BIRD NEWS:423

The jay is still visiting us. In this next action shot picture you can see how it has leapt from the peanut feeder to the pole to munch a nut - it will soon be back for another nut, and another, and another....

Akin to a squirrel or blue tit, it may take a nut in its mouth/beak, reach a perch, then paw the nut, nibbling at it til its munched up. The first full weekend of July, I spent ten minutes at the summer fayre. That is where they have a birds of prey display and sometimes show - though whether they showed them in flight or not, due to the hot weather, I am uncertain. However, there were birds there to be seen.

On the Sunday, I was out on a far longer excursion hiking along the River Arun with Liz. We spotted a pair of buzzards, though by the time I recalled I had a camera and took it from my backpack, they had gone a little further away. Welcome to a pair of blurry buzzard pictures, sigh...

BIRD NEWS:422

Depicted above munching peanuts, is a juvenile blue tit. Next up, the sparrows doing their acrobatics display.

It has been very busy in the yard until the past couple of days. A neighbor saw a red kite flying overhead at the back of us, so maybe the smaller birds have hidden away - and that pigeon-murdering black furball has been hiding in the shrubbery, too...

I did manage to spot a larger bird come flying in to snatch and eat a few peanuts while washing my allotment crops on the first Sunday morning in July, though. This jay seems to be a regular now, as I spotted it the day before too!

It now appears to be a daily visitor - if the black pigeon-murdering furball isn't lurking about, it is gobbling through a half tube peanuts a day!

BIRD NEWS:421

As I made to do the final stretch, I spotted a few last sightings for the trip - including this jackdaw just sitting on the fence. This pigeon was doing much the same, but looking a little less relaxed.

My final shot from this trip is of a few ducks in the lake, as I neared the exit. Back home and baby sparrows and blue tits have filled the yard this past week. Here is youngster calling to mommy bird to feed it - while brother tit pecks suet for itself. They make quite a noise!

The blue tits were still munching away in my next picture, taken another day, along with the sparrows. Only one is in shot - eating suet balls.

They also munched peanuts.

BIRD NEWS:420

It turned out to be a large group of rooks or crows, either disturbed by something or gathering for some other reason, possibly to gang up on a bird of prey to claim territory. Mrs Mallard and a small clutch of cygnets were gobbling away at the slimy aquatica as I trotted along the path. It did not look very appetizing to me, but...

An info board showed something more promising, though there were significantly less smaller birds in the reserve on this occasion due to another change - the WWT Centers now take down the feeder hangers of seed and peanut that attract smaller birds in spring, summer and fall. The woodland hide was consequently empty of birds when I stuck my head in.

I managed to spot my old friends the Bewick swans at last - just before finding the 'empty' woodland hide, which is usually the best place to spot smaller birds. The adults were with their cygnets in a cage area that I could just spot from the meadow maze feature.

Finally - a glimpse of the babes! Awwwww, fluffballs! An info board was next sighted, explaining teenage goose behaviour...

BIRD NEWS:419

I barely troubled this snoozing duck as I walked around it on the path which it had decided to make its bed. The first major change I noted was the absence of the Bewick's swans - but their poster explained why and I planned to see if I could peep thru to see them later in my wanderings. My next noted change was the absence of the Trumpeter swans...

So, the former Trumpeter swan lake will now have the Black-necked swans as residents. Overall, one species of swan is no longer watchable and the other 2 interesting ones have been swapped location...

The next change was the closure of the reed bed hide, sigh - this was not a very productive trip, with river track closures, swan moves, and now a closed hide! I did however spot a pigeon on the reed bed hide roof!

I heard a lot of noise as I trotted further along the path towards the reed boardwalk and looked up to find a mass of black dots in the air making the noise....

BIRD NEWS:418

Alas, the dove would not look at the camera... Back in the city, I went to the park to eat my lunch and here are a couple of shots regular readers might expect when I say I went to Chichester - budgies!

The next day, I was back on the canal trek accompanied by my best friend Liz. This time we spotted a lump of mallards.

My next excursion was in mid June to Arundel WWT. There were some major changes on this trip, mostly within the center - although 2/3s of the riverside track was closed for 6 months and the first change was that my plan to walk all along from the museum to beyond the WWT center was cut into 2 no and 1 yes. At the center a bunch more changes had occurred but I first sat at the cafe with a vegan raw food bar and large americano - watching the dozing eiders.

I then trotted off round the center. I came across notification of lapwing chicks - though I did not actually see any lapwings of any age on this trip. By the time I arrived near the third/fourth hide, I spotted a swallow sitting up in a tree.