February
continued, and still in the first week I managed to capture two shots
of Plate-face the song thrush taking a drink at the bird bath. Later
on, she was diving under the tubs to extract hedgehog food pellets,
whenever Mr Black and son did not chase her away.
The
second week remained cold and wet, so I threw out pieces of organic
apple to add to the foods available for the birds. It was very quiet
one day, and not just because the rain had stopped and the wind died
down - this fellow was hanging out in my tree! All the smaller garden
birds had scooted into hiding - silently.
The
weather warmed up for Valentine's Day, just a degree or two, but
enough to make a difference in the feel of the air. A day or so
before, I peeped out the bathroom window, sneakily. Ones bathroom
window is not often a place to birdwatch, but I have neighbors across
the street with a bird bath - and birdbox, feeders, etc... and they
get a lot of starlings, jackdaws, blue-tits, and sparrows to watch.
Enough
snooping! On Valentine's Day itself, I took a 700-run trip. Regular
readers will know that this generally means pigeons on the beach and
parrots darting about their cage...
For
once, I have a surprise for you. At first, there was not a pigeon in
sight, but there were beach birds about. Among the beach birds was
this small fellow. I think it is a wagtail - but might be a
long-tailed tit. I am uncertain as it bopped about and did not come
closer.
Whatever he is, he blends in well on the rocky beach. It's really hard to see him.
ReplyDeleteI hope that predator bird doesn't make a habit of coming to the backyard. What is it, a hawk?
Yes, the photos do not come out the same size at this blog to my old one, so the smaller birds are difficult to spot. Yes, it's a sparrowhawk - eats everything from sparrow thru starling to dove and pigeon.
ReplyDelete