I've started getting Goldfinches too after allowing the odd Teasel wildflower to grow from seed naturally just outside the garden. I've always discounted Teasel as I thought it would be too big a 'weed' however I find it looks quite nice all year round and it spreads only gradually. The Goldies come in from the fields to dote on it, and then hop onto my sunflower heart feeder where I can watch them more easily!
Blimey, I'm not sure I want a brood of pheasants in my front garden - I did wonder if he was roosting under my stipa gigantica as he seems very prompt to arrive about 8 ish and disappears between 4-5 pm. Surely he flies back over to the wood? I was walking along the road from the bus stop yesterday and saw two male pheasants running down the middle of the road towards me - looked really funny.
My favourite bird is the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I hear them all the time but they only come to my feeders very occasionally. Their handiwork/beakwork can be seen in the telephone poles around here as there are not many large trees.
Goldfinch are also rare visitors, they seem to prefer feeding on the seed heads of the cow parsley, thistles etc. Saw 2 last week so they are around. Gorgeous.
This morning I noticed a bird on the feeder I did not recognize. It was like a sparrow with a black hat on its head. Out came the RSPB bird book and I have a choice of Black cap, Willow Tit or Marsh Tit. All very, very similar. Taking into account the surrounding country side I am opting for Willow Tits as there is a huge amount of wild willow scrub growing in the fields around my garden. They seem quite shy, they fly in, grab some feed and disappear. The East wind is too sharp for me to loiter outside to listen for their calls.
Yesterday I walked my dog around a field at the back of my cottage and discovered a corner of it littered with black piles of "poo". Apologies to those of a delicate constitution! It was too large for a fox, not right for deer so decided it must belong to badgers. After checking on line I discovered badgers have latrines in specific areas away from their holt. Some quite a distance away which they use when foraging on their territory, you learn something every day.
I can't advise you about badger latrines Joyce - we don't have them here, but the bird you described visiting your feeder sounds like a black cap to me - I only know this because we have had them on our feeders for the first time this year. However I am not familiar with Willow Tit or Marsh Tit either. The male black cap is just as the name describes and the female has a brown cap apparently. Enjoy your walks, it sounds like a lovely area that you live in.
Only been here 18 months so still working on attracting birds to the feeders. It seems they're not used to them round here but we have developed a happy flock of blue and great tits plus sparrows and chaffinches with an occasional wren, dunnock and robin.
To our great delight, a pair of buzzards seems to be nesting in an oak tree on the edge of farmland and visible form our kitchen window so lots of entertainment for us. We've had lesser egrets investigating the paddock and there are owls about and some as yet unidentified song birds which don't sit still long enough to identify.
Looking forward to the return of the swallows, house martins which nest in our ruin plus the hoopoes and nightingales which sit and call to us. The cuckoos have already arrived so can't be long now. We've been clearing anything we may need in the next few weeks out of the ruin so the birds can nest in peace.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I'm quite excited. Had a visit about a week ago from someone who belongs to the British Trust for Ornithology, seeking permission to access part of our land to carry out a bird survey. Of course we talked lots about birds - he enjoyed the reed buntings on the bird feeders. He asked about predators and I mentioned that last winter I had found both magpie and wood pigeon feathers left from a kill. I know we have sparrow hawks, but he said both birds were a bit large for a sparrow hawk to attack. However, he said, in the forest about half a mile away there are goshawks and it was probably one of them responsible! So now I have to look out for large hawks in the garden or possibly display flights over the forest. And, as if that were not exciting enough, there is a great swathe of clear-felling in the forest, where they have cut down conifers to plant broadleaf trees and benefit the bluebells, and other wildlife. They did the same about 4 miles away and that area has been colonised by nightjars, so it is quite possible they may move in near me too, as they like to nest next to deadwood. So I'll also have to listen out for strange noises in the night!
@Joyce Goldenlily It might not be much help, but you can usually tell blackcaps by their gorgeous song. Keep your ears peeled for the next few months and see if you hear anything that sounds like 'the northern nightingale'. They sound like they have had a triple espresso. We have them on our North London street and are always a delight. Apparently they never used to overwinter in the UK, but bird lovers putting out food so assiduously has persuaded them to stay.
I saw my first wren this week in the garden (first in five yrs) and a cloud of gorgeous long tailed tits - possibly my fav bird. Loads of goldies after I and neighbours put out sunflower seeds.
Posts
I've started getting Goldfinches too after allowing the odd Teasel wildflower to grow from seed naturally just outside the garden. I've always discounted Teasel as I thought it would be too big a 'weed' however I find it looks quite nice all year round and it spreads only gradually. The Goldies come in from the fields to dote on it, and then hop onto my sunflower heart feeder where I can watch them more easily!
My favourite bird is the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I hear them all the time but they only come to my feeders very occasionally. Their handiwork/beakwork can be seen in the telephone poles around here as there are not many large trees.
Goldfinch are also rare visitors, they seem to prefer feeding on the seed heads of the cow parsley, thistles etc. Saw 2 last week so they are around. Gorgeous.
This morning I noticed a bird on the feeder I did not recognize. It was like a sparrow with a black hat on its head. Out came the RSPB bird book and I have a choice of Black cap, Willow Tit or Marsh Tit. All very, very similar. Taking into account the surrounding country side I am opting for Willow Tits as there is a huge amount of wild willow scrub growing in the fields around my garden. They seem quite shy, they fly in, grab some feed and disappear. The East wind is too sharp for me to loiter outside to listen for their calls.
Yesterday I walked my dog around a field at the back of my cottage and discovered a corner of it littered with black piles of "poo". Apologies to those of a delicate constitution! It was too large for a fox, not right for deer so decided it must belong to badgers. After checking on line I discovered badgers have latrines in specific areas away from their holt. Some quite a distance away which they use when foraging on their territory, you learn something every day.
To our great delight, a pair of buzzards seems to be nesting in an oak tree on the edge of farmland and visible form our kitchen window so lots of entertainment for us. We've had lesser egrets investigating the paddock and there are owls about and some as yet unidentified song birds which don't sit still long enough to identify.
Looking forward to the return of the swallows, house martins which nest in our ruin plus the hoopoes and nightingales which sit and call to us. The cuckoos have already arrived so can't be long now. We've been clearing anything we may need in the next few weeks out of the ruin so the birds can nest in peace.
Had a visit about a week ago from someone who belongs to the British Trust for Ornithology, seeking permission to access part of our land to carry out a bird survey.
Of course we talked lots about birds - he enjoyed the reed buntings on the bird feeders.
He asked about predators and I mentioned that last winter I had found both magpie and wood pigeon feathers left from a kill. I know we have sparrow hawks, but he said both birds were a bit large for a sparrow hawk to attack. However, he said, in the forest about half a mile away there are goshawks and it was probably one of them responsible! So now I have to look out for large hawks in the garden or possibly display flights over the forest.
And, as if that were not exciting enough, there is a great swathe of clear-felling in the forest, where they have cut down conifers to plant broadleaf trees and benefit the bluebells, and other wildlife. They did the same about 4 miles away and that area has been colonised by nightjars, so it is quite possible they may move in near me too, as they like to nest next to deadwood. So I'll also have to listen out for strange noises in the night!
I saw my first wren this week in the garden (first in five yrs) and a cloud of gorgeous long tailed tits - possibly my fav bird. Loads of goldies after I and neighbours put out sunflower seeds.