Chit Chat
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Heartwarming to see the little mite today, flying back and forth with her beak full of building material, pausing to check that she hasn't been spotted before diving in the bushes.
Spring is on the way.
Spring is on the way.
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Yes I saw a robin in my garden today as well.
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It's always a pleasure to see birds in the garden, hopefully the mild winter will have allowed more to survive this year.
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I bet Crappen tried to charge the bird rent
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Hope you are well Foinavon. Got any spuds in yet?. Nice post - always nice to see Mrs Robin working hard, just a pity Mr Robin is of no eff ing help at all.
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I'm fine thanks Blackbarn, and you?
I've bought pink fir apple and rooster this year. They won't go in until the end of the month since we can get night frosts until mid May here. The soil has started to dry out a bit although still fairly saturated and the only work done so far is a bit of hoeing between the rows of garlic. I think you must be at least two weeks ahead of us regarding the onset of spring. |
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blackbarn
Both will bring material to the next site, but only the female builds the nest. However, both feed and rear the chicks. |
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Tessa Wyatt?
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Hope next door's cat doesn't gobble it up Foinavon. Remind me what happened to the cat you were looking after. I remember the old lady died.
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Good morning Kenny.
When the old lady died just before Christmas one of her friends decided to give Nimrod a home. She lives some way away in Worcestershire so he hasn't been back. I am informed that he is well. I do miss him but the upside is that there are many more birds visiting my garden now that the old warrior is no longer there to worry them. |
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The robin is still busy this morning and looks quite comical at times with her beak full of dried grass. There is a large white cat which seems to have annexed the territory but he looks docile when he visits and doesn't appear to be hunting. Different temperament to Nimrod.
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Hi Foinavon, that's good to know.
You guys are luckiy having lovely robins around. The only bird I see round here is the Chukar Partridge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG1u1Gc9c_g |
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Lovely bird the Robin; I was digging up the weeds a few years back and one kept flying in and out for grubs etc. We built up an uncanny understanding and finally, as I sat on a low stall digging, he/she perched on a branch, literally beside me, and just stood there watching me. Brave little feckers aint they?
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Nice thread.
I bought some alpaca (?) hair from Haiths last year and put some out in an old bird feeder. The birds can pick pieces from it and make bird wigs  (or build nests).I'll put some more out tomorrow. |
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Had a magical moment a few years ago when in the woodshed at dusk. A goldcrest (UK's smallest bird) wasn't aware I was there and spent several minutes flitting around the logpile for insects, just inches in front of me.
Always a delight finding neat, clean nests in the middle of the woodpile as you work your way through it in winter. There were whole lives going on in the spring and summer as you built it up, about which you were completely oblivious. Always a selection of ragged mice nests too when you get right to the bottom. |
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Managed to take this pic of her this evening.
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Robins are prolific breeders, often producing between three and five broods a year, each containing four or five eggs.
If the weather is mild, they can breed as early as January, though it is more usual for them to start in March. Broods can overlap with the male feeding the chicks of one clutch while the female sits on the eggs of the next. This enables the population to bounce back readily from any overwinter population losses. Robins will nest almost anywhere. Recorded nest sites include plant pots, a pigeonhole in a desk, the engine of a WWII plane, and in the body of a dead cat. |
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Great photo, as good as I've seen.
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Thanks Kincsem, took it with my Finepix HS50 which makes things easy.
Robins will nest almost anywhere. Recorded nest sites include plant pots, a pigeonhole in a desk, the engine of a WWII plane, and in the body of a dead cat.  Don't let Kenny know about the cat. |
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Its Red kite city Arizona round here. The first time time I saw one I had to go online to find out what it was. Really beautiful birds with a haunting cry.
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Lovely bird the Kite. Distinctive forked tail. Buzzards here too, they have haunting cry.
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I have a female Blackbird visit daily, she has large white patches all over. I am hoping she breeds successfully and maybe we will have full white Blackbird offspring visit the garden.
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You do occasionally see a blackbird with the odd white feather, any more than that destroys the camouflage and makes them a target for predators. Unfortunately your female will be lucky to breed at all.
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She has been around for about 8 months now. She has dodged the daily Sparrowhawk attack (my favourite bird) and all the @*^%$£~#'l; cats, that think my raised veg beds are for crapping in
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the crows are early nesters as well ,they take advantage of the abundant food supplied by the early nesting songbirds ,but in recent years the late snow has taken its toll and deffo not as many around although the magpies are filling that niche imo .
they really offer little and hammer all other birds through chick predation ,their numbers are spiraling out of control. the wind blew most of their nests around me  out of the trees this winter and i wont be letting them return |
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On the subject of Sparrowhawks, one smashed into a Redwing this afternoon only about 15 feet from me whilst I was logging. Quite made me jump. I think she saw me just as she hit the Redwing as she did not kill it (died shortly afterwards, mind). Surprised it's still here so late, should be on its way back to Scandinavia by now, but I had a flock on the hayfield all day today (no Fieldfares though, just Redwings).
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Where I lived as a boy. There was a black and white male blackbird that was a frequent visitor to our garden over four years.
I'd guess 60% of its plumage was white. |
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Not seen any Redwings in the hedgerows this Winter, but there's been plenty of Fieldfares on the freshly ploughed land.
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Hey Facts, you are a bit of a birder! See my post below. Bit late for Redwings don't you think? I am in Sussex by the way. Have they started stating longer?
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blimey Facts, that was quick. We had the usual Redwings and Fieldfares (on the plough and on my best Christmas Holly tree) but the latter have all gone. Used to seeing mixed flocks but we still have quite a big crowd
 of ALL Redwings (40/50 ish). |
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The gene which causes white patches in some blackbirds is a recessive mutation, so it can only be passed on if both parents carry the gene. (They don't necessarily have to have the white patches themselves - they could have inherited it from one of their parents, but not from the other, so they'd be black, as normal, but could still carry the albino gene.)
But as Foinavon, says, white patches are a disadvantage, so carriers who have the white patches are less likely to survive and mate, which is why it's rare. The mechanism is a bit like blue eyes in humans - that's another recessive mutation (traced back to modern-day Ukraine about 10,000 years ago), which also requires both parents to carry the gene, but neither parent necessarily has to have blue eyes themselves. The difference is that blue eyes are an evolutionary advantage owing to improved night vision, which might be why they are so common despite being genetically recessive. |
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.
http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask316 |
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I have just been sat quietly in my garden. Leaning up against my fence is a plank of wood that is crumbly rotten at the end, for the last half hour or so a Long-Tailed tít has been busy pulling bits of the wood from the end of the plank and flying off with a beak full each time.
I was sat really close too, only about 5 feet away, lovely little bird  |
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Smar Tarse - Keep a look out for the nest, particularly if you have never seen one. It is an absolute work of art - they make quite a lot of use of lichen so your rotten wood is probably a proxy if there is a shortage of the that. Leave all you outside cobwebs intact too
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The Long-Tailed Tit is my favourite bird on the planet.
Such gregarious, happy little birds. I've been no further than 2 feet away from them, when sitting down on some old boulders, while they carried on pecking at my fat bags in the lilac tree - and their chirrups and happy little ways as they flitted about, often looking straight at me, filled my heart. As mentioned previously; they make the most beautiful, delicate (yet strong) 'fur' lined nests of cobwebs, lichen and feathers. It must be their way to encourage lovely behaviour in their offspring, seeing as they're born into a wonderfully soft, encompassing 'happy' habitat. |
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Blackbarn, Facts or any other knowledgeable birder... As well as the usual stuff we get around here have seen a yellow wagtail and a grey wagtail recently.
The yellow was working its way across the eaves of the roof of a farm hanger (sort of corrugated metal construction)... that was mid February. The grey was last week fluttering its feathers in a puddle up (there is a river just down the slope from us). Really long tail and yellow belly. Only knowingly saw a yellow a couple of years ago end of March, also on a roof, but not noticed a grey before (get the usual pied/whites). This is up in North Wales. A quick look at my Collins tells me the yellow shouldn't really be here yet and i remember flicking through an official volume which said there was no record of breeding pairs in the area. Do you see them much around your way? Thanks. |
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Sat in my favourite garden chair again (faux leather recliner
) This time it was a birds call that caught my attention. Looking straight up and it was a huge Buzzard, well actually there were three of them.To me it looked like two adults and a smaller young'un. Circling around like they were showing it the ropes, do they do that kind of thing ? Is it the correct time of year for them to have a young'un ? |
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Sure it wasn't two buzzards seeing off a crow or a jackdaw?
Having said that, it's usually the other way round. |
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All three seemed to be happily circling around together. It's not the first time i have seen three together like that.
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