BIRD NEWS:60

Bubster-Pidge continues to grace my tree as often if not more so than I sign into Facebook! He also sits in the tree and allows me to put seed out without flying away - still. Here he is munching some seed on the sill shortly after doing so.

Oh....here comes Ditty!

I was sitting here writing the blog when I heard a call on my windowsill - 'CHIRP, CHIP, CHEEEEEEP!' - Curio was standing there staring in at me ASKING me for suet pellets for her youngster. I only put a little scoop out, as I am only putting out what will definitely be eaten, so as to avoid attracting the local rat gang. Curio was brave enough to ask for food, so...

My next few shots are of a certain wood pigeon standing on my windowsill - alas, not showing its face! I waited and waited....but still no face came into view. I will therefore tell you that this is Teen-Pidge.

BIRD NEWS:59

Chackie has had a child. Other than the fact it does not limp, there is little difference as yet between parent and offspring, so I call the young one Chackie too. it is currently tame enough to perch in the tree and not scoot away when it sees a 'human being'... even if it does not know what to make of our species.

& here we are back to Bubster-Pidge, peeping in at me, relaxed on his favored branch of my tree. Still trusting me enough to stay put when I place seed on the sill, rather than flying away as his family do. Maybe he has a strain of Australian show pigeon in his genes!!

As the third week of summer/June draws to a close, Bubster-Pidge greets me throughout the day - morning, noon, afternoon, and evening, without fear of me. For his trust, I am extremely grateful to him. none of his fellow wood pigeons have been this accepting of me. Maybe I once knew this bird in a previous life. Maybe it was good friend, a brother or sister, a parent, a child, a lover..... who knows what he used to be - currently he is a friend.

The trees are now full of young sparrows and greedy doves, young blackbirds and a few young starlings. Here is a shot of a group of starlings taken this week, mostly adults, in the tree down the righthand side of the yard.

BIRD NEWS:58

I did manage to catch one shot of the robin up Highdown Garden Tearooms, even if most of my successful photos were of the wood pigeon - with the one of a dropping magpie and also one of my friend's head when she bent forward as I took the shot, hee hee. Alas, other bird sightings were not caught on camera, as I had my hands full of wheelchair handles - so I did not get a shot of the jay or greenfinch that my friend spotted later in our rambling about the gardens.

Back home, June passed its third week and Bubster-Pidge did not fly away when I opened the window, put the tub of seed out, and closed the window. I think I may finally have a friend who trusts me and will continue to do so...

This may seem silly, but for someone who was used to pigeons entering our house in Australia as if they too lived within it, England has been disappointing. The pigeons here have been stuck up and rarely shown their trust in me. A few might have 1-2 times not flown too far away - but this is the first pigeon I can sense will continue to trust me and this is very special to me, specially as it is a wood pigeon and a not a show pigeon. As I prepare to post this - Bubster-Pidge is currently sitting on my sill preening!

I do also have Curio - the female blackbird who still doesn't fly away if we encounter one another in the yard, though. My next shot is of a tree-full of birds! A wood pigeon and a few starlings sharing a tree in my yard - why can't we humans share our land and lives the same peaceful way, sigh...

BIRD NEWS:57

Here is another shot of Ditty and partner in the tree - on the most favored branch - just before they landed on the sill for a feast. The third week of June arrived and one morning I took a shot of the starlings as they crowded out from the hole in the neighbor's roof and congregated prior to early morning food-gathering.

The wheelchair gang went on an excursion to Highdown Gardens and there were several birds worthy of camera attention. Alas, my first few shots failed to capture the parent robin - who landed near our table and stared at us while carrying food in its beak for young, before flying off. I almost caught the magpie in the above shot, but as you can see, it dived down to the ground and only just managed to stay in the picture!

It was not long before this wood pigeon - yes, sorry folks, another pigeon! - appeared and I did manage to get several shots of it. The robin did return, as did the magpie and a chaffinch - but the pigeon seemed to be the main star of the show as it was the only bird to stay around long enough to actually get caught on camera properly.

BIRD NEWS:56

Back to the trip up Highdown Hill - and one more shot of the birds that flew down to the path behind me as I made my way over the top. Again, that possibly buzzard sighting brought my camera into action - maybe a little clearer, but still not good enough to tell for sure.

After I had walked around the gardens and taken photos of the flowers and plants, I made my way back towards Angmering Village passing a parent and child 'crow/rook/raven/jackdaw' in the grass. The parent fed the young a bug of some type and the young one hopped about hopefull of another treat as its parent searched.

As I came down from the hill and walked past the paddocks and road to the windmill, I just had to bring my camera out of my bag yet again. A pair of wood pigeons tempted me as they flew onto the fence and then one at a time left.

Back home it was the doves that caught my camera, just a few days later, as the second week took hold. Ditty and her partner flew into the tree and after some nervous observation that was caught on camera, flew onto the sill and began to peck seed.

BIRD NEWS:55

Here is Bubster-Pidge, looking in at me from the most favored branch again. Just a moment from the first week in June 2015 at home before proceeding with snaps of my next trip. I took another walk up the local Highdown Hill and of course, took my camera with me.

This first shot did not come out very clearly, because with high pixel count and double zoom it still was too far away to get a clear shot. However, you might spot a blob in the skies - and I can tell you that it is a bird of prey, probably a buzzard hovering and soaring above me in the skies.

The next shot is of a group of those 'large black birds' that I remain unable to identify properly. As I walked a little further along they flew down behind me on the path, so I stopped to take a couple of shots before moving on.

Back at home, during the first two weeks of the early summer young blackbirds, sparrows and jackdaws filled the yard. Mr Black and Curio began to drop their looks as molting season began. yet you could still tell the desperate 'food please!' look in their eye if they rested on the tree, peering in at me hopefully.

BIRD NEWS:54

Whilst up above the gulls flew in clouded blue skies, down below our wheelchair gang's unexpected excursion halt was continuing with none of us in a hurry to chair-up and proceed coffeewards as yet. I stood back, lowering my camera for a moment, worried that I might have caused a delay to the plans by asking our entourage to halt for 'just a mo', but the other three were still glued to the swans below, so I repositioned my camera and fired onward - snap, snap, snap - glad I had good friends with me instead of impatient ones.

The gull, Mommy swan and her young obliged by offering yet more poses towards my pink metal box and I.

You can find out information about the variety of swan we were viewing HERE

& HERE TOO.