Sparrowhawk news

The funny thing is I have got so used to him being here that I don't take much notice of the sparrowhawk these days, other than to check if he is here.  I have now seen him in the garden every day since Christmas Eve but most of the time he doesn't do much.  He spends a lot of time sitting and watching, sometimes for hours at an end.  He does less preening than last winter's bird but makes more kills in the garden.  He can overdo it at times, spending so long in the kitchen garden that all the birds disappear.  It is a bit like overfishing - you have to be careful you don't get too greedy. The birds normally empty the feeder there in less than two days but at present it lasts a week.  Here is the reason why.

He also hunts more often outside the sitting room and kitchen windows.

At the weekend he upped his game and caught a blackbird (100g) which has a lot more meat than his usual blue tits (10g).  He was very wary because he was out in the open and he soon flew off with his prize to eat it in private.

Despite that he was back again early the next morning, looking for breakfast.

Ladies who lunch

A few more photos from last week's snow.  The blackbirds are usually very possessive of the apples I put out for them, fighting off other blackbirds and other thrushes.  Curiously they are very respectful of starlings, probably because starlings have sharp beaks and can stick up for themselves.  These two ladies were very polite and were happy to share an apple for lunch.

Winter thrushes

Life is hard for the birds in this weather, with every waking moment spent trying to find food.  This especially true for the thrushes whose natural food is covered by the lying snow.  There have been more blackbirds in the garden this week than I can ever remember.  I counted a whole pieful in one go.

I have been putting out apples for the blackbirds and they have also attracted redwings.

I saw one fieldfare, briefly.  It came late in the afternoon when the apples had all gone but it didn't stay.  I put out more apples, hoping it would return for a better photo but if it did I didn't see it so this was all I managed.

I heard a mistle thrush in the trees but it didn't come down to the food.  I think mistle thrushes prefer berries but there are no berries left in the garden.  I also saw a couple of song thrushes.  I think they are often in the woodland part of the garden and under the hedges but I don't usually see them near the house.

This one was pleased to find a snail.  I saw another this afternoon eating a piece of apple but it was too far away for a photo.

Of all the thrushes I think the redwing is my favourite so here are a couple more.

Crazy nesting

When I first saw this blackbird nest I thought it was a crazy place to build.  It was in full view on top of a log pile beside my shed.  If I could see it so easily it seemed obvious that a sharp-eyed magpie would find it.  I peeped inside and there were two eggs.

Next day there were three.

Then four.

Then five.

I guessed that was probably the lot and that the blackbird would start brooding them so I stayed away from there altogether.  The BTO website says that the incubation time for blackbird eggs is 13-14 days so I risked another look just over two weeks later.  And - I found an empty and abandoned nest.

I couldn't imagine that it was ever going to work.  I expect Mrs B went off sadder and wiser to start again somewhere more sensible.  I hope I don't find the next nest, in which case the magpies might not find it either.

My left hand

I am right-handed so if I am holding something to be photographed it is in my left hand.  As well as feeding the robin and the pheasant I seem often to be catching birds that have strayed into the house or greenhouse or, occasionally, been stunned by flying into the window and everything has to have its photo taken before release.  Over the last few years I have collected quite a few photos of my left hand and here are some of them.  I wonder what I'll catch this year? Whatever it is, it will have its photo taken.

I expect you'll recognise everything.  The only tricky one is after the pheasant and before the blackbird and is a juvenile whitethroat that got stuck in the greenhouse.