Update

All has been uneventful in the garden over the summer months with no new sightings to report.

For a while there were several Goldfinches coming to the Nijer Seed feeder but I have not seen any for a few weeks now.

There has been a GSW on the peanuts from time to time and our adopted Blackbirds still come for their fix of sultanas though not so frequently now.

No new photographs to add today but I am now posting photos of all sorts to my Flickr account under the same Username.

Springwatch

It has been a busy time both in our garden and on the river with lots of young fledglings appearing on the scene.

Although we don't normally see many sparrows in the garden there are currently several adult birds and lots of youngsters coming to the feeders. I have purchased a new Nijer seed feeder which is much better than one we previously had and which constantly spilled seed on the ground. We now have several Goldfinches and Siskins sitting on the feeder for lengthy spells without fear of being harassed by other birds which are not attracted to this type of seed.

On the river there has been a huge increase in the population of Grey Wagtails and a female Goosander has raised a family of 10 chicks without any casualties as far as I am aware. A pair of Oystercatchers have raised a single chick and the Kingfishers appear to have now vacated their nest but I don't know how many young they have had. I saw 2 Kingfishers flying upstream a few days ago and I think that one of them may have been a juvenile.

It has been a fairly quiet month both in the garden and on the river.

Our resident Blackbirds visit every day for their sultanas and have recently produced offspring one of which is pictured. Starlings have become regular visitors and are competing with the Blackies for the sultanas. We are seeing Siskins on a regular basis along with the odd Goldfinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit. Chaffinches and Wood Pigeons are also daily visitors, Greenfinches to a lesser extent.

The riverbank population of Dippers, Grey Wagtails and Goosanders have been supplemented by a pair of Oystercatchers which have taken up residence on an island in the river. I still see Kingfishers on a regular basis but getting decent photos remains a problem! Meanwhile the Mallards are producing ducklings in large quantities as usual though their numbers are greatly reduced by the large number of predators looking for an easy meal.

Busy at the feeders

The poor weather which we are currently experiencing has resulted in an increase in the number of birds coming to the garden feeders.

Today there were a number of Siskins along with a couple of Goldfinches, a Coal Tit and two Great Tits in addition to the usual daily visitors. I also noticed a Brambling in our cherry tree though it did not come to any of the feeders. The Starlings and Rooks continue to demolish any fat balls which are put out.

Meanwhile down at the riverside I am even more convinced that the Kingfisher is nesting at the spot I have seen it on several occasions over the past couple of weeks. I took my camcorder with me today but although I saw the bird several times I did not get a chance to film it as it was either flying past me or leaving it's perch before I had the camera ready.

Lean times

The last few weeks have been very poor for spotting birds as there has not been too many to be seen. The weather may have been a factor as there has been high winds and Baltic temperatures much of the time.

After last month's large variety of photos there have been little or no opportunities to snap birds these last few weeks. Even the common Herons which I normally see lots off have been posted missing for several weeks though I did manage to see one this morning. That is possibly due to the fact that their breeding season can start in February. Anyhow sightings on the river have been restricted to Mallards, Goosanders, Gulls and the occasional Dipper and Grey Wagtail.

The one highlight was a sighting of a Kingfisher two days ago, the first for several weeks and in a spot where I have seen one before. It is quite possible that the nest is very close by.

It has been equally quiet in the garden though we are now getting a lot of unwelcome visits from Rooks. They and the Starlings are managing to see off the fatty balls alarmingly quickly! We still see a couple of Robins now and again and today we had rarer visits from a Wren and a couple of Siskins. There have been Blue Tits at the nesting box briefly but I haven't seen them return so far.

Good weather for February!

February was a very mixed month as far as weather was concerned. However there were several days where a hard frost in the morning was followed by beautiful sunny conditions with blue skies.

I took my DSLR with me on my morning walks on these days and was duly rewarded by several photo opportunities which I was happy to accept.

The highlight for me was seeing a pair of Kestrels though unfortunately they were just a little too far away for me to get the best of photos.

Now we are in March and the weather has deteriorated again and there is little point taking my DSLR out with me at the moment. Fingers crossed that things will improve soon.

Spring is near!

It was such a beautiful day today that I decided to take out my DSLR with me on my morning walk with the dog. It did not take long before I saw the Kingfisher by the river and I followed it upstream for a good distance before losing sight of it. I was quite pleased with the photos as my digital compact is just not able to produce the same kind of results when it comes to depth of field and shooting at high ISO for faster shutter speed. However I have still not got as good a shot of the Kingfisher or Grey Wagtail as I am aiming for. I think there will be a few early rises once we start getting sunnier weather regularly again as that is the best time to photograph these birds.

A little bit of history in the garden today when I spotted a Brambling on the Sunflower Hearts feeder for the first time ever. Previously they have just sat and watched as the other finches fed.