Nice try Woodrow…
But I know you’re there.
Looking less than pristine after all the rain.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
This weekend is the Big Garden Birdwatch, organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
So we sat at the kitchen table this morning with checklist, binoculars, bird identification book, and some coffee, to record what flew in.
Perhaps not unexpectedly our bird population is skewed in favour of woodland birds. Nuthatches, woodpeckers and pheasants frequent the feeders..
but not so many of the birds that the RSPB actually wanted us to count. Doh.
Nuthatch
Willow Tit
Ptolemy and Ptolemy Too continue to prove elusive from a photography point of view. They made a dive for the rhododendron patch the minute the tripod came out.
They won’t be able to hold out under there forever though.
A pheasant needs to eat.
.
Of the birds on the checklist the most numerous were the Great Tits, a sum total of three.
Great Tit
Chaffinch
Blue Tit
Can I just lean here a moment? It’s been a long day..
Blackbird
We don’t see sparrows at all.
The long tailed tits only appear when it gets very cold. None so far.
But here’s an odd thing..
A Great Tit and Coal Tit sharing not only a feeder, but almost the same hole in the mesh.
The Great Tit was not about to peck its friend, it waited patiently while the Coal Tit took its share.
.
And then..
where there are birds, or rather bird food..
Game over.
Wonderful photographs, Jessica. I am so impressed with the shots you got. I particularly love the woodpecker and that dear little nuthatch, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. You might know the squirrel would come and spoil the party.
Yes, the squirrel is back with a vengeance. Or should I say squirrels because there is more than one. I can identify them from the state of their ears – this one must be young and yet to get into fights, not too many bits missing!
Such gorgeous birds visiting your feeders … and Mr Squirrel is cute in his own little way.
No doubt we will have more fun with the squirrels this winter. I do enjoy their antics, and the battle of wits!
Wonderful photos, you clearly have a lot more patience than I do, though I did unearth my tripod the other day, which would definitely help improve the quality of any bird photos I attempt. And I am cross with myself because I planned to count today, when it was – for a short while at least – Not Raining, an increasingly rare event. Ah well.
Patience is not usually one of my qualities, but somehow watching birds the time flies! It took most of the day to get the shots, the ironing will have to wait until tomorrow 🙂
I love the fist photo. we are attempting ours tomorrow, though the weather has taken a turn for the worse so I don’t hold out much hope.
It’s done the same here, the wind really strengthened this afternoon, but the rain will hit us tomorrow I think. Good luck with your count.
Well, I beat you on the LTT and Sparrow front but you’ve won on everything else I suspect. I started my hour at 3.30 this afternoon, during which time the sky went black, a hurricane blew in and a typhoon finished the whole thing off. Sigh.
Our weather is not getting any better is it.. I was thinking of you when I recorded nil point for LTT’s, I knew you’d have loads!
Hi Jessica, beautiful bird photography! I love especially the nuthatch. We have have an annual bird count event here in the US as well, I think it is in February (have to research the date, hope I didn’t miss it). We participated once, I believe two years ago, and it was a lot of fun and we learned actually quite a bit about which feathered friends are visiting our garden. Sounds like you and your husband had fun watching the birdies this morning as well. Thanks for sharing and wishing you a nice evening,
Christina
Thanks Christina and welcome to rusty duck.
It was good fun, there were birds that we’ve not noticed before (a dunnock) that I had to look up! So we learnt a lot too. Good luck with your count.
If you send me some of your nuthatches I’ll gladly send you down some sparrows 😉
Jessica – excellent pictures. I’ll be doing my bird count tomorrow and I already know that Goldfinches and Linnets will be absent from my count this year 🙁
I’ve seen goldfinches here, but they are very rare. Possibly because I do too much clearing to tidy the borders. Needless to say, they didn’t turn up today!
Wonderful shots – I should get a more powerful camera. Mine is good for food shots! lol!
Thanks Denise. In this dismal light it’s so difficult to get a sharp shot. The slightest movement, bird or feeder, and it’s gone. I took and binned several hundred to get these few. Thank goodness for digital.
Like you we did our bird count this morning as the weather is going down hill tomorrow. My camera is hopeless for photographing birds, not like you, yours are fantastic- well done!
I brought our count forward when I saw the weather forecast. Mike has the copy of photoshop that we use for cropping and watermarking. He was complaining bitterly about the number of photos I took, most of which were rubbish.
I hope we don’t get too much rain over the next couple of days, I think we’ve had our share now.
Isn’t the Nuthatch a lovely little bird? I have never heard of it let alone seen one before. What happened to the squirrel spinner?
I adore nuthatches. I’d not seen one either before moving here.
