Ground frozen solid and the garden birds not staying around.

The ground has frozen solid in my garden and the birds seem very busy flying around but not settling long enough to see what they are, they don’t seem that interested in the feeders today, I had noticed a fair few insects in the air yesterday which surprised me for such a cold winters day. Off to watch BBC Winterwatch on the iplayer and see if Chris Packham’s added any more Madness song titles to his list, here’s my very cold morning’s garden bird count:

Blackbird x 4
Blue Tit x 2
Carrion crow x 1
Chaffinch x 1
Coal Tit x 2
Dunnock x 1 added 11.34
House Sparrow x 11 updated 11.34
Magpie x 1 added 11.34
Robin x 1 added 11.34
Woodpigeon x 3

BBC’s Winterwatch great footage of Long-tailed Tits, Garden bird list.

The snow is still lying on the ground but there seems to be very few birds around in my garden. I’ve just been watching BBC’s Winterwatch episode 2; if you’re a fan of Long-tailed Tits there’s a great piece about 9 or 10 minutes in: BBC iplayer Winterwatch I’ve only seen them roosting once before, but not nestling down, just a pure accident. Here’s my garden bird list so far, hope to update later in the day.

Blackbird x 2
Black-headed x 2, One of them didn’t have a tail, it seemed to be doing very well though!
Blue Tit x 3
Bullfinch x 3 – updated 11.13
Carrion crow x 2
Dunnock x 1
Herring Gull x 1
House Sparrows x 5 – updated 11.13
Magpie x 1
Woodpigeon x 3

Out for a gentle stroll to the park.

As many regular viewers of the site would know I’ve had 3 torn ankle tendons in the past 4 years and major screw ups from the NHS causing long lasting pain but I was a landscape photographer (can’t currently work at that) and really NEED to walk! It’s my hobby, my job, my passion! So when I feel I can do some I get out for gentle strolls with a walking stick, whilst at Saint Margaret’s Park I saw my first Pied Wagtail for the year, plus a few other birds:

Carrion Crow x 5
Pied Wagtail
Woodpigeon x 2

Snow falling in Edinburgh and my first Blackcap of the year.

The snow has started to fall again in Edinburgh and there’s been another first for the year a Blackcap – there may have been 2 as one was feeding on some fatballs and another bird flew in and knocked it off, it all happened so fast I didn’t see if it was another blackcap. Remember if you have seen any Blackcaps during January the BTO – Garden Blackcap Survey is currently running. Also added Feral Pigeon to the list today, I would have thought it’d be one on the list for the year by now but due to the fact I’ve been stuck at home due to injury and it’s not overly common in our garden I hadn’t seen any!

Blackbird x 4
Blackcap x 1 – Female.
Blue Tit x 2
Carrion crow x1
Chaffinch x 2
Coal Tit x 3
Dunnock x 2
Feral Pigeon x 3
Goldcrest x 2 updated 15.22 – this is another first for the year, and a first I’ve seen in my new garden!
Greenfinch x 12
House Sparrow x 2
Long-tailed tit x 2 updated 15.37
Magpie x1
Robin x 1 – good to see the Robin back!
Woodpigeon x 5

Wood Pigeons already mating and a new bird to the list.

I witnessed wood pigeons mating today, as well as very frisky dunnocks, also added another bird to the year list a Jackdaw, shocked it’s taken this long but first I’ve seen so far, here’s today’s garden bird list:

Blackbird x 3
Black-headed gull x 1
Blue Tit x 2
Carrion crow x 2
Chaffinch x 1
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3
Herring Gull x 1
House Sparrow x 4
Jackdaw x 1
Magpie x 1
Woodpigeon x 2

Only one that’s missing for the year so far that I thought I would have seen by now in the garden is the wren.

The blackbird wasn’t singing last night, 5 species, 15 birds.

