Unfortunately the only time that I was free to stop and look would have been after dark but reference to Derwent May's column in yesterday's Times revealed that it was a purple heron. A little frustrating that I missed it as I was already committed for both days at the weekend but at least I discovered the reason for the fuss. I did manage a little birding last week. As I had to attend a conference in South Wales I took a days leave and drove up early the day before, arriving in Coleford in the Forrest of Dean at about 9:15. In the morning I revistied the Nags Head reserve hear Parkend. Apart from disturbing a buzzard that was resting quite low in the undergrowth there was little of excitement despite notices warning dog walkers of the risks from fer

I am now regularly seeing a couple of blue tits in the garden as well as the dunnock and robin. Small amounts of food have been taken including a reasonable amount of nyjer seed. It seems that the goldfinches must check that my car isn't outside before coming to the feeder! There are decent numbers of crows and rooks in the fields but hardly any starlings around at the moment and certainly no starlings or sparrows coming into the garden yet. Although the weather is more autumnal now we have only had a couple of mild frosts and I saw a flowers on a bramble today. I'll probably start buying feed again this week. A "no mess" feeder mix for a change and some fat bars and a softbill mix for the ground tray. I am thinking of adding a feeder to one of the quince trees in the front of the house so I can see it from the kitchen but I will think about that in detail with the second seed order of the season.

The few blue tits that were coming into the garden seem to have deserted me. The level in the seed feeder has been constant for the last few days and the goldfinches have still to rediscover the nyjer seed. The dunnock is still in evidence either taking fat from the ground tray or searching among the sunflower husks under the feeders. In the surrouding areas I am not seeing much except for corvids and pigeons. Even the pheasants that were in evidence a couple of weeks ago have vanished. It was a wonderfuly clear crisp autumn morning today made all the more remarkable by largely empty skys. On the way to work the clear light made a young fox by the railway line between Neasden and Willesden Green stand out in a handsome bright red. Coming home in the dark a muntjac was in the road between Latimer and Ley Hill but evolution seems to be taking its course and the survivors are the ones that run away from cars.