Month: April 2013

Very sunny day in Edinburgh but very few birds in the garden.

Lovely and sunny here in Edinburgh today, absolutely beautiful weather! Ā Almost summer! Ā However birds donā€™t want to show themselves again, very few about:

  1. Blackbird x ā€“ heard only
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Dunnock x 3
  4. Magpie x 1
  5. Woodpigeon x 3

5 species and I was in the garden almost all day, I took my computer outside and used the wifi which has now been moved to the back of the house and works great outside, even had shorts and a t-shirt on the weather was that nice! Ā Maybe my ugly mug was scaring them off!

So very windy in the garden I think the birds took shelter.

Sorry to say but the wind was a bit much to be out in the garden, and I think the birds felt the same, there werenā€™t many around in the garden, gulls were gliding very high in the wind over south Edinburgh, I was also off at the hospital most of the day getting nerves checked, a bit more about that below, I did manage to get the ISA, credit cards and savings done on the SaversceneĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) site, just havenā€™t had time to update them on the forum yet. Ā I will tomorrow. Ā My garden bird list and one from on the road back from hospital.

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 2, 1 of them chased the long tailed tits off the half coconut feeder.
  3. Carrion crow x 2 ā€“ flyovers.
  4. Dunnock x 3
  5. Long-tailed tit x 2
  6. Magpie x 2 ā€“ flying to their nest.
  7. Woodpigeon x 9 ā€“ on the way to hospital to get electric shocks in my arms and legs to see how my nerves worked, no improvement after surgery.

What terrible weather weā€™re having, wind, rain and Buddleia Weyeriana, very few birds.

I was in the garden a fair bit today, between rain storms, however very few birds showed, hereā€™s a very minimal list:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x heard only, an alarm call and sounded like a few birds. Couldnā€™t see them, they were in a neighbours garden.
  3. Carrion crow x 2 ā€“ at different times but 1 had a lot of white in itā€™s wings, the other was very black.
  4. Dunnock x 3
  5. Long-tailed tit x 2
  6. Woodpigeon x 1

For those trying to attract wildlife to your garden, I learnt about a different very nice looking variety ofĀ Buddleia the variety BuddleiaĀ Weyeriana, thanks to a post on one of my favourite wildlife garden blogs:Ā BuddleiaĀ WeyerianaĀ from Butterflies and Gardens.

Blue tit is back to the RSPB nest box, Common Buzzard high overhead.

The highlights of the day was seeing a Common Buzzard flying very high over head, seeing the blue tit return to the nest box and watching a woodpigeon eat part of an apple core I left out for the birds, if you are a heavy fruit eater like myself apple cores make great bird food! Ā Hereā€™s my bird list for Saturday 27th:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 2 ā€“ saw one going into the nest box.
  3. Carrion crow x 1
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Common Buzzard x 1
  6. Dunnock x 3
  7. Long-tailed tit x 2
  8. Magpie x 1
  9. Woodpigeon x 1

RSPB Scottishbirdfair & The Scotsman 2 for 1 tickets, my bird list

Iā€™ve added the information about theĀ RSPB Scottishbirdfair & The Scotsman 2 for 1 tickets below my garden bird list, I hope many of you can make it!

Wow, what a crazy day weather wise, rain, sun, hail, sun, rain, sleet, hail and itā€™s still lying at 23.00! Ā Iā€™ve just been outside burning garden waste for more carbon and I couldnā€™t believe how much was still on the ground! Ā The weather brought out a few extra birds on the feeders, hereā€™s my garden list:

  1. Blackbird x 1 first time Iā€™ve seen one in a few days.
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Carrion crow x 1
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Dunnock x 3
  6. Lesser black-backed gull x 1
  7. Long-tailed tit x 2
  8. Magpie x 1
  9. Robin x 1 first time in a while!
  10. Woodpigeon x 2

I hope to have a camera setup soon so people can watch my feeders, and I can see them when out and about too, I hope to grab one fromĀ Ā Fly On the Wall Wildlife CamerasĀ you can find a voucher code for a discount on Fly on the Wall Wildlife cameras here:
Very small bird list, voucher code for Fly On The Wall wildlife cameras!

RSPB Scottishbirdfair & The Scotsman ā€“Ā 2 for 1 ticket offer

Get your copy of The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday this weekend and enjoy an exclusive 2 for 1 ticket offer ā€“ treat yourself to a fun filled weekend! Simply insert the code on the ticket page at www.scottishbirdfair.org.uk, or cut out the voucher and bring it to the show.

