Chiltern Birder

I thought that we had a solitary pair of bullfinches coming into the garden until today. This afternoon we had a pair of cock birds in the garden plus one hen. Having been watching these birds regularly it was clear that the red breasts were fading slightly and they had a very slight hint of orange rather than the very pure brick red of earlier in the season. One suprise in the front garden last week was a solitary cock sparrow. I can never really get used to the fact that a species that was the most common in my childhood garden is so rare here. Out and about the bluebells are just coming out and a few walks in the woods will be in order in the next couple of weeks. While driving towards Latimer a pair of red legged partridges posed in a field entrance allowing me to stop and give my passenger a good view. Back in the garden there were a couple of holes in the vegetable bed that were clearly caused by a badger. Luckily away from the seedlings that I planted out last week. The occa...

With a little remodelling of my garden in mind I marked out the planned paths with chipped bark. This proved to be a mistake as the badgers spend a fair bit of time scraping it out of the way to find food underneath. I have found chips scattered widely across the garden and the camera trap has verified my suspicians about the culprits. The badgers seem to visit on most nights, last night the camera revealed two separate visits, one by a pair. Seeing the route that they take into the garden has also proved my suspician that they are responsible for the gap in one of my fences. At different times of night various cats also explore the garden. I have one confrontation recorded, I am glad to say that it didn't wake me up, and do wonder if I will get to record any interaction between the cats and other wildlife. On the birding side everything has settled down. A wren seems to be active in the front garden and a pair of long tailed tits must be nesting nearby as they are regulars on th...

Our resident bullfinch seems to have found a mate, yesterday I saw both a cock and a hen bird in the garden. That is the first hen bullfinch this season. I did notice that she seemed rather more adept at using the perches on the feeder than her partner. The feeder isn't 100% squirrel proof, I have twice found one actually on the feeder but have not seen how they reach it. While not perfect it is a great improvement. Mostly the squirrels now seem content with eathing the broken portions of sunflower seed that lay on the ground. With the feeder now on the lawn the volume that gets dropped is clearly visible. Among the other birds we have had occasional visits from a greenfinch as well as the usual goldfinch, chaffinch, blue and great tits, robin, dunnock and blackbird. The first signs of spring are coming through, at Boxmoor, thanks to temporary traffic lights, I had a chance to appreciate a bank covered in celandine. With the extra couple of hundred feet of altitude the plants...

Taking a walk today I thought about taking the bins but decided that I was unlikely to see anything interesting. Naturally, while walking along the edge of Cowcroft Wood I saw a hawk silluetted against the sky. No markings but swept back wings like a swift. I walked on wondering what it was (I have never been good on the smaller raptors). Glancing back I saw it again, this time heading down towards Bottom Lane and the River Chess. A few minutes later the red kite that swept across in front of me in all its glory was instantly identifiable. A couple of minutes with a field guide once I was home settled the identification.

With the fine weather and a holiday it seemed a good idea to take advantage of the fact that I live in some very beautiful countryside. A walk in the Ley Hill area took me up Broomstick Lane, where escaped cultivated bluebells were mixing with the wild. Then into Cowcroft Wood where a substantial badger set seems to have had somebody digging. (I won't add my thoughts on that as Blogspot has rules about bad language). Although birds were audible there was nothing to be seen and the walk continued out onto Ley Hill Common and along the side of the golf course towards the community wood, now named Crabtree Plantation. One tree had several hollow sections where branches had fallen and a nuthatch was taking advantage of the previous night's rain to plaster mud around one of these. Its mate was on the next branch. A little nearer the road was a recently discarded pair of bright red knickers, I did wonder if the cloudburst had cooled somebody's ardour rather precipitately. In the ...