“It rained and it rained and it rained. Piglet told himself that never in all his life, and he was goodness knows how old – three was it, or four? – never had he seen so much rain.”
Winnie-The-Pooh, A.A.Milne, Chapter 9 …in which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water
Storm Christoph wasn’t too bad for us personally, although there were heartbreaking pictures on the news of its impact in other parts of the country.
But today the rain stopped and the sun came out. The birds returned to the feeders.
The Blue tits visited and sang whilst performing their acrobatics. I think I prefer US name Chickadee to the UK Tit, even though it probably would only apply to our Willow tit or Marsh tit. It’s so much more genteel.
Anyway, here is a Blue tit in our garden enjoying the sun.
Today I heard the birds singing in the garden. Probably happy that I had refilled the feeders. The Robin was the most vocal.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies, With th’angelic host proclaim: “Christ is born in Bethlehem.” Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a Virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity, Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
These images observe and record the colour of the Dorset countryside as the season transitions from autumn to winter. The sun shining low in the sky cast long shadows and either back-lit subjects photographed against it or created strong light when facing away from it. The overriding colour recorded here is brown, with one or two colourful exceptions, such as the blue tit with its blue, yellow and green plumage.
The animals and birds seemed curious. Not all dashed for safety at the first sign of a human, but a few were content to stop, stare and assess the danger. The deer particularly held my gaze for quite some time before being spooked. The female stonechat was bold perched on a teasel very close to me and was in no hurry to move on. Others were more skittish – the heron took to the skies at the first sign of human presence.
There are 3.6 million pairs of blue tit in the UK. As well as the black ‘mask of zorro’, it has blue cap, wings and tail. The back is green and the underparts yellow. It is a regular visitor to gardens, but is also seen in woodlands and parks.
Blue tit in flight with peanut
This photo was taken this afternoon (21/10/2019). The shutter speed was 1/2000 sec, which indicates just how fast those wings move. Despite the imperfections in the photo, I was pleased to capture a dynamic image.
Rare visitors this month include peregrines overhead as well as willow warblers hiding deep in the foliage. Dragonflies, bees and butterflies maintain their seasonal visit. September has also seen the ongoing presence of resident birds such as sparrows, robins and blue-tits.
Colourful flowers
Colour continues into September. The purple Clematis particularly provided a beautiful backdrop. The roses revival is nothing short of resurrection, considering the dry, brown state of the whole bush in August. A trip to the local garden centre injected some additional colour. No idea what we got – the sole criteria was that anything we bought had to be in flower.
Dragonflies
The dragonflies continued presence was as welcome as the warm, late summer temperatures. My photography skills limit my ability to catch these bugs in flight. I have to wait until they land before approaching with the camera.
Sparrows
There are long stretches of time when there are very few birds present in the garden. Sparrows arrive one or two at a time, but these gregarious birds are not on their own for long.
Our sparrow population has risen this year. There is now a group of about a dozen birds. When they are in the garden they chat to each other as they move around. However, they can be very quiet once settled.
Peregrine
We are used to seeing Common Buzzards circling overhead. This Peregrine Falcon was a pleasant surprise and represents a first sighting from the garden. It was instantly recognisable, as we had seen some close up at Bird of Prey centres earlier in the summer.
Long-tailed tits
The long-tailed tits are similar to sparrows; they come in groups. After a summer break they are returning to the garden.
Finches
Greenfinch and anonGoldfinch
Greenfinches are difficult to spot. They blend in so well to the background; its only when they move that one’s eye is drawn to them. Goldfinches are regular visitors, but tend to stay high in the trees. Some of the juveniles are tempted down onto the feeders occasionally.
Blue tits and Great tits
Blue tit in the low morning sunGreat tit
Warbler
A first sighting of a willow warbler in the garden.
I have restricted myself to only five images from the garden in August. These are in no particular order, and have been chosen to illustrate the simple, diverse beauty of wildlife on my own door step for which I am grateful.
Speckled Wood Butterfly
The Speckled Wood Butterfly stood out for me, because of its more muted appearance compared to the more colourful red admiral, peacock and painted lady.
Dragonfly
The dragonfly is a fascinating creature with detailed inspection made possible to anyone with a mobile phone. This one sat in the sun, allowing me to get close whilst it soaked up the warmth.
Long tailed tit
These cute little fluff-balls returned to the garden in August after an absence of a few weeks. These three descended on the peanut feeder, which was a little unusual; they normally head for the mealworms.
Blue tit
After a month or two of the parent blue-tits looking a bit dishevelled as they moult and the juveniles appearing in muted grey and pastel yellow, it is good to see the beautiful, fresh blue and yellow of the mature bird.
Juvenile sparrows
These juvenile sparrows are the product of the amorous parents pictured in previous month’s blogs. We have a healthy, growing population despite the attention of local cats, including our own, or the odd, infrequent sparrowhawk strike.
A week or so ago was a bad hair day. This blue tit appeared exhausted and in need of a few minutes break. It landed on the arbour in the sunshine, spread out its wings, opened its beak as though breathing deeply and just lay there for several minutes.
Exhausted parent – taking a bit of ‘Mum’ time
The story so far…
This blue tit has survived rain, snow, ice and everything that autumn, winter and spring could throw at it. It has been a wonderful acrobat, constantly on the move, flitting through the trees and undergrowth collecting food to feed itself and more recently a growing family. It had bathed and preened itself.
Success… the next generation
Three juvenile blue tits
All of the adult bird’s hard work is now rewarded. These three juveniles have now fledged and are collecting their own food.
The juvenile is grey where the adult is blue and the yellow is a slightly more pastel hue.
The temperature is rising in the garden and there is plenty going on. Life is busy with family commitments, taking photos, editing photos, refurbishments among other things.
A bit of landscaping was needed. The bluebells and primroses have gone. Other flowers are appearing, but a helping hand was required to fill in a bit of a lull in colour. An old tree trunk was removed to make way for this beautiful, vividly red Azalea.
When removing the trunk we found two stag beetle larvae, which have been re-housed and have become family pets. These larvae remain in this state for up to 7 years and survive on a diet of rotting wood and leaves. They are yet to be named.
Colour continues to be a feature: some homegrown and some acquired along with the Azalea.
This juvenile robin is a regular visitor, attracted by the mealworm on the bird table. Other species of juveniles and fledglings are also visiting daily.
These starlings are quite raucous. They are gregarious and chatter away to each other, hoovering up any available food, both competitively and cooperatively.
We are yet to see any sparrow chicks, but if you look carefully at these two photos, you’ll see that its only a matter of time. These two are doing there bit to continue the recent recovery in the sparrow population following the more longer term decline from the 1960/70’s levels.
Blue tits are a constant presence in the garden, performing their acrobatics effortlessly.
We have a couple of great tits visiting daily at the present time. The coal tit is a shy visitor, but the long tailed tits appear to have moved on for the moment.
Sparrows and dunnocks chirp and sing respectively and are never far away.
Hoverflys are enjoying the increased temperatures and move jerkily around the garden in an attempt to make it difficult for predators (and photographers!).
The garden has seen an explosion of colour this month. I must have been aware of this in previous years, but this year I have observed it more closely – yellow primroses and daffodils; white snowdrops and blossom; purple crocuses; pink camellia, cherry blossom, clematis and apple blossom; blue bluebells; green grass and new foliage.
Whilst the background colours and textures have changed, the change in visiting bird-life has been more subtle and not quite what I expected. The bird species I have seen are: sparrow, dunnock, pigeon, magpie, starling, robin, goldfinch, blue tit, blackbird.
There have been absences too. Where are the long tailed tits, siskins, chaffinches, coal tits, wrens, blackcaps? Have they deserted the garden feeding stations now that nature is producing abundant new growth and insects?
My photography knowledge has increased. I leave it to others to judge whether this has resulted in improved quality. I now photograph in RAW instead of JPEG, giving greater flexibility in the post production stage. My camera is now set on manual rather than automatic and I now select the ISO, shutter speed and aperture setting. Most wildlife photo ops are fleeting, lasting only a few seconds and require patience and perseverance. Familiarity with camera controls and settings are essential to respond when those brief seconds present themselves.
With warmer temperatures and school holidays I have ventured beyond the confines of the garden. These are a few pictures taken at Brownsea Island, Pamphill and Moors Valley.
Please, mister, please, Take my picture, if you will, I'll just stand here on this post, And keep very still.
I have a busy day ahead, Lots of food to find, But maybe just one photograph, if you'd be so kind
In January 2019 at least 20 different bird species visited our Dorset garden. Virtually all would be instantly recogniseable, and will have been visiting for sometime. But this year I have taken a closer look at the birds and their behaviour – camera in hand.
Blackbird territorial fight
“Billy” the blackbird
“Billy” is an adolescent male blackbird. He is very possessive about his garden. One morning he attacked a trespasser. He was quite ferocious and didn’t care that “Miggi”, my cat, and I were within a few feet. The altercation lasted about 3 or 4 minutes, before both birds flew off.
The altercation
The trespasser has not returned. “Billy” permits other species, but only allows one other blackbird in the garden; a female who we’ve given the name “Rose”. Who knows? Later in the spring we may have the flutter of tiny wings!
“Rose” female blackbird
“Rose” has a misplaced tail feather. It doesn’t seem to affect her flying ability or cause discomfort, but it does make her instantly recogniseable.
Long tailed tits – feeding and acrobatics
Long tailed tit
Long tailed tits have been referred to, by Bill Bailey in his Remarkable Guide to British Birds, as ‘flying teaspoons’ and ‘cute fluffballs’. They are constantly moving in groups and I found them tricky to photograph until I was able to anticipate their movement.
They arrive in the garden, normally in groups of 3 or 4 – sometimes more, sometimes less. They head straight for the tree in the corner that overhangs the feeding station. One by one they drop down to the meal worm feeder, where they stay only long enough to pick up a meal worm with their beak. Then they head back to the tree, or other bush, where they hang upside down, clutching a branch with one claw and holding the meal worm in the other until they have eaten. This position looks uncomfortable, but gives them the ability to survey the skies for predators whilst they eat.
Feeding and bathing
Robin’s prefer seed or meal worm; blue tits prefer peanuts and both are daily visitors. They also both enjoy an occasional bath.
They don’t seem to mind what the temperature, but they do prefer sunshine so they can preen themselves afterwards.
Blue tit – drying off after a bird bath
Some less common visitors
One of the exciting things about maintaining a more watchful eye over the comings and goings of ‘visitors’ to the garden is when a new behaviour or new species is spotted in the garden.
I was delighted on Friday, 11th January, when this Siskin showed up. Although they are not that uncommon, I can’t remember seeing one before and certainly not in the garden in the 13 or 14 years we’ve been in this house. It was a beautiful sunny day and he came and plonked himself right in front of my camera, giving me enough time to take a few shots.
Goldcrest
On a cold 22nd January I was fiddling with my camera facing the feeding station when I became aware of something moving 90 degrees to my right. I turned and snapped and this is what I got: a goldcrest. I have only seen one of these once before at Longham Lakes a few years ago. I was going to take another, but he’d gone. It made my day.
There have been a couple of other newcomers: a female blackcap and chaffinch, but I haven’t been able to catch them yet on film. Work in progress.
Stephen's Wildlife 