Very busy at the bird feeder today! (5 Viewers)

[JeffMoh]

Sounds like you had a good time. Dont think i would have been able to stand the 30+ degrees temperatures tho.
CB

Actually, we're pleased it's cooled down a lot! It was 40C for over a week in June. Wouldn't be too bad except the humidity is very high. On the bright side, the heatwave and drought have kept mosquitoes away. Snakes have been remarkable by their absence so far this year, too. I don't know whether they hide out from the heat.

Jeff

 

[ChrisKten]

OK, as promised, here's some pics of one of the juvenile Jays.

Picture 1 is a parent passing the juvenile a monkey nut (juv is out of focus as it turned it's head).

Picture 2 is a few seconds after.

Picture 3 and 4 are of the juvenile on it's own wondering what to do with the monkey nut.

It's still dull and wet here, but hopefully I'll get some brighter pictures soon.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Chris Superb mate!!

Great pics showing off a great bit of family life, your best yet

Dave

PS
Juvenile Woody has returned today and spent a good half hour tree to tree

 

[ChrisKten]

Chris Superb mate!!

Great pics showing off a great bit of family life, your best yet

Dave

PS
Juvenile Woody has returned today and spent a good half hour tree to tree

Thanks Dave, is that Woody as in Woodpecker, or Wood Pigeon?

 

[Bananafishbones]

Woodpecker, the same chap the spent time pecking the lawn

 

[ChrisKten]

Woodpecker, the same chap the spent time pecking the lawn

As I read it, I remembered.|=)|

BTW, did you notice that in the first two pics I just posted, that the parent's crown feathers are raised? That's almost constant when it's with the juveniles; it shows that it's always alert/wary of danger.

 

[Bananafishbones]

As I read it, I remembered.|=)|

BTW, did you notice that in the first two pics I just posted, that the parent's crown feathers are raised? That's almost constant when it's with the juveniles; it shows that it's always alert/wary of danger.

I did notice on your first set of pics aswell, interesting observation

Again family life close up that you dont get to study as much when outside the garden environment

 

[ChrisKten]

I did notice on your first set of pics aswell, interesting observation

Again family life close up that you dont get to study as much when outside the garden environment

Yes it's true, you can learn quite a bit if you have the time to observe. It's a cliché, but I really do learn something new each year.

Anyway, I'm away to try to get a picture of the point when the nut is in both the juvenile's and the parent's beak, before it's passed across.

 

[JeffMoh]

OK, as promised, here's some pics of one of the juvenile Jays.

Picture 1 is a parent passing the juvenile a monkey nut (juv is out of focus as it turned it's head).

Picture 2 is a few seconds after.

Picture 3 and 4 are of the juvenile on it's own wondering what to do with the monkey nut.

It's still dull and wet here, but hopefully I'll get some brighter pictures soon.

Great set of photos, Chris! I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I'd like to take photos of some of our young birds but they seem to have disappeared; no doubt driven off by the #**#$! White-winged Doves that are taking over our feeders.

Jeff

 

[Tree Sparrow]

I'm just so behind yet again. Been dashing through the posts, mostly looking at the lovely pictures I have to admit lol.

My quick update is that this is definitely the most busy time of the year at my feeders, even more than when we had 2 ft of snow. Thank goodness the youngsters disperse later on as it's costing me a fortune!

One thing that might be of interest is that some of the yellowhammers have mastered using the seed feeder. They've always been happy to use the bird table bit but this is a new thing for me. Does anyone else have yellowhammers actually feeding from a suspended feeder?

I'll try and get a photo. Just had an adult male doing it a few minutes ago but it's currently peeing down so I'll wait for a bit of sunshine.

TS

 

[Cheshire Birder]

Bfb,

Do you know what the Woody has been feeding on?

CB

 

[Bananafishbones]

Bfb,

Do you know what the Woody has been feeding on?

CB

Hi CB
Worms :-O:-O:-O.... well it has been pecking at the lawn

Serously though it has been prodding away at the tree trunks and then hanging from the fat ball feeder, and occasionaly I buy a block of the cheapest value lard and scrape it into the bark or a crevice in a tree trunk and it has found that :t:

The smell must attract it from miles away



Dave

 

[Bananafishbones]

I'm just so behind yet again. Been dashing through the posts, mostly looking at the lovely pictures I have to admit lol.

My quick update is that this is definitely the most busy time of the year at my feeders, even more than when we had 2 ft of snow. Thank goodness the youngsters disperse later on as it's costing me a fortune!

One thing that might be of interest is that some of the yellowhammers have mastered using the seed feeder. They've always been happy to use the bird table bit but this is a new thing for me. Does anyone else have yellowhammers actually feeding from a suspended feeder?

I'll try and get a photo. Just had an adult male doing it a few minutes ago but it's currently peeing down so I'll wait for a bit of sunshine.

TS

Hi TS
It has not gone un-noticed of your lack of contribution recently :-O

Welcome back to the garden world :t:

Now wheres white kite & Larry Lade gone :king: Jeff is the only one keeping us upto date state side:t:

 

[Euan Buchan]

My fatballs are all gone will have to put more in

 

[Bananafishbones]

My fatballs are all gone will have to put more in

Mine are too, Jackdaw Juveniles swinging on it all morning, 4 fat balls in a day

 

[Bananafishbones]

Any sign of LBBG yet, Bfb?

Today CB :t: a single only high above the close and over the garden for a short while heading towards the high school. Now the clear blue skys have been overtaken by leaden grey and persistant drizzle I only see the Swifts high up.
Will keep my eyes peeled for more before going to work.

 

[ChrisKten]

Just a quick post. I have some new visitors, first this year, in fact, first for a few years.

I only got one quick blurry picture before they flew off, hopefully they'll be back. Oh, and there was 3 to start with, only two by the time I got my camera.

 

[Fozzybear]

Nice one Chris. I think you'll find that once the greenfinches find your feeders they'll be back regularly - I saw one in my garden earlier in the year, checking out all the feeders and the rest of the garden and then came back a few more times and then brought some friends, who've been visiting pretty much daily since then. In fact, sitting outside typing this I can hear a little bit of Greenfinch twittering going on in the background! ||

 

[Tree Sparrow]

Hi TS
It has not gone un-noticed of your lack of contribution recently :-O

Welcome back to the garden world :t:

Now wheres white kite & Larry Lade gone :king: Jeff is the only one keeping us upto date state side:t:

My problem is there is just tooooo much to do in the garden and never enough time to do bird stuff. Add in normal work and the day is gone in a flash.

Maybe WK & LL are flat out too.

Back to birds in the garden, well not quite IN the garden, but in the field next to it I saw my first black-headed gulls today. It's just been cut for silage and there were loads of rook, jackdaw, common gull, lbbg and amongst that at least three black-headed gulls. A new "from the window" tick for me :t:.

TS

 

[ChrisKten]

Nice one Chris. I think you'll find that once the greenfinches find your feeders they'll be back regularly - I saw one in my garden earlier in the year, checking out all the feeders and the rest of the garden and then came back a few more times and then brought some friends, who've been visiting pretty much daily since then. In fact, sitting outside typing this I can hear a little bit of Greenfinch twittering going on in the background! ||

I'll keep my fingers crossed, Fozzy. I think they may turn up after the Starlings fly off (not that they fly off often). It was interesting that they ignored the seed, and went straight for the nut feeder, maybe I'll put up another nut feeder.