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.

A walk round the pond - Week 23

At last!  Some dragonflies.  As I started walking back to leave yesterday morning I saw something flying ahead of me, just above the reeds.  Its silver wings were glinting in the sunshine as it dropped down into the reeds.  When I caught up I couldn't see anything at first and then I spotted this.

It is a teneral male emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) which had just made its maiden flight.  It was sunning itself as its wings continued to harden.

After a while it flew a few metres farther from the water to rest in the grass.  The abdomen will turn bright blue as it matures.

You can see how well it is camouflaged, useful as at this stage it isn't a strong flier.

This is just about as far north as the emperor gets.  Here is the distribution map on iRecord for the past 10 years.

The emperor wasn't the only new dragonfly of the week.  Four weeks later than last year I finally saw a four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata).  There were only three, whereas by this time last year there were probably a couple of dozen flying around.  I don't know why the delay as the other species have emerged on time - the emperor was on precisely the same date as I first saw one last year.

There were many dozens of blue damselflies this week, mostly common blues.

These azure damselflies came to grief in an old spider's web.

These two were also being harassed by another male.

There were still plenty of large red damselflies.

But only occasional blue-tailed damselflies.

Butterflies this week included common blue,

dingy skipper,

and small copper.

A couple of other interesting insects I saw were this ichneumonid, one of the 2500 UK species,

and a beautiful bejewelled beetle, one of the 4000 UK species.

Plenty of warblers were still singing including blackcaps, chiffchaffs, common whitethroats and willow warblers.  All were typically shy but I did spot a willow warbler.

Long-tailed tits are much more obliging.  There was a large tribe in the hedges, with many young fledglings.

This is a youngster (R) with an adult (L).

Next week I hope to see more chasers and an emperor on patrol.

End of year favourites - Aves (garden)

Some photos from the garden this year, beginning with last winter's sparrowhawk and finishing with the current sparrowhawk but otherwise in no particular order.