BIRD NEWS:33 & missing eagle

Bluey and Naboo settled down a bit when music played after the brief TV silence. Bluey was still bouncing about his cage, though - and not remaining in the same perching place for long.

Naboo spotted my camera again, for the third time, and once more he did his 'I am shy' act. I did manage to grab one more shot before leaving and making my way on to Brighton, though.

Back home, during the final few days of the month, life continued in the yard. A pair of goldfinches popped onto the tree for a moment and flew off again. I was wondering if they had seen the seed, as I know they usually nest in a local tree. Pidge and the gang - at least 4 wood pigeons currently visit the windowsill - are still hanging about, shooing one another away.

When I put seed and suet out on the windowsill, someone always swoops down quite fast. Curio sometimes flies down before I shut the window; Mr Black waits in the tree but doesn't fly away when I open the window; the starling gang do likewise to Mr Black. Chackie got so hungry he even flew nearby and grabbed a beakful on his way past.

HERE is a link to an article about a lost eagle in Great Britain.

BIRD NEWS:32

There are another two shots of the birds in Lancing - Bluey not really minding that I had my little pink metal box aimed at him and Naboo wondering if I will ever put the darn thing away. Bluey was all over the cage when I visited - here he is up the top, munching seed. Unlike Naboo, Bluey sits and scoffs for a minute or two, then ignores the seed tray for a long time. Naboo on the other hand runs around munching a seed now and a seed later - with a bit of grape or peanut in between. In the shot below, Naboo has just dropped a piece of grape.

Bluey sat still for a while, offering a chirp, watching me watch him while the TV rolled on with a war-parade. Naboo was astonished at the 2-minutes silence, not quite sure what to make of it - the TV had moving pictures but no noise - & I still had that annoying pink metal box thing.

Of course, once I spotted a wood pigeon sitting on an aeriel outside, I had to take a shot of that too!

BIRD NEWS:31

Today, I will begin the fourth week of April posts with 2 shots of a sparrow on the rose arch. These were taken whilst I was in the kitchen cooking my lunch. A day or so later, I took a 700-run. This, regular readers may guess, will result in my next 2-3 blog posts being filled with pigeons walking on pebbled and parrots in cages. Well...

...the weather was not too good again. After weeks of sunshine, we had a rainy start to the day. I caught a gull and pigeon flying over the pier at Worthing in one shot, and a solitary gull with a group of pigeons in another. Alas, that was all I took at Worthing.

Lancing offered better bird-photo options and Bluey was happy to pose, as usual. It is also quite usual for Naboo to dunk into the seed tray at the time I take a photo. He could not stay in hiding for ever, and I managed to get him peeping out shortly after - midst chewing a seed and after chewing a seed.

Bluey was doing a lot of wall-climbing as depicted in the above snap. Naboo was soon cheekily head-bobbing blurry photos at me...

BIRD NEWS:30

Curio is a bit of a day dreamer at times, as can be seen in these photos. She gathers up nesting material busily, then sits around doing nothing. At first, I thought she was just checking to make sure no predators spot her nesting site, but she rested a long time before making her move and there did not seem to be any activity other than sparrows and myself.

Above is a shot of the teenage wood pigeon, mentioned in my last post. It is still getting used to me being a 'safe' human, and its sussing-her-out stance is clearly shown in the first of the two shots that I took.

We move on to a shot taken at the end of the third week of April. One of our pigeons is busy munching in the bird table while a starling fusses about in the tree above - waiting - and hoping the best bits are left by the time it gets a chance to have its turn in the cafe d'oiseau.

Pidge is busy eating...eating....eating....and eating, however.

BIRD NEWS:29

Let us start today's blog post with a shot of Curio, the tamest of the current blackbirds. She was hanging out in the tree, minding the last of the their youngsters from this years first crop. One alas went the way of a cat and another the way of a hawk, so she is keeping her eye open on the third.

Back to the bird table, where we find one of our starlings resting between munches. Then it is time to return to the pigeons - as always. As April continued into the third week, I got a shot of a pair of wood pigeons hanging out on top of the bird table.

One pair have a teenage pigeon that is getting used to me now, and another pair have taken up residency and scrabble coofully at the windowsill for THEIR cafe service rights above those of the first pair. It can be comical to watch as one rests in the tree watching while two scrap and try to peck the other while it eats, yet grab their own seed...

At the moment, one pair are about to shoo away teenager pigeon, ready to make way for their next crop. As April continues, Mr Bob and Plateface are seen only on rare occasion, but there is still plenty of activity going on in our yard.

BIRD NEWS:28

Mr Black hangs out by the pond as the second week of April draws to its close. Not long after, he had flown up into the apple tree, however. As you can see, the tree is only just realizing that spring is here, and begining to burst into leaf and blossom, despite our blackbirds being on their second crop of nest building for the year.

No, that is note a puffed up weird looking bird - that is the lump of cheese I popped into the feeding table after a few starlings and other beaks had had a munch! Another popular item in this bird-cafe is my homebaked bread, oozing with fruit, seed, nut, vegetable, grain and cheese.

Now we have entered the third week of April, and amazingly enough spring is still with us. Here is Song munching a chunk of home made bread in the bird table. Moments later, JUST after I had run upstairs to return my camera, Curio sat on the rose arch just outside the kitchen window.

She stared in at me in what would have been a great photo opportunity for a minute or more. However, although I missed that opportunity, I managed to catch her in the tree an hour or so later.

BIRD NEWS:27

Yes, that is TWO wood pigeons on the windowsill. Still in the second week of April, I heard two birds land to munch seed, but that was not all. A few moments later, along came another...

...landing in the tree just as I took a shot of one pigeon peeping in at me. Shortly afterwards, a fourth pigeon arrived, but by then one of the first two decided to scatter the newcomers. Much fluttering later, the first couple finished their seed-feast and flew away - with the second couple then swooping down to devour the left overs.

Alas, all is not good news in the yard birdwise though. One evening I heard a commotion - various alarmed birds and some scuffling in the tree. Realizing a cat was after the young ones, i tossed a jug of water onto the patio to frighten away the 'pet' from my 'wildlife reserve'! Whilst this worked, at some point in the night it returned and I found a dead baby blackbird on the path in the morning.

A day or so later, I caught a shot of Curio taking a drink. I was glad I had my camera with me while cooking on this particular day, as many photo opportunities arose. Next up, Spadge investigates the feeding table while Cough munches some food. More photos to come in my next post.