More starlings

The starling was my bird of the week a few weeks ago but I have been able to take a few more photos in the past few days.

Flying drones

One of my hives has a lot of drones (male honey bees) and when the sun shone today they came out to fly.  As there were so many I had a go at taking photos in flight.  It is very hit and miss as the depth of field with the macro lens is very small.   The light was good so I was using a shutter speed of 1/1000th and an ISO of 800.  Nearly all the photos were rejects but one or two are not too bad.

This is a drone on the crown board (with the shadow of another one flying behind him).

Here are two drones showing their cylindrical body shape.  The red mark is a propolis stain.

These photos each show a drone with a female worker for comparison - the drones are all on the left as we look.  They are larger and have huge eyes.

Here are some in flight shots.  The first two also show a worker for comparison.  Drones make a louder and lower-pitched buzz than the workers.

Drones are strange looking things when you see them like this.  Their legs look much longer in flight than they do in the hive.  The last one is carrying a varroa mite on his back - the number one pest of honey bees.  Drones will happily move from hive to hive so it is easy to see how the mites can be moved around.

Bird of the week - Kittiwake

Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) normally nest on cliffs and rock faces but one famous colony has been nesting on and around the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne for more than 50 years.  It has around 700 nesting pairs in the farthest inland kittiwake colony in the world, being around 10 miles from the sea.

The nests are made of seaweed and mud.  Some of the nest have obviously been reused and added to over many years.

Some birds are still collecting nesting material, some are sitting on eggs and others already have chicks.

The kittiwake is a beautiful bird with a striking eye.

Most have black legs and feet.

But this one has brown.

Of course all the posh birds are on the Newcastle end of the bridge while the others are in Gateshead!

Watch the live feed from the kittiwake cam on the Baltic here.  Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day on kittiwakes here.  Watch the BTO video on identification of kittiwakes and other small gulls here.  Read more about kittiwakes here.

Nest box update 10 - D-Day

This was the big day for the four blue tit chicks.  During yesterday they were showing more interest in the entrance hole and from early this morning they were approaching it.  You can also hear the pheasant shouting for his breakfast.

To start with the parents were still bringing food inside but they later stayed outside to tempt the chicks out.

In previous years fledging has always been over by about 0700 but after initial excitement early this morning everything seemed to go quiet.

At one stage one of the chicks got up into the false ceiling of the box which houses the wires and connectors, showering its siblings with dust and cobwebs and causing the mother some alarm.

I was beginning to think I'd have to open the roof to rescue it when it managed to get free - in a huge cloud of dust and dirt.

Then all was quiet until around 0930 when suddenly the chicks again became interested in the world outside - I think they hadn't been fed for a while.

 

The parents continued to bring food to the entrance

The chicks were still unsure about leaving.

Here is the first one leaving the box.

The second one couldn't make its mind up and almost fell out before retreating.

Here is the third one leaving.

The last chick wasn't at all keen on leaving and one of the parents tried to tempt it with a caterpillar.

Eventually it jumped and they were all gone by 0950 - all off into the big wide world to seek their fortunes.

All that was left in the box was the egg that didn't hatch.

Now the parents have several more busy days feeding the chicks until they can fend for themselves.  They are easy to hear in the trees but won't be easy to see until they are a bit older and confident enough to come down to the feeders.

Damselflies at Banks' Pond

The season is late because of the persistent cold and windy weather but at last the sun shone and the wind dropped (a bit) and the damselflies came out to play.  I took a trip to Banks' Pond and saw four damselfly species.  Most common were common blue males.

This is an immature female common blue.

There was one mating pair of blue-tailed damselflies.

This is an immature female blue-tailed of the violacea type.

The only large red damselflies I saw were males.

And the only azure damselfly was also a male.

There should be plenty more to see in the coming days, so long as the weather holds.

What's for dinner Dad?

I'm hungry.

What's for dinner Dad?

Caterpillars son.