Very busy at the bird feeder today! (1 Viewer)

[Bananafishbones]

Hi falconer.... good report

however....

This is spooky but I am pretty convinced that I have just had a female Reed Bunting in the garden, was just going for the camera when everything got spooked and cant now see it. Have asked CB (who knows this area very well) if I am going mad :smoke:

It was a Reed Bunting though :t: *** update*** Confirmed, it has just been in the willow***

Mistle Thrush still here, will upload some very poor pics in a while

Mega mega snow here lots of other activity massive counts of Greenfinch (20+) and Chaffinch, at least 9 males & 6 females.

Dave

 

[captaincarot]

interesting morning

hoards of blue and great tits.

collared doves jackdaw and magpie blackbird wren and dunnock in and out all morning.

this is usual though.

what is unusual is the flock of chaffinch up to 9 simultaneously who have been here all morning, up till now they have been around in 1 or 2's but not on the feeders.
the same goes for the gold finches we had 3 in earlier feeding.
plus greenfinch a garden first for us and 2 turned up together with the gold finches and a female bull finch so far we've only had a couple of visits from a male.

 

[JeffMoh]

it's woody woodpecker
ha ha ha haa ha

great pic jeff especially considering you've only just got the camera

Hobbes was right about it being a Pileated Woodpecker. Very impressive bird.

BTW, Woody was inspired by a different and much smaller species, the Acorn Woodpecker.

Jeff

 

[captaincarot]

Hobbes was right about it being a Pileated Woodpecker. Very impressive bird.

BTW, Woody was inspired by a different and much smaller species, the Acorn Woodpecker.

Jeff

now we want pics with your new camera of the acorn woodpecker so we can see what you're referring too

congratulations on the reed bunting BFB.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Mega afternoon here in snowy Cheshire:

Fieldfare (first time I have seen one this winter)
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Bullfinch m+f
Redwing 2
Reed Bunting female


plus all usual visitors

 

[michael23]

started off with 8 log tailed tits this morning as i opened curtains. 2 Song thrushes in today, 2 robins a few blue tits and great tits, 5 dunnocks and 3 greedy squirrels, at least they are not demolishing anything today. Magpies and collard doves about 6 of each in the trees, 2 wood pigeons, 5 chaffinches.
Robin this morning (the one I believe to be the same each time) was right in front of me whilst putting food out, he was picking oats up as they dropped on the ground.

Going for a walk down a disuesed railway and to a flooded field near my house to see if anything is about shortly.

 

[Hobbes2]

Wow, lots of great birds in gardens today (Reed Buntings?! :t! Lovely, fluffy Robin picture Michael.

The Starling came back today and brought a mate, lol. I'm always impressed by Starling's plumage - lovely glossy black, shimmering with greens and blues and reds and with all those pretty speckles. Uploaded a photo in the gallery (if anyone is interested: http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=284374) although it's quite difficult to get details of 'black' birds against white snow.

*wishing hard for Redpoll*

Hobbes

 

[Bananafishbones]

Too excited and too far awy sat here in the warmth of the kitchen today to worry about quality of pics


Lovely robin pic michael, great detail.

 

[Hobbes2]

Too excited and too far awy sat here in the warmth of the kitchen today to worry about quality of pics

A great haul for today Dave! No wonder you were excited.

Interesting how your Starling has its 'winter' black bill whilst my Starlings had much more of their summer 'yellow' bills. Perhaps they don't always change completely?

Hobbes

 

[Disneynut1973]

Just had a Wren in the garden to finish off the day!

Dave you've had some great birds today :t:

Pam

 

[Bananafishbones]

Cheers all
Amazingly busy today, it snowing heavily all day. Even the Redwings came to ground and also sat in the hedge taking shelter alongside the housesparrows.

To have all the Thrush species in the garden was fantastic!! The Reed Bunting showed up twice, we do have a reed bed about a mile away (where the snipe winter) so it may have come over looking for food.

The only regular I didnt see was the Coal tits, but everything else were in good numbers especially the Greenfinch who numbered 20 at one point and the Chaffinch who were very busy. A Rook showed up too

I am on lates this week so should be able to see the garden for the best part of the daylight hours.

Dave

 

[michael23]

Forgot to mention, had a new flyover for my garden today, which was 6 greylag geese, managed to grab2 pics, very quickly, surprisingly dave,i have not seen my coal tits today either, wonder where they have gone, normally see them day in day out.

