Thursday 13 November 2008

I was looking foward to getting out for an hour or so this afternoon, but another bonfire right in the middle of the stubbles at Migrant Alley put pay to that area. I got home and had a quick snack, and headed off out for the wet woods and lake area, only to be foiled again by another bonfire, this time the gardener at the big house next to the lake was the culprit. Thick smoke drifted through the woods, as he was tiping load after load of wet leaves on a smouldering fire. Needless to say, I didn't see anything worthwhile, I cut through the tree nursery, not expecting much there, as a work party was lifting trees, but at least a small party of REDWING were seen feeding on hawthorn berries.
I was back home within the hour, and it was already getting dark. I took some more photo's of the garden birds, but it was to gloomy for it really.
I did notice a real drop in the bird activity from yesterday, so I decided to call it a day, and make myself useful by dismantling the feeders and giving them a good clean. The reason for the drop off in bird activity became clear, when I found a pile of Blackbird feathers on the lawn, yep, the SPARROWHAWK was back. They are clever little blighters, they leave the garden alone for a day, allow all the birds to become more confident, then, bang! in it comes and makes a kill. If the hawk makes a kill on a feeder, the finch's wont use that feeder for days, even if I move it.

Below are some of the pics that turned out relatively well. More GREENFINCH and GOLDFINCH and a waiting BLUE TIT


Below : A Goldfinch waiting for it's turn on the Sunflower feeder

Below: A GREAT TIT ''Bashing away'' at a sunflower Heart





2 comments:

Tony Morris said...

Hi Warren, my experience is a bit different. We regularly see Sparrowhawks but the garden seems to return to normal quite quickly, say 15-30 minutes. I do have lots of cover around for the small birds. A couple of years ago we watched a Sparrowhawk clambering about a Pyracanthus by the Kitchen window trying to reach a House Sparrow deep inside the bush.
Tony

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Warren: Sorry I've been busy with my Meme's, this is another great set of photos. You are taking some really great photos of your neat birds. I love the colors of the birds of England.