Fear not. I am lulling the squirrels into a false sense of security. Then I will replace the batteries… 🙂
Like you we sat down this morning to record the visiting birds. An hour after we’d finished the heavens opened and we had thunder, lightening, sleet and hail. We recorded 22 sparrows, 1 thrush, 1 robin, 2 male blackbirds, 2 woodpigeon, 2 blue tits and 2 goldfinch. I think I said in my post that we wouldn’t see the numbers of birds we’d been seeing all week and we didn’t. Plenty of squirrels though crossing the garden at regular intervals with monkey nuts in their mouths – I think someone not far away has put some out for them:)
22 sparrows!!!! That is amazing, well for me it is. I wonder why they don’t come here.
I am going to partake in the bird watch tomorrow. I had more birds in my gardn this time last year. I’m not sure whether it’s the rain or the milder weather. No Mistle Thrush. Hardly any male Blackbirds. No Fieldfares. Plenty of Sparrows and Chaffinches though. I have never seen a Woodpecker, only heard one.
Lovel photos.
Leanne xx
If you hear a woodpecker, look out for the flight. It’s very distinctive. Like a plane where the engine keeps stalling. They swoop down and then rise up again.
Love that you have different species of birds over yonder….
First photo is excellent….award winning even!
Our winds are still gusting….and our windchills are around -20c…..brrrrrrrr.
Can’t wait til next Thursday…..
It took me a long time, and many attempts, to get that photo..
Brrrr indeed. So glad you are taking us with you to Florida… 🙂
Fabulous bird photos, Jessica. I do envy you the nuthatch and willow tit, although like you, we don’t get any sparrows here. Our woodpeckers are just starting to drum against the tree trunks in the local woods. Those pesky squirrels…they look as bold as ever.
Thanks Wendy. I’m waiting for the drumming to start. Last year they announced the start of the season on the bathroom soil pipe. I am hoping they don’t repeat that again this year.
We had starlings, crows, some very smart blackbirds, sparrows, chaffinch, collared doves and chickens. Can I include the chickens? They might get a bit huffy if I don’t!
Your woodpecker is my favourite!
Primrose will never forgive you if you don’t. There may be an egg-laying strike.
So lovely to see that Willow Tit – All gorgeous photos and I do love your GSW!
If Mike turned up for lunch carrying that much dirt there would be trouble..
Great photos indeed – and your first one is stunning! It is fascinating to read about the birds others get in their gardens – there are some we never have, like your nut hatch and willow tit, but we have had the occasional sighting of a firecrest, which is of course thrilling to see. Heaven knows what will turn up tomorrow if we can manage our count then – the great unknown!
A firecrest! That I’ve never seen.
Bad storm today in the midlands? Hope all is well.
We are doing it tomorrow. From experience the hour we choose , the count will be minimal. I swear the birds say “ey up its the rspb bird count.” and disappear til the hour is up.
Make it look as though you are going to count, then do the real one an hour later. As soon as our hour was up they re-appeared in droves.
What a wonderful array of birds. Almost none in our garden I’m afraid. And us so fond of them. I must do better in the planting/feeding area. I accidentally ripped up our Great Birdwatch leaflet on Thursday. I was made to hunt through the bin and stick it back together again. We’ll be counting tomorrow.
I thought briefly about counting on line using a tablet, which is possible for the first time this year. But as I haven’t had the tablet very long I envisaged it all going horribly wrong so stuck to paper. And as it turned out I was right… the rspb website went down!
Wonderful bird photos from your garden Jessica – we never see sparrows either. I don’t hold out very much hope for our count today – it is pouring with rain.
It’s been a dreadful day for weather, I was on the coast and almost got blown away! I hope you got your birdwatch done, I found it fun to do even if we didn’t see that many birds.
Beautiful photos – would love a nuthatch to visit – it’s one of the birds on our hit list to achieve a good photo of!
I love the way they curve their heads up like that, so elegant!
Plenty of sparrow here in Brixham and regular visitors to my garden. I love your bird photos, especially the woodpecker just peeping out. Terrible weather here today and very windy yesterday so we dont have many visitors. The weather is supposed to pick up later so I’ll be ready to sit down and record what comes by.
I hope you got your opportunity, sunny bits here between the showers this afternoon. Very blustery though! Sparrow populations seem to be patchy, some people have huge flocks and others none at all.
I wish my results were as glamour as yours…It has been pouring all day here. I got – two collard doves, one robin and two blackbirds although I am convinced the blackbirds and the collard doves were just one bird returning for seconds in each case. Love your photos:/)
It’s been a lousy day for birdwatching. They’ve been seeking shelter here, in bushes and sitting in a row on one of the struts under the big flat bit of the bird table! Thanks Alison.
I really love your photography. A bird would have told still for several minutes for me to ever capture it’s photo. I do quite well with things that don’t move such as rocks and more rocks. They’re very cooperative. We have tons of sparrows here and different finches. Perhaps the Ptolemy’s were busy with their models? 🙂
The Ptolemys are very busy with something under the rhododendrons. As their namesake was an astronomer and mathematician I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Although I did see a lady pheasant close by the other day..
