Skip to main content

First Cuckoo

The first of the year was last Sunday (7 May) when I heard one to the east of the house in the morning and to the west in the afternoon. Naturally I haven't heard one since. Otherwise bird activity in the garden is now light with goldfinches and bullfinches the most regular visitors. The breast feathers on the cock bullfinches are now very faded but the black crown stays glossy.

While driving yesterday I had a brief glimpse of what may have been my first house martin or first swallow of the year. On a winding country road I really couldn't risk turning my head to actual look straight at it to get a firm identification.


In the garden the badgers have been very active and there seem to be at least two individuals visiting. A few days ago I went to aerate the compost heap and found a bumble bee nest inside it. This morning I went into the garden and found the lid right off and a hole dug into the compost. Judging by the flattened grass nearby I looks likely that one of the badgers is the culprit.

On Thursday night I head the clink of a ceramic striking something. I looked out of the window and saw a badger on the patio, the first time that I have seen on in the garden in person rather than on camera. Afterwards I found that he had climbed over a row of terracotta containers knocking one over in the process. In the morning I found the full record on camera.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Choice

Taking my usual walk today it was striking how the autumn colours had come on in the last few days. When the sun came out I really regretted not having the camera with me. There wasn't much to see in the way of variety or numbers of birds. A couple of probable skylarks put up on a cultivated field but the gem was naturally a red kite. Circling over the fields behind my house at tree top height it finally came over my head as I reached the edge of the field. Living where I do I suppose that I should be blasé about them by now but when one comes overhead there is no choice. I still just stop and say "wow!"
Post a Comment
Read more

Sparrows

 I was quite excited this morning when I disturbed two house sparrows on the fat feeder in the front garden. Luckily they did return later. I didn't get a chance to look out of the window but I also heard a great spotted woodpecker call in the front garden. In the back garden we had our first nuthatch sighting of the year which makes three garden firsts for 2022. The redpolls didn't linger this year and I haven't seen the coal tits for a while but we have had the usual regular selection including blackbird, robin, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, chaffinch, goldfinch and bullfinch. Out and about sightings have included red legged partridge alongside the A418 near Tiddington, skylark on the fields behind the house and a trip to the Forest of Dean with a far too brief glimpse of a dipper but consolation from a pair of kingfishers along the Cannop Brook.
Post a Comment
Read more

Where are the finches?

 The garden has been disturbingly quiet this month when traditionally the feeders will be continously active. I am seeing a handful of blue and great tits on the feeders but no finches and only the occasional long tailed tit. Normally I woukld expect goldfinches and a few bullfinches on the feeders and chaffinches and redpolls on the ground at this time of year. It has been a strange winter, very mild apart from one cold snap so I hope that they are simply don't need to come into the gardens. On a better note I saw a pair of sparrows in the front hedge this morning so, hopefully, they might be spreading from their stronghold in privet hedges at the other end of the village. Away from home a family trip to Yorkshire netted three pairs of goosander on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Shipley and Saltaire. I think this is the first time that I have been close enough to get a good naked eye view. I have been neglecting this blog, probably because most web browsing is now done on t...
Post a Comment
Read more