 

[peter hill]

Had to go out to flatten the snow down then put seed on top for the chaffys had about a dozen at one time then the snow covered the seed again fighting a loseing battle B

 

[Cheshire Birder]

This is spooky but I am pretty convinced that I have just had a female Reed Bunting in the garden, was just going for the camera when everything got spooked and cant now see it. Have asked CB (who knows this area very well) if I am going mad :smoke:

It was a Reed Bunting though :t: *** update*** Confirmed, it has just been in the willow***

Congratulations on the Reed Bunting Dave :t::t:

Mega afternoon here in snowy Cheshire:

Fieldfare (first time I have seen one this winter)
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Bullfinch m+f
Redwing 2
Reed Bunting female

Had a similar haul of birds in my garden this morning - 1 Fieldfare (only seen a few times before although I cant recall when I last saw one in the garden), c30 Black-headed Gulls coming to bread, 2 Redwings and 1 Jay.

Had to go out to flatten the snow down then put seed on top for the chaffys had about a dozen at one time then the snow covered the seed again fighting a loseing battle B

Hope your keeping warm in the snow. How much have you had in Whalley Bridge?

CB

 

[Hobbes2]

Had to go out to flatten the snow down then put seed on top for the chaffys had about a dozen at one time then the snow covered the seed again fighting a loseing battle B

Hi Peter
I don't know whether this will be of any use to you or not but, just in case, I'll share my method of ground feeding at the moment.

Basically, I'm using the lid from the recycling boxes we get from the coucil. It's plastic, large and sits perfectly on the snow. Plus, if there's any food left in it after dark you can bring it in and then put it back out in the morning.

Attached is a picture of 'my' Robin on the tray.
Hobbes

 

[wayne1983]

Been really nice here, saw at least 3 robins in 1 time, along with all the other 'regulars'.
And today weve had heavy snow which has made it feel like a christmas card scene seeing the robins in the snow!oB

 

[karpman]

Hi guys.

Once again thanks for you kind comments, And what a weekend it has been in your gardens:t:
Splendid photos and that wood pecker really is something jeez could not imagine seeing that on me tree lol:-O
Been busy here been somewere else for dinner and had visitors but i did get some garden watching in!

Usual large amounts of Greenfinch and Chaffinch sprinklings of Dunnocks and Blackbirds a good dose of Starling.
Gratz on the Reed Bunting and Fieldfare dave awesome! Not had the parakeet back today not as i had noticed but he has been sighted a few doors away just hope he stays alive long enough to be captured as it was obviously not wild wise, Missing Coal tits at the minute were they gone? Been replaced with sparrows it seems who have took to ignoring my feeders and and splatting stuff out the gutters on me car the cheek!:-O

Even managed a couple of shots today which was nice.
without further ado~!

karpman

 

[green eyes]

Well a whole load of snow was dumped on Sheffield today...light snow showers said the forecast! Anyway, when there was a bt of light, got a few shots(the rest of the time I was roaring with laughter at In the Loop.)o

Merry crispmouse chaps and chapesses. :cat:

 

[karpman]

Wow super pics GE
Sorry micheal forgot to mention your grey lags over nice one and super record shot!

karpman

 

[Bananafishbones]

GE the Collared dove image is brilliant... lovely pics as ever

Karpman the Woodpigeon is also brilliant, I love the eye level shot of it (looks like your getting the best out of your camera)

Hobbes I like your cunning plan to ground feed, thanks to the councel

Pam nice last bird of the day with a Wren, another bird to grace a winter postcard

Michael well done with capturing the Greylags flyover, I always miss my flyovers, unprepared

I cant wait for tomorrow to see what turns up.... I have some crackling from todays roast ready to put out tomorrow, I guess the Starlings will win the war for it though.

I had a clear out of the cupboards today and put out a load of broken biscuits, stale(ish)crackers etc... they went down very well, even the Carrions dared come nearer for them, a Rook swooped and grabbed also.

I cant believe how many times Redwings came in today, I guess it could have been the same pair returning time and again..... seems they are getting regulars..lol was really funny to see one of them take shelter in the hedge when the snow really came down... sat next to a few Housesparrows.. Fantastic
Great to see the Mistle thrush in the tree and on the lawn, not long after the Song Thrush turned up, it really is small by comparison. Then to look up in the tree later on and see the Fieldfare (its funny that I knew straight away that this wasnt a normal visitor just by its presence or jizz of the way it was sat on the branch).

The day started off with a double take, I saw a bird fly across the lawn, the rear looked paler than anything that normally scoots across the lawn, again when you watch your garden you instinctivly know something different, their it was, I had great views of it..... a Reed Bunting. It then flew to the willow tree were all the feeders are but flew off when everything got spooked... I had camera in hand aswell. A short while later it re-apperaed but only for a few seconds.

Today was one of those days that makes garden watching so exciting. Feeding is just because we care, to be able to watch and see whats about is fun....and educational!!!.

Is intresting to note (not only from this thread) the lack of garden regular Coal tits today. This is the first day in over 3 months that I have not seen any of the 3. Maybe just missed them with all the commotion at the feeders or just keeping out of the weather.
Tomorrow awaits
Dave