Tag: Blue Tits

Where have all my house sparrows gone?

Wow the snow really came down hard over night and most of today, I only had brief chances to look outside as I was doing DIY projects trying to get a room ready for when my parents come over from Australia on Sunday!!! Ā Hopefully weā€™ll make it in time, and between DIY and watching birds I was doing the finance updates for ISAs, credit cards and saving accounts over onĀ www.saverscene.co.ukĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) ā€“ I try to find the best rates to help everyone, itā€™s tough time for savers!

I did a great list of birds even for the short time I managed to look outside, the blackbird count was fantastic, interesting to note that it was 4 male and 1 female. Ā Iā€™m pretty sure there was a Black-headed gull and it looked as if the summer plumage had really come in and looked fantastic:

  1. Blackbird x 5
  2. Black-headed Gull x 1
  3. Blue Tit x 2
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Dunnock x 2
  6. Greenfinch x 2
  7. Long-tailed tit x 1
  8. Magpie x 1
  9. Woodpigeon x 2

Itā€™s weird that pretty much after I put up a RSPB terraced nestbox for house sparrows and about that time they allĀ disappeared! Ā Not seen them for over 2 weeks.

Where have all my house sparrows gone?

Wow the snow really came down hard over night and most of today, I only had brief chances to look outside as I was doing DIY projects trying to get a room ready for when my parents come over from Australia on Sunday!!! Ā Hopefully weā€™ll make it in time, and between DIY and watching birds I was doing the finance updates for ISAs, credit cards and saving accounts over on (UPDATE: saverscene now CLOSED due to moving to carer in horticulture hope to have my gardening website up early 2019) – I try to find the best rates to help everyone, itā€™s tough time for savers!

I did a great list of birds even for the short time I managed to look outside, the blackbird count was fantastic, interesting to note that it was 4 male and 1 female. Ā Iā€™m pretty sure there was a Black-headed gull and it looked as if the summer plumage had really come in and looked fantastic:

  1. Blackbird x 5
  2. Black-headed Gull x 1
  3. Blue Tit x 2
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Dunnock x 2
  6. Greenfinch x 2
  7. Long-tailed tit x 1
  8. Magpie x 1
  9. Woodpigeon x 2

Itā€™s weird that pretty much after I put up a RSPB terraced nestbox for house sparrows and about that time they allĀ disappeared! Ā Not seen them for over 2 weeks.

Added Collared Dove to my list today :D

Well done to England in the Rugby, probably the more exciting game of the weekend, got a bit worried about the scrums and ref at the start but things settled. Ā English defence is amazing! Ā Now onto the birds, I managed to add another first for the garden aĀ collared dove, very happy to see one show up in the garden, although itā€™s the one bird my dog doesnā€™t seem to like due to the noise they make.

The day started with heavy snow showers, it was quickly burnt off by the sun, then returnedĀ intermittently throughout the day and as dusk rolled in was quite heavy again and is lying out there now. It was the first day the feeders were heavily used in a few weeks and were almost cleared out. Ā The Long Tailed Tits were back and was great to see 2 birds together inside a RSPB half coconut eating the fat, it seems to be their favourite as they dash to branches near by have a feed then back to the coconut.

Hereā€™s my list for today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 2
  3. Carrion crow x 4 fly over
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Collared Dove x 1
  6. Dunnock x 1
  7. Feral Pigeon x 1
  8. Long-tailed tit x 2
  9. Magpie x 2
  10. Woodpigeon x 1

I wonder where all my house sparrows have gone? Ā Not seen any since February 23rd

Added Collared Dove to my list today.

Well done to England in the Rugby, probably the more exciting game of the weekend, got a bit worried about the scrums and ref at the start but things settled. Ā English defence is amazing! Ā Now onto the birds, I managed to add another first for the garden aĀ collared dove, very happy to see one show up in the garden, although itā€™s the one bird my dog doesnā€™t seem to like due to the noise they make.

The day started with heavy snow showers, it was quickly burnt off by the sun, then returnedĀ intermittently throughout the day and as dusk rolled in was quite heavy again and is lying out there now. It was the first day the feeders were heavily used in a few weeks and were almost cleared out. Ā The Long Tailed Tits were back and was great to see 2 birds together inside a RSPB half coconut eating the fat, it seems to be their favourite as they dash to branches near by have a feed then back to the coconut.

Hereā€™s my list for today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 2
  3. Carrion crow x 4 fly over
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Collared Dove x 1
  6. Dunnock x 1
  7. Feral Pigeon x 1
  8. Long-tailed tit x 2
  9. Magpie x 2
  10. Woodpigeon x 1

I wonder where all my house sparrows have gone? Ā Not seen any since February 23rd

A grey day today, very few birds about.

Very grey and wet again today and little action in the garden, Iā€™m wondering if maybe the Long-tailed Tits are nesting nearby as theyā€™re around a lot of the day at the moment, they flit from my garden to the next and back, great to hear them, one of my favourites!

 

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Long-tailed tit x 2
  4. Magpie x ā€“ Heard but not seen today
  5. Woodpigeon x 3

Back to my garden bird watching.

It

was weird to come back from a few days away and find that the feeder hasnā€™t gone down at all, at least Iā€™ve not missed any rare species dropping by while I was away! Ā Today although back at home was busy indoors working on a site for my Australian friends who asked for a version of the finance pages Iā€™ve made for the UK and this is what Iā€™ve managed so farĀ Saver Scene Australia Finance (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession)Ā it looks at the best deals for credit cards, cash savings and due to the fact many Australian banks charge for bank accounts, yes; the standard current account we get free here in the UK, Iā€™ve added a section to help my Aussie friends and family find free bank accounts!

Over the next few days Iā€™ll try to write up a bit about Focus on Imaging that I went to in Birmingham, where Iā€™d hoped to get out for some birding, but spent every day at the NEC seeing as much as I could in the time I was there. Ā Danny Green showed some great photos if you havenā€™t seen his work he does some great wildlife photography Danny Green PhotographyĀ well worth checking.

  1. Blackbird x 2
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Carrion crow x 1
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Dunnock x 1
  6. Magpie x 9
  7. Woodpigeon x 3

If you havenā€™t already make sure you cut back your Buddleia/Buddleja so that new growth can sprout new growth which will bring more flowers, see whatĀ Lyn from Butterflies and Gardens did to hers over the weekend here:Ā Buddleia pruning.Ā  Hope to have my own gardening advice website up and running in 2019.

A very warm day in Edinburgh and a great day of birding and gardening!

Wow what a wonderful day in Edinburgh, I actually think I got sunburnt! Ā It was definitely T-shirt weather, great for being out in the garden and there were a lot of birds around, finally got a full set of tits that visit my garden in one day, hereā€™s the list:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Bullfinch x 1 Male
  4. Carrion crow x 2
  5. Coal Tit x 1
  6. Common Buzzard x 1 -flying the lowest Iā€™ve seen it over my house. Ā Very awesome!
  7. Dunnock x 2
  8. Feral Pigeon x 1
  9. Great Tit x 1
  10. Long-tailed tit x 2
  11. Magpie x 2
  12. Woodpigeon x 2

Not sure where the chaffinches, robins and wrens have got to this year, the wren hasnā€™t even made it on the list yet and weā€™re over 2 months in!

Iā€™m not sure if Iā€™ll have internet access for the next few days, so donā€™t worry if Iā€™m not here. Ā I will try and do the finance updates for SaverScene & Saver Scene AustraliaĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) and any bird lists that I get to see if I have internet access, if not theyā€™ll be a few days late, but will keep record.

A magpie pops up and saves the list of being only 2 birds!

been another hectic day today and I thought I was only going to get to see 2 species of birds and then suddenly a magpie pops up on the window sill, I was very happy, it looked to be having a great time, think it was stealing bulbs from the garden! Ā Hereā€™s my very short list:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 3
  3. Magpie x 1

The day became fantastically sunny in Edinburgh, Bird Guides Photo of the week.

Another busy day today, but the afternoon was glorious and sunny so I went out to cut back theĀ Buddleia in my garden, the plant recommend on the Butterfly Conservation top 100, while doing this I was treated to the wonderful chirps of the little bobbing long-tailed tits, there were 2 feeding on the fat in the RSPB half coconuts, absolutely superb birds full of character, Iā€™m pretty positive there were more near by but I didnā€™t see them, so just 2 have been added today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 3
  3. Coal Tit x 1
  4. Dunnock x 4
  5. Long-tailed tit x 2
  6. Magpie x 1
  7. Woodpigeon x 2

Starlings zigged & zagged through the sky, garden bird list.

Iā€™ve had a very busy day today, weā€™re getting a new central heating system put in and itā€™s been a bit hectic, I did have time to do Monday updates on ISA, Savings and Credit CardsĀ and to put together the list of 100 best plants for attracting wildlifeĀ to your garden. Ā I also manage to get out and see a few birds in or over the garden, including 13 starlings that I got to watch for about 10 minutes as they zigged and zaggedĀ Ā through the sky, diving in close and checking their roosting place then flicking back into the sky high over the roost, watching it from every angle, amazing to watch, I hope to one day see one of the huge murmurationsĀ as seen in Wexford.

Hereā€™s the list of the birds I did have theĀ fortuneĀ to see today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Carrion crow x 3 fly overs
  4. Chaffinch x 1
  5. Dunnock x 1
  6. Magpie x 2 fly overs
  7. Starlings x 13
  8. Woodpigeon x 5