Snuffle shuffle

Not a lot of action in the garden. The apples are ripening nicely and the new damsons out the front seem to be bedding in nicely, but apart from that, not much.

Most evenings I go out for a walk - about a mile and a half round the block to round off the day. More nights than not I encounter foxes in the streets, including a couple of fine looking juveniles a couple of nights ago. They clearly aren't frightened of e although they do give people a wide berth. If they are off street and working their way through gardens, the progress of the security lights flicking on tells me where they are.

In the past I've seen bats, too, usually catching moths drawn to street lights. And owls are often heard, though never, so far, seen.

A couple of nights ago, I thought I saw a badger in the distance crossing the road, but it was unclear enough to make it possible that it was a cat. I've seen badgers before up here, but not for a few years. Last night there was no doubt: a badger scuttled across the road, coming out from the shadows by the back entrance to the zoo and heading into a garden. I didn't see it again after that but I am pleased that they are still out and about.

Another year older

It has been a funny old year since my last post.

The reason I haven't written is because there has been nothing much to write about. It seemed to rain continuously from September to March and for whatever reason there has been a distinct lack of activity in the garden.

There has certainly been a much less diverse selection of birds, although I was pleased to see three juvenile blackbirds on the back lawn yesterday, which may indicate a reduction in the number of predators or might just be chance. The buzzards are in the skies, including juveniles, but I haven't noticed any sparrowhawks or kestrels around and I think there have been fewer magpies.

I seem to have seen a greater number of house-sparrows too and fewer dunnocks, and the local ravens have been around more often too. I haven't seen the woodpecker this year.

Foxes have mainly been spotted in the evening on the street - we had no snow so I couldn't keep track of activity in the garden in winter. I haven't seen any fox cubs around this year anyway.

Both of the new apple trees are fruiting (only the Katy did last year) and, though I was worried about a lack of bees when the apples were in full blossom, a couple of weeks later the rhododendron in the back garden and the thyme in the front were crawling with bumble bees and honey bees. Three damson trees are now in the front garden and I am considering adding a plum and a greengage in the back.

Finally, there seem to have been plenty of frogs in the back during the evening so there is obviously plenty for them to eat.

It's been a while

It has been fairly quiet around the garden of late probably because I've stopped putting out so much food. This isn't deliberate cruelty but because the minute I put anything out it is devoured by rapacious jackdaws and I'm getting fed up of that.

There have been other reasons, as the photo to the right indicates. I was lucky to get this - I was washing some dishes and spotted this sparrowhawk sitting up on a neighbour's chimney stack quietly watching over the gardens. That would explain the almost complete silence that had fallen around the place as well. I took this from the back door at the far end of a zoom lens and have cropped it quite severely for posting here.

Not putting out food, especially set balls,seems to have been enough to stop visits from teh Great Spotted Woodpecker that had been coming around. That's a shame but, on the other hand, the jackdaws weren't leaving it any food anyway.

On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago I was out in the garden and heard a racket of gulls overhead. Like an idiot I didn't look up for a while to see what was going on. The photo to the left was a bit of a grab shot and has also been cropped quite severely for posting.

The noise was from seagulls mobbing a common buzzard which coasted around for a while before flying off in search of a quieter life.

It is nice that the buzzards are still around but they are nowhere near as frequent visitors as in the last couple of years.

Also noticeable has been an absence of wasps when I've been sitting out. This is due, I suppose, to a cold wet summer last year and a false spring followed by a late chill this year. I can't say I'm complaining but it has been noticeable enough to remark upon.

Squabble-chatter

Activity around the bird feeders outside my office window has been hectic and messy. I've had a lot of starling fledglings there and it has been interesting to see how, over just a few days, they go from being fed by their parents to gorging on the birdfeeders themselves. The woodpecker has also been a regular visitor both to our feeder and also to a couple of local telegraph poles. I noticed it taking quantities of suet away in its beak so I'm guessing their is a nest somewhere relatively nearby too.

I'm happy to say that a couple of greenfinches came through. Just three or four years ago greenfinches and chaffinches were never away from the feeders but their numbers noticeably dropped off to nil after a couple of cold winters. The birds didn't stay long but it was heartening that they appeared at all.

Finally, a familiar keening in the clear blue sky indicated not one but two buzzards wheeling overhead. This is great news.

Yay!

I just looked up from a mug of tea to see a great spotted woodpecker at a bird feeder. I tried for a grab shot but the woodpecker was chased off by starlings. Hopefully it will be back now that it knows food is here.

updated - some photos of the woodpecker added below

Starlings

I said that I had some snaps of the starlings at the bird feeder and a couple are below. They don't half make a mess but the fledglings are cute.

Buzzard again

Buzzard over Corstorphine Hill

OK, so it is at the far end of a zoom lens and magnified well beyond sharpness, however it is undoubtedly a buzzard soaring high over Corstorphine Hill this morning.

This time last year there were four or five of them displaying (and on one memorable occasion seven although a couple of those were visitors and only visible with binoculars looking high in the north east) but it is a start. 

I miss hearing their calls on the air, especially on days like today with blue skies and warm air.

I haven't seen any foxes around the garden recently but I know they are about because things move overnight. I replaced two coconut shells filled with fat and seeds yesterday and put the discarded ones on the ground for ground feeding birds to peck the remains from. This morning the one with most in had disappeared completely. Hopefully this warm weather will last and there'll be more visitors.

Gluttons

The birdfeeders were taken over by starlings today who made right gluttons of themselves. I'll put up some pics later but for now it is enough to say that I was quite pleased to see them. When I was growing up starlings were ubiquitous but of late their numbers have been dropping. Two of the starlings were fledglings so there was a lot of family squabbling going on.

I'm pretty sure that late this afternoon I spotted a buzzard quite high over Corstorphine Hill. I hpe so because I have neither seen nor heard them for several weeks and was fearing that they either hadn't survived the winter or had moved on or had been disturbed.

Rusty spring

The rain has rained relentlessly for the past few days and it is a pleasure to see the barometer, to my left as I write, slowly rising to the grand heights of "unsettled". Bird life in the garden remains at a consistent, if low, level with plenty of passing dunnock, house sparrows and tits. Blackbirds have been singing out too although at no time have I thought there to be an overabundance of bird life and I have seen no finches at all.

Sadly, I have not heard or seen the buzzards either even on the days when the sun has shone and the skies have been blue. Nor have I noticed any obvious signs of fox lately and usually they are as common as cats.

Anyway, here are four pictures of regular visitors in the last few days.

Swiftly now...

Not a great deal happening in the garden beyond the norm and the usual rapid emptying of the peanut feeder by the local jackdaws.

I did notice, though, that we have swallows and swifts overflying. Hoorah!