Skip to main content

Business as Normal

Garden feeding has settled down to a pretty standard pattern. The fat block on a tree in the front garden is being taken by blue and great tits. In the back starlings and blues and greats are taking fat and the tits are also taking sunflower seeds. I have been putting dried mealworms on the ground tray and have only seen wood pigeons take these so far. We had a visit from a party of long tailed tits on one day, I couldn't count accurately as they were in and out of the bushes but I would say between seven and a dozen. I had a glimpse of a marsh or willow tit, far too brief to be sure of any markings. One slight oddity was a dunnock perched on the feeder taking sunflower hearts, normally these are very reluctant to come to the feeders.

I realised today that I hadn'twalked in the surrounding countryside for nearly two months, all my exercise being confined to walking into Chesham. Ignoring a reproachful bowl of washing up I went out for an hour this morning. It was fascinating watching the kites. One just hung in the air, forward momentum perfectly balanced against the wind. The fields had been sown soon after harvest and seedlings could be seen as green rows against the grey / brown of the field. The kites were swooping low and snatching beetles or other insects off the ground without landing. It was fascinating the way such a large and distinctively marked bird could vanish against this background and then reappear as it moved upwards again.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finally

 Health issues mean that I haven't been paying any attention to my blogs but I was roused from my afternoon cup of tea today but a most unholy racket. Yes the parakeets have finallyarrived in my part of Chesham with a flock of five in the tree in my neighbours garden. It had to come eventually as they have been in Rickmansworth for years. Not much else happening apart from the usual circling kites and the occasional buzzard. I haven't seen anything eating my rowan berries but the tree is being steadily stripped. Usually its a mix of wood pigeons and blackbirds. Collared doves seem to be back in this end of the village as I saw a pair while waiting for the bus this week. They used to be garden regulars but hadn't seen any near the house for years.
Post a Comment
Read more

Harvest

The arable fields between Ley Hill and Latimer have been harvested over the last couple of days. This morning I saw a group of yellowhammers in the middle of the road by a field gate. From the look of things they were eating spilled grain. Instead of flying into the hedgerow they flew away from me along the road at windscreen height. I haven't seen much else recently apart from a distant glimpse of a partridge and the occasional red kite.
Post a Comment
Read more

Returning to the Garden

High summer and early autumn is always a quiet time for birds in my garden. I no longer feed after my summer holiday as I have ended up throwing away far to much mouldy fat or seed. Normally I would wait until November before putting the feeders back out but a party of long tailed tits appeared in the front garden today so I think that it might be worth while trying a single fat bar for the moment. For the past couple of weeks I have seen a lot of roadside signs saying "beware of deer" in places where I wouldn't normally see them. Last weekend I decided that they might be justified when I encountered a herd of roe deer in the road between Ley Hill and Latimer. While muntjac are seen often enough the roes tend to be shy and this was only the third time that I have had a good look at some in all the years that I have lived here.
1 comment
Read more