Bird envy. I was in A&E this am with a septic thumb, and it is vile weather this pm. All I’ve seen is a robin in the garden, and a single long tailed tit at the allotment. Grump.
They are all looking soggy and pretty miserable today. At least you’ve seen one long tailed tit, I am still hoping.. Commiserations on the thumb, I hope it’s easier now.
I think that you should include Ptolemy and sidekick on your list, that would throw the RSPB people for a loop! Lovely to see more superb pictures from the rusty ducks! xx
They both went in, along with the nuthatches, woodpeckers and the willow tits. When I went online to submit my results I discovered you can add other species to your list!
Great photos Jessica. We had one of those grey furry creatures too. At least you can officially record them this year 🙂
Thanks Anna. Somewhat begrudgingly I had to put them down as a ‘daily’ occurrence.
[…] tailed tits and at the very last minute our greater spotted woodpecker (if you haven’t seen Jessica‘s wonderful photos of her woodpecker then do have a look). Wisely, most were preferring the […]
Thanks Cathy x
A beautiful selection of visitors to your garden 🙂
Thanks Cherie. We do our best to encourage them!
Amazing photos, really stunning. I did a spot of bird-watching with my 6 year old daughter from her tree house this afternoon. She’s made a bird feeder at school and we hung it from an apple tree that we could see from the tree house. Have to admit that our spotting wasn’t too successful, mainly due to our cat Mog being intent on joining us. We had fun hiding out in the tree-house though and it was lovely just sitting there for a while listening to the sounds of the birds hiding all around us.
That does sound lovely! I’m glad the weather cleared for you, it’s been blowing a gale here this afternoon.
We had a similar bird count here in France but I decided that the form was far too complicated and gave up. Anything in France that has a form involved is always much more difficult than anywhere else in the world and in triplicate at the minimum!!! Have a great week. Diane
Oh no! But I can imagine. I am inclined to do likewise with forms. This exercise had the option of connecting on-line with a tablet, but I could see myself getting into even more knots with that. The form was the path of least resistance.
I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that first pic. What a gem!!! You have a wonderful array of feathered friends in your garden some of which have excellent manners! I enjoyed your squirrel too. What a wonderful post, I did enjoy it.xxx
Thanks snowbird, I love that first pic too, you wouldn’t believe how many I had to take to get it! Woodrow thought he was safe hiding behind the pole, so thankfully he hung around for a while.
Well, that was a treat! Great post, Jessica – particularly love that you ignored the housework to get the best shots! I didn’t officially bird count which was just as well as I only saw 4 wood pigeons in between the rain. That was a bit unusual, there only used to be one. He must have got himself a wife and family, they looked like they were sticking together!
The weather has been rubbish, especially today. Even my little robin was sheltering in a bush.. still singing though! You have beaten me on wood pigeons, only one here. Thanks Caro.
looks like it was a great day for the watch….I should have spent time outside too….we’re expecting a dive in temps tonight. bummer. Hi, Woodrow. Nice photo op!!!!
(Every year I wait for the cedar waxwings….my friend has them covering her hollies….the only time they ever visited me was during our infamous ice storm of ’09—-the holly was covered with bluebirds and waxwings…..almost reason to wish for another ice storm. it was magnificent!)
I’d love to see those, and your hummingbirds!! It’s getting cold here too next week, we will be shivering together.
Oh my gosh, Jessica, that first picture is GREAT!!! I enjoy your post as usual. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Woodrow was very obliging! Thanks Natalie.
Well done, the photos are amazing. I really love the detail you captured.
Thanks Charlie, often it’s not until you zoom in you realise just what you have got!
Such beautiful photos as always, but I adore that first photo. We had a robin and a blackbird! Weather was appalling, such a shame. Julie x
It’s been a lousy weekend for birdwatching hasn’t it. But the weather this morning was even more incredible, thunder and huge hailstones.
You always show us great images but these are really special, such clarity and the birds seemed so close. Thank you for sharing your treaures
Thanks Christina. I could spend hours watching and photographing birds. We have a bird table very close to the kitchen window, and they’ve got used to people moving around.
Just catching up after a very busy weekend! I could send you some sparrows – we have a resident population, which has grown steadily since we have lived here – except, of course, for the one the sparrow hawk ate recently!!
Unfortunately we still have the sparrow hawks, or raptors of some kind anyway. They have had to broaden their horizons a bit, food wise!
I don’t think you did bad for birds at all. We had such an awful weekend weather wise that we didn’t get many visitors. You’ve got some fabulous photos of your guests, I love the woodpecker.
I think the birds must be getting as fed up with the weather as we are. Thanks Jo.
Beautiful bird photos! I love seeing your birds. So similar to ours, yet so different. Your nuthatch looks much like ours, though. And of course the eeeeevil squirrel!
I’d love cardinals, really envy you those!