Tickets

Adult Ā£12 (concessions / RSPB members Ā£10). 2-day ticket Ā£20 (concessions / RSPB members Ā£18) Children under 16 go free.

Opening times

Saturday 9.30am-5.30pm (food, bar & entertainment until 9pm). Sunday 9.30am-5.30pm (seabird cruise & BBQ 6pm-9pm).

Gardening, burning to get carbon and a very small bird list.

After being away and having internet problems in the hotel, I get home and I try to do a post and my netā€™s down.Ā  A bit annoying, back now so I can get my very small garden bird list up for the day, I was outside a fair bit today trying to get rid of horsetail weed and due to the internet being down in the afternoon, managed a few updates on saverscene UK and the Australian version such as a very helpful one for people that travel: travel insurance check that your credit card doesnā€™t already offer it:Ā You may already have travel insurance on your credit card, no point paying an insurance company (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) . Ā Also spent the evening trying to burn cuttings from the garden due to getting rid of a lot of old wood and the council missing my green waste bin twice in the past month.Ā  Iā€™d prefer to have the carbon back in the soil anyway, I would normally leave piles of branches to rot down naturally, however there were far too many due to the garden being neglected for years before we moved in. Ā Weā€™ve also not set up a good open compost for garden waste and only have a closed one for food scraps, once Iā€™ve got that setup I hope not to need the council green collection and to get all the goodness back into the garden without resorting to burning it.

Anyway. Hereā€™s my bird list for the day, sadly a bit short, but great to see the LTTs and the Bullfinch back:

  1. Blue Tit x 1
  2. Bullfinch x 1 ā€“ Male
  3. Carrion crow x 2
  4. Coal Tit x 2
  5. Dunnock x 3
  6. Long-tailed tit x 2
  7. Magpie x 1
  8. Woodpigeon x 1

Back at home watching my garden birds.

It is nice to be back to see the changes that haveĀ occurredĀ in just one week of being away, shocked by the amount ofĀ DaffodilsĀ in my garden, which can be great for attracting finches and I encourage to grow in the right spots in the garden.
This is the first spring Iā€™ve been in the garden and Iā€™m impressed by whatā€™s coming up so far.Ā  As for the birds, not a great deal around, I did see 2 Coal Tits mating, but not sure if the blue tit has continued with the nest at the end of the garden, didnā€™t see any activity about it at all today. Ā However that was the same last year in the previous garden, frantic activity for about 4 to 5 days, then nothing for almost 2 weeks, time to sit on eggs maybe? Ā Then frantic activity for about 16 days, and 4 young eventually fledged.

Hereā€™s the list for today:

  1. Blackbird x 1 ā€“ heard only
  2. Blue Tit x 1 ā€“ think itā€™s the one nesting in the nest box, but havenā€™t seen any birds in the box.
  3. Carrion crow x 1
  4. Coal Tit x 2 ā€“ saw them mating.
  5. Dunnock x 3
  6. Greenfinch x 2 ā€“ my mum who is visiting from Australia felt these looked like Budgies! Ā Guess she doesnā€™t notice theĀ parrotĀ beak to the finch beak, she was a little away from them, so Iā€™ll forgive her.
  7. Magpie x 2
  8. Woodpigeon x 2

Last day in the Netherlands ā€“ Bird count was low.

Spent most of the last day resting either at the hotel or at the airport just to relax my feet, still managed a few birds:

  1. Common Buzzard
  2. Coots
  3. Cormorant
  4. House Sparrow
  5. Jackdaw
  6. Lapwings
  7. Magpie
  8. Pied Wagtail
  9. Starlings
  10. Woodpigeons

The gardens in the Netherlands were amazing, however we were a little too early for a lot of the Tulips this year, normally would have been the peak week but the cold weather was not great for them, Iā€™d love to go back! Iā€™ll try and get a few photos up in the next few days, Iā€™ve got a lot of work to do on the money saving websites and a few smaller jobs Iā€™ve got to send out photos for. Ā Hope thereā€™ll still be time for bird watching, I hope to try and get to a few of the RSPB reserves in Scotland ā€“ find your closest ones:Ā http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/Ā over the next few weeks, I think my feet are finally up to the challenge :D

Another great day out at Keukenhof gardens, decent bird list.

Even though I was out doing my real work, photography, I managed to update the savings, ISAs and credit cards over on www.saverscene.co.ukĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) then a few of the banks went and changed their rates and I had to do it again tonight!!! Ā How inconsiderate of them! Ā I did get out to Keukenhof today and got to see some great birds as well as a few 100 very nice flower photos. Ā I sadly missed by just a few minutes the mating dance of the Great Crested Grebe, a few other birders seemed to take real pleasure in telling me! Ā I didnā€™t see as many bird species today as I did the other day, hereā€™s my list today:

  1. Blackbird
  2. Carrion crow
  3. Chaffinch
  4. Chiffchaff
  5. Coots
  6. Egyptian Goose
  7. Great crested grebe
  8. Great tits
  9. Greylag goose
  10. Grey Heron
  11. House Sparrow
  12. Jackdaw
  13. Lapwings
  14. Long-tailed tits
  15. Magpie
  16. Mallard Duck
  17. Moorhens
  18. Mute Swans
  19. Oystercatcher
  20. Pied Wagtail
  21. Starlings
  22. Tufted duck
  23. Woodpigeons

The Comments that were below this post before the server move:

  1. Wes Donze said on April 24, 2013

    thats a good list ā€“ hope to see something similar this weekend as i am heading there myself ā€“ also heading to a spot where there should be a number of birds near where i am staying in Weesp.

    Apologies for not yet posting my bird list from Sweden ā€“ i seem to have been so busy this last week or so ā€“ am taking the laptop this weekend so might get a chance when i am in Holland

    I have seen the mating dance of the Grebes twice before ā€“ once in Holland too ā€“ and just caught the very end of it in Sweden a few days ago

    • KiwiGav said on April 24, 2013

      Weesp does look like a great place for seeing birds! Lots of water around there. I hope you had a great time in Sweden and have a wonderful time in Holland. Iā€™d never seen a Grebe before, so was very happy to see them, when at Keukenhof theyā€™re just round from the Wilhelmina pavilion, after the bridge near the white horse statue, where the river bows a bit, Keukenhof map here:
      http://www.keukenhof.nl/uploads/2013/Plattegrond/2223_kh_plattegrond_2013_v6_lr_def.pdf

      Youā€™ll be going at a great time, the flowers are a lot later this year, a lot still werenā€™t out when I was were there! First time Iā€™d been back in 10 years, last time I was 23 and with a heap of Aussie backpackers, good fun, but probably didnā€™t take as much in as I could have.

      Totally understand being busy! If I didnā€™t have to take every second day out for putting my feet up Iā€™d probably not have been able to do updates, but I would have got out a bit more to see the birds. Iā€™ve just gone back to bed at 10.20 am to write this! Feels odd and terrible to be spending so much time off my feet!

      Iā€™ll try and get a few photos up before you go, ran out of room on my computer, but will move things about tonight.

  2. Wes Donze said on May 2, 2013

    Yes I saw the Great Crested Grebe on a nest there. As you say the flowers are later this year ā€“ 1 to 2 weeks iā€™d say ā€“ also the birds ā€“ I have seen a Grebe with young there, also Mallard and Mute Swan with young but they were all late this year

    KiwiGav said on May 2, 2013

    Glad to hear you got to see a good range there. I really have to sort my photos out, I just donā€™t have any room on my computer, itā€™s ridiculous! My photography computer is still packed in storage.

Bird list from Schiphol airport for April 21st.

Sorry the update didnā€™t happen yesterday, once again the free wifi was down at night, Iā€™ve posted a video:Ā http://www.saverscene.com.au/general-chat/7811-bloemencorso-2013-holland-flower-festival-youtube-video.htmlĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) of theĀ Bloemencorso 2013 Holland Flower Festival parade youtube video. Ā Sadly I didnā€™t get to see it and I didnā€™t get out toĀ Keukenhof gardensĀ yesterday due to my torn ankle tendons, my bird list for yesterday is all from the SchipholĀ airport as thatā€™s where Iā€™m staying at the moment.

  1. Coot
  2. Grey Heron
  3. Jackdaw ā€“ I noticed at the airport these acted more like the pigeons you’d find at many other airports around the world, very interesting to watch.Ā  People mustā€™ve thought I was crazy as I noticed food rubbish in a few bins so I would grab it off the top and scatter it for the Jackdaws, they loved it.
  4. Lapwing
  5. Magpie
  6. Oystercatcher

Iā€™m heading back to the gardens today, Iā€™m going to update the UK finance pages first, including the best ISA rates, credit card offers and savings interest rates, you can find them here:Ā http://www.saverscene.co.uk/ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) . Ā Hopefully Iā€™ll have another bumper day watching birds whilst doing my work of photographing flowers!