Long-tailed tit – Page 2 – What Birds I Spotted Today

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 weren’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 Saverscene (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) site, just haven’t had time to update them on the forum yet. I will tomorrow. My garden bird list and one from on the road back from hospital.

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 2, 1 of them chased the long tailed tits off the half coconut feeder.
Carrion crow x 2 – flyovers.
Dunnock x 3
Long-tailed tit x 2
Magpie x 2 – flying to their nest.
Woodpigeon x 9 – 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 we’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, here’s a very minimal list:

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x heard only, an alarm call and sounded like a few birds. Couldn’t see them, they were in a neighbours garden.
Carrion crow x 2 – at different times but 1 had a lot of white in it’s wings, the other was very black.
Dunnock x 3
Long-tailed tit x 2
Woodpigeon x 1

For those trying to attract wildlife to your garden, I learnt about a different very nice looking variety of Buddleia the variety Buddleia Weyeriana, thanks to a post on one of my favourite wildlife garden blogs: Buddleia Weyeriana 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! Here’s my bird list for Saturday 27th:

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 2 – saw one going into the nest box.
Carrion crow x 1
Coal Tit x 1
Common Buzzard x 1
Dunnock x 3
Long-tailed tit x 2
Magpie x 1
Woodpigeon x 1

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

I’ve added the information about the 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 it’s still lying at 23.00! I’ve just been outside burning garden waste for more carbon and I couldn’t believe how much was still on the ground! The weather brought out a few extra birds on the feeders, here’s my garden list:

Blackbird x 1 first time I’ve seen one in a few days.
Blue Tit x 1
Carrion crow x 1
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3
Lesser black-backed gull x 1
Long-tailed tit x 2
Magpie x 1
Robin x 1 first time in a while!
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 from Fly On the Wall Wildlife Cameras 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 – 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 – 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 £12 (concessions / RSPB members £10). 2-day ticket £20 (concessions / RSPB members £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 net’s down. 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 doesn’t already offer it: 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) . 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. I’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. We’ve also not set up a good open compost for garden waste and only have a closed one for food scraps, once I’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. Here’s my bird list for the day, sadly a bit short, but great to see the LTTs and the Bullfinch back:

Blue Tit x 1
Bullfinch x 1 – Male
Carrion crow x 2
Coal Tit x 2
Dunnock x 3
Long-tailed tit x 2
Magpie x 1
Woodpigeon x 1

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.uk (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!!! How inconsiderate of them! I did get out to Keukenhof today and got to see some great birds as well as a few 100 very nice flower photos. 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! I didn’t see as many bird species today as I did the other day, here’s my list today:

Blackbird
Carrion