Bird Watching

Took a trip out to Ynys-hir on Sunday, joined the RSPB, and had a nice (slightly muddy) walk in the wind and sun, round by the coast, through open meadows and along woodland paths.

Saw lots of canada geese (with chicks), a heron or two, and some mallards - put a pheasant to flight on our wanderings - and had a redstart pointed out to us by some slightly more dedicated birdwatchers!


While we didn't get any pictures of the birds at Ynys-hir,  back at home 'garage-cam' has had a busy couple of months or so . . .

 

We've seen flaring wings, formation flying, and of course the mid-air 'hangers' - only a couple where I'm not sure of the species - the swallows are already stepping up the action, so expect more dramatic swooping pictures in due course . . .

Bird Flue

We gave the stove its summer clean-out a bit back - swept it (got a nice pan-full of black bits), hoovered it all out, cleaned the glass, etc, etc.  Decided then to put some candles inside, so that we could enjoy the cosmetic effect of firelight, without the heat.





What we hadn't quite expected, was the sight that greeted Martin earlier today.  What he thought was a 'bird-shaped' shadow in the glass, turned out to be an actual bird (sparrow I think) that had found its way down the chimney and into the stove somehow:

It appears that the candle-holder formed a handy perch!  After taking a picture or two, Martin prepared for operation 'let the bird out' by closing the curtains, and leaving the open french doors as the main source of light.  As soon as the stove door was opened the bird swiftly made its escape, so it can't have been too traumatised by the experience - although we do now have a stove full of bird-droppings!

Springwatch

In homage to BBC's Springwatch, here's our very own selection of wildlife offerings.

Firstly, the baby Sparrows - doing their Feed Me, Feed Me Now thing . . .



. . . much fluffing of feathers, fluttering of wings, and frenzied cheeping . . .






. . . the adult pictured here is evidently gleaning scraps from the fat balls to keep the little ones quiet.






On a more horticultural note, the hedgerows roundabout are studded with these little white stars at the moment - an online search identifies it as Lesser Stitchwort, unless anybody knows any differently?



Finally, we have our very own nesting Pied Wagtails. They have positioned their nest somewhat awkwardly, right behind our log store (so the logs are off limits right now) but seem quite happy despite our comings and goings. No sign of any chicks just yet, but there is some serious nest-sitting going on.

Hopefully more photos to follow: