Back to blogging

Been away from the blog for a while now and fell into posting bird pics on Facebook. After a conversation about communications and blogging with my friend Tom Bedford (of the Birdless Cuddesdon blog) he discussed with me his concerns about blatting everyone on Facebook with loads of bird pics who may not really be interested. I realised I had fallen into this trap and so have decided to post the majority of pics onto the blog, apart from the occasional Facebook crowd pleaser. So as a catch up here is a quick summary:

1 April 2015

I am delighted that the two Tree Sparrows (left) are continuing to visit and feed. They are a daily occurrence and never did I imagine I would ever live in a garden with these fantastic birds. The chopping down of the trees opposite to make way for 12 new houses could be the reason they have arrived as it seems too coincidental, after the hedges and trees were decimated - a week later we got the Tree Sparrows. A silver lining to that particular cloud.

2 April 2015

Goldfinches were still visiting the feeders in good numbers

6 April 2015

 and the garden also hosted a couple of Stock Doves adding a diversion to the worryingly large numbers of Woodpigeons, some eight birds any time of the day. They are unable to get onto the feeders but hang around the bottom for the castings of seeds from above.

 7 April 2015

Went off to Norwich armed with £2K to buy a car and drop Tom off for his Westend Experience drama class. Such a beautiful day that I decided to wait for the car salesman routine and have a walk at Weybourne where a few Lapland Buntings had been seen in the last week or so. I arrived and walked along the cliffs in warm sunshine and not another birdwatcher to be seen - bliss. Walking past coastguard cottages and along the recently ploughed field edges I was scanning for Lapland Bunting

 Apparently the birds when they were present had been seen in the first ploughed field margin near coastguards cottages. First two fields and nothing, but a lovely day and putting off the car buying saga had me going to the third field ....

and then overhead the unmistakable call of a Lapland Bunting. Two birds and they landed in the field, albeit a way off. These were two cracking Spring birds coming into breeding plumage, I think the best I've ever seen, so different to the autumn migrants I am used to on Lundy

 walking back to the car park and the Rookes were stepping out.

The day ended in Norwich with me still having £2K in my pocket having been unsuccessful with a car purchase.

13 April 2015

Garden birds today included a male Blackcap and a few Jays flying over the fields.

18 April 2015 - 24 April
the fields at the back of the house are turning that rather un natural yellow colour with the Oil Seed Rape - such a controversial crop and leaving aside the unfounded scare mongering about it's harmful effects on health, I still don't really like having it so close, especially when they are spraying it with god knows what.

 Whitethroats seem to be everywhere, singing loudly and fighting from the tops of bushes, a great sign of spring

 and Hares abound in the fields but this year are being really difficult to creep up on. One field I drove past on the way to work had 13 Hares in it, while a visitor to the shop said they'd seen 27 in one field. A sign of their success or farmers continually increasing their field size ?

 Grey Partridges

 Hare in field after a rain shower