Sturnus Vulgaris

I like getting Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in my garden even though they are a bit greedy.  At the moment there are still a few juveniles.

The adults are rather nice to look at because I think the speckles look stunning (however they definitely wouldn't win X factor with their voices).

The Starling is slowly declining in this country along with other someother birds as well. Starlings normally form dense flocks however with wide spread declines these flocks have reduced. They normally lay 4-7 eggs; and 1or2 broods between April and July. 

I think we'll need to stock up on lots of supplies to keep them fed this winter.

Cor.....morants!

Yesterday I went to Anderton Nature Park with my mum, and as we started the journey I spotted what I think is a Speckled Wood butterfly.

                                     

When I arrived at Hadyns pool there wasn't much there apart from a Grey Heron and some Teal.

 Sooner or later we set off to Neumanns Flash which was teeming with birds.

I especially liked watching the feeding party of Long Tailed Tits which I finally got a pitcute of.  Every time I tried to find them through the lense, I lost them. 

It was rather nice to see the Black Swan preening it's self, first one I've seen in a while. 

 

Yes I know these are Cormorants but I never realised how white they are underneath.

 

But then these two didn't seem to have the white underneath, all a bit confusing.  Mum said maybe it was the way the light was shining on them, but do you have any thoughts?  As they flew away they formed a lovely V shape.

On the way back, I got watched by a cheeky squirrel . 

 

And to finish off the day the House Martins were landing on a house roof. Maybe a little rest before the journey ahead of them.

 I wanted to share this post and all the helpful comments with Wilde Bird Wednesday.

Great Tits and the return of the Starlings!

Because the Great Tit is one of my favourite types of Tit I wanted to write about the ones that keep coming and feeding in the garden. Because the Great Tit is one of my favourite type of Tits, I like to give up a lot of my time watching them.

When I look at them through my binoculars it is quite interesting to see them taking a nut and flying off into cover. This morning there were about 4 of them taking nuts out of the feeeder again and again (of course I had a lot Blue Tits this morning as well).

And guess who else is back?

Finally the noisy squabbling Starlings are back, and there are so many of them.

Better put fat balls on the shopping list!

And another brilliant sunset to end the day with.

Standing Room Only

I have not seen many Greenfinches in my garden this year, however all of a sudden about 15 have been coming down to feed at a time, which to me is a bit perculiar as we have gone from none to so many almost overnight. I'm not complaining though.

The Goldfinches wanted to join the party.

And the House Sparrows.

For some reason my mum always laughs when they all come down altogether (crazy old mum).

The Blackbird didn't seem very inpressed.

But the Collared Dove made the most of the seeds on the floor.

An unwelcome visitor arrived for the the finches, but I enjoyed watching him.

 And that just left this little chap at the party table.

This has to be my Wild Bird Wednesday post, as so much went on in the garden so close to where I was sitting.

Lapwings, Lapwings and more Lapwings

Yesterday I went to Haydn's Pool and when I arrived there after a long walk there were loads of Lapwing waiting for me. I checked to see if there was anything else but no there was only Lapwing.

When I looked round the corner of the reed bed there was about another 30 of them.

Something suddenly startled them and they all took off at once.

When the Lapwing took off together they put on a stunning show. 

A dragonfly landed right next to us on the fence when we were heading to Neumanns Flash with it's stained glass window wings.

I don't know what type it is, but could you please tell me if you know what type of drogon fly it is (at first I thought it was a Brown Hawker).

This small  group of Lapwing flew over at Neumanns Flash and shortly after more and more joined them - it was amazing watching the flock grow bigger and bigger.

Back From Grandma's

I have just come back from a few days at my Grandma's house in North Wales and 2 lovely, bright Green Finches were in the garden to welcome me home.

 Unfortunately the tree the birds love has died, but I hope the neighbours don't chop it down because the birds love it up there.

A rather scruffy Collared Dove called in too.

And of course my faithful friends the House Sparrows

Whilst I was at my Grandma's I saw some extraordinary birds from high sky divers to low hunting drifters.

I saw an Osprey which was probably migrating, it even put on a display of diving and yes it had caught a trout or something like that. Then 15 minutes after, a female Hen Harrier showed up (loved it's white rump) and probably the last I will see this year, a migrating Redstart.

Thank you for a lovely time Grandma and Grandpa.

House Martins

Our House Martins are on there third brood now and the young should be fledgling any time soon. I really enjoy seeing their heads poking out of the nest and all the noise they make as the parents return with food.

I will miss them when they migrate, but hopefully they will nest here again next year. I wanted to post them on Wild Bird Wednesday before they set off.

The Sparrows in my garden have decreased a little recently, but the Starlings haven't been back to the garden in ages. I bet there is alot of natural food around for all the birds at the moment.

We have still had quite a few House Sparrows though. I never get bored watching them.

And some really exciting news today.  My guest blog got posted on Chatterbirds today, so you can have a look at it if you want to.

http://blog.chatterbirds.com/birdwatching-through-the-eyes-of-a-10yr-old/