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ShareMondays2020 – In Safe Hands
My favourite image of the week is my nephew, Finley, playing at hand-clapping with my mum. I’m not allowed cuddles yet as a shielded person, but to be able to get together in the garden, as a family, was wonderful. Seeing my parents being able to rekindle this special bond with their grandson was so very precious!
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ShareMondays2020 – Happy Birthday Bro!
Happy Birthday Robin!!! Yes, that’s my little brother on the left, with my sister-in-law, Mo, and nine month old Finley. They came over for a brief window visit this week and it really lifted my spirits. It’s been ages since we’ve seen each other in person and Finley is growing up so quickly! He’s such a character and like most little ones his age, he just wants to put everything in his mouth. It was so funny when he made a beeline for the birdbath and feeders! I had visions of a wet and confused baby until Robin just managed to get to him in time.
The birds continue to visit too! My brother isn’t the only Robin visiting the feeders! There’s a lovely pair of robins nesting in our hedgerow and the adults have been cleaning up the mess on the ground left by the starlings.
The juvenile starlings are becoming much more independent and are still very vocal. The blue and great tits don’t get much of a look-in at the feeder but it’s great when we do see them! The pigeons are also very good at clearing up whatever mess is left underneath the feeders by the starlings and tits.
For 30DaysWild I have also been watching the bees that are feasting on nectar from the hydrangea outside my window. I’ve seen three different species. Occasionally there is also a cat in the flowerbed too!
My parents continue to make random window visits too. This week they chose to visit in the rain! No need to make such a song and a dance about it though, lol 😉
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ShareMondays2020 – My Window On Wildlife
As most of you will know, I can’t leave my home as I am in the shielded group. I can’t even get into the garden as we’re in flats and the gardens are a communal space! I do, however, have a window that looks onto a small area of lawn and a little flower bed with hydrangea and roses.
Great Tit in the Rose Bush
When we were initially asked to stay shielded indoors, I knew that the hardest aspect of this for me, would be not getting out to my favourite nature reserves and parks to watch wildlife. I ordered a new bird feeding station, a little flower shaped feeder and a bird bath to encourage our garden birds to come to me. The feeders and bath are all set quite high, as we have two cats so I wanted to keep the wildlife safe! My regular visitors are the starlings, great tits and blue tits. The hot weather has made the bird bath a popular new feature and several of my neighbours have followed suit and added bird baths to their little patches too!
Parenting is thirsty work!
The little flower feeder has been very popular with the blue and great tits who both like an open feeder and good perch. I got Simon to stick it into one of my large planters to give it a bit of extra height. The blue tits are looking quite bedraggled at the moment as they have been very busy taking food to the nest. I suspect they have started their moult as well. After a very heavy shower the other day they looked especially untidy! I think it just adds to their character and tells a story of how much parenting work they are doing!
Bedraggled Blue Tit
After the rain!
I have been filling (or rather sending Simon outside to fill!) the flower feeder with suet pellets for a high energy food source. The great tits absolutely love it! They’re not nearly as bedraggled as the blue tits but I am sure they have a busy nest nearby.
Take Away Dinner
For weeks now I could see increasing activity from the starlings and felt sure that their young must be close to fledging! I was finally rewarded with the sight of a couple of fledged starlings at the feeding station. They are wonderful to see and hear! Very noisy, demanding food from every single adult nearby. The coconut feeders with suet and seed have been great for the starling fledglings, soft and easily digestible and packed with energy! They really are rather messy eaters though. Plenty ends up being dropped on the ground but the pigeons are happy to come and hoover them up.
The very hungry starling!
The fledglings are great to look at closely with the telephoto lens! The markings are, of course, very different and they are able to open their beaks incredibly wide due to the soft gape flanges in the corner of the beak. I also noticed that the fledglings eyes are quite blue in colour.
Juvenile starling detail
I’m looking forward to seeing blue and great tit fledglings joining the starling at the feeder soon! I had a brief glimpse of a blue tit fledgling this afternoon so watch this space for more fledgling stories.
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Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Decay
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Wordless Wednesday: Feline Flowery
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Blue Monday: Spanish Belles
I photographed these Spanish Bluebells in my parents garden on Easter Sunday for my Blue Monday post and entry for Fotospeed’s weekly photo challenge. The Spanish Bluebell is very pretty but as a non-native species has become an increasing threat to the native British Bluebells in our woodlands. I’m hoping to capture some of those beauties soon! One of the ways that the Spanish variety has been spread to woodland areas has been in the ilegal fly-tipping of garden waste. They can be cross-pollinated with the native species creating hybrids that change future generations forever! Please be careful with your garden waste this year. More information can be found at The Woodland Trust.
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Silent Sunday
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Winter Birds In Shropshire
We’re here in Shropshire for a few days visiting family and friends. This morning brought a surprise gift to us when a flock of waxwings swooped into the garden to breakfast on crab apples and berries. What a delight! This is the first time I have ever seen a waxwing let alone photographed one. In fact it was a first for most of the household and elicited much whispered excitement and wide-eyed wonder! I was also treated to the presence of a single fieldfare that was boisterous in its defence of territory from the blackbirds. The territory in question contained the largest amount of windfall apples in the garden! Unusual to see one on its own. Although I have come away without my computer I absolutely had to get a few images onto my phone for processing. Hope you enjoy them!
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Silent Sunday
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Blue Monday: Borage Blues
Blue Monday is hosted by Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor in honour of Smiling Sally
Sustainable Land Project in Surrey
Modern headshots and creative portraits for business and the performing arts.
Neurodiversity training and consultancy
VCE Chemistry teacher in Melbourne, Australia
Photographic diary of flora and fauna in the United Kingdom. Written by paulfarnfield.com
NATUR - HIGHLIGHTS - SÜDSTEIERMARK - KUNST trifft NATUR
Birds, Animals, the Occasional Dash of Whimsy and lots of Pictures.
by Sam Allen
Taking One Day At A Time 