My Blog List

Showing posts with label Jackdaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackdaw. Show all posts

Saturday, 2 May 2020

Garden birds in April

This blog has been rather overrun by mammals recently but I haven't given up on bird photography.  April was a good month for birds in the garden, including the arrival of chiffchaffs and blackcaps from Africa.

I saw the male kestrel again very early one morning.  Twice he dived down to the lawn to catch something which I think was probably a worm.  Although their main prey is small mammals, kestrels eat other things including small birds, insects and worms.





A pair of jays are in the garden every day.  They are the prettiest crows and are great opportunists.  This one was standing under the peanut feeder while a woodpecker was feeding, waiting to catch the bits as they fell.




Jackdaws also come down to the feeders and stand underneath.




Jackdaws are more agile than jays and can get onto the feeders themselves.

I also have a woodpecker feeder which has holes filled with suet.

It also attracts other birds.




And you-know-who is still around, keeping them all on their toes.

There were lots of other birds I didn't take photos of - all the usual suspects plus reed bunting and green woodpecker. The only disappointment is that my camera nest box is unoccupied for the first time since it was put up in 2009.  I have modified it slightly to move the camera so that it can see the whole floor and the entrance hole so it would have given good pictures.  Maybe next year.

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

Starling air display

Starlings are starting to warm up for their air show season.  This was a fairly small murmuration but fun to watch.  A few jackdaws got caught up in the excitement.





Monday, 15 June 2015

Blue-eyed baby

Not many British birds have blue eyes but this young jackdaw is one.  The eyes turn brown and then white as the bird gets older.



Thursday, 20 November 2014

A clattering

The collective noun for jackdaws is a clattering.  Recently at around 2 o'clock each afternoon a couple of dozen or more appear in the tallest trees in the garden and sit around clattering before flying off, presumably to roost. Today there were more than 50.