I won’t be able to do a lot of bird watching today, got a fair bit to update on the finance site: Saver Scene – ISA & Savings http://www.saverscene.co.uk/ [closed June 2018 as I move to a career in gardening after studying horticulture at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh] but what I did get to see from a quick glance were 5 different species and 15 birds, the blackbird has been a regular and has shown up the most days so far, followed by the coal tit, here’s today’s garden bird list, and a photo of the blackbird. I should say that since Christmas last night seemed to be the first night that the blackbird wasn’t singing until after midnight, it was also one of the cooler nights:

close-up photo of a blackbird, photographed by Gavin Hamilton

Blackbird x 5
Coal Tit x 4
Dunnock x 2
Greenfinch x 2
Woodpigeon x 2

update 11.12am just grabbing a glass of water and noticed a Blue Tit outside, so

Blue Tit x 1

A quick trip to the physio and 3 new birds species for the day.

Just had to go to the physio, loads more exercises to do almost 8 hours of work per day just on physio now! However on the way there I spotted 3 more species:

Black-headed gull x 3
Carrion Crow x 1
Magpie x 2

There were a few other gulls hovering high up, but I wasn’t sure what they were so haven’t added them to the list, here’s a Black-headed Gull in winter plumage that I photographed a while back, the sun was wonderfully low offering some great colours:

Black-headed Gull – winter plumage – photographed by Gavin Hamilton

Very few birds today, getting ready for the RSPB hedge.

There were very few birds in the garden today, but it maybe due to activity as my wife was helping, okay doing most of the work due to my injuries, digging over the area that the hedge is to go into, hope to take some photos of the rest of the project, forgot today. It’s only about half done as she has to work Saturdays but it’s a start and it should be a few more days before the plants come. If you are after a good mix for a hedge the RSPB have a good page: RSPB – Homes for Wildlife – Hedge of Glory it takes you to the Ashridge Trees website for their package of a bird friendly hedge: Ashbridge Bird Friendly Hedge you can watch their video on how to plant a hedge:

1 – How to Plant a Country Hedge – Ashridge Trees

Hedge planting youtube video

Here’s my bird list for today:

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 2
Carrion crow x 1 (fly over)
Chaffinch x 1
Coal Tit x 2
Dunnock x 3
Herring Gull x 2 (fly over)
Magpie x 1
Robin x 1
Woodpigeon x 2

Plants in the hedge:

10 x Hawthorn – Crataegus monogyna – frothy white, may flowers in spring and bright red haws in autumn
5 x Wild Privet – Ligustrum vulgare – white flowers, black berries
5 x Hazel – Corylus avellana – catkins in February, fresh green leaves, nuts in autumn
5 x Wild Damson – Prunus domestica – white blossom on black twigs
5 x Guelder Rose – Viburnum opulus – lacecap flowers, redcurrant looking berries
5 x Blackthorn – Prunus spinosa – fluffy white blossom, black autumn berries
5 x Dog Rose – Rosa canina – single white roses, red rose hips in autumn
5 x Elderflower – Sambucus nigra – lacy white flowers, maroon berries
5 x Crabapple – Malus sylvestris – stunning pink blossom, crabapples in autumn

Added Carrion Crow to the year list, and a great new blog!

Hi all, hope the new year has been treating you well. Ian from Riding the Waves to Eternity has joined in the fun of bird watching and is very close by to me, so be interesting to see what he sees in his garden, not just birds he’s listing he’s putting all his wildlife on a new blog called In a Corstorphine Garden – a great list of wildlife especially for a suburban area very cool! You can also follow Ian on twitter: Cosmic_Serf.

This morning started off very windy but has calmed down, the herring gulls that were flying over were really enjoying the gusts as were the 3 Carrion Crow that hovered by, a new addition to my year species list, once again from my garden (or flying over):

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 3
Carrion crow x 3 fly over
Chaffinch x 1
Coal Tit x 3
Dunnock x 2
Herring Gull x 3 fly over
Magpie x 2
Robin x 1
Woodpigeon x 3

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

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A quick trip to the physio and 3 new birds species for the day.

1 – How to Plant a Country Hedge – Ashridge Trees

Cookies for birds? Are they made of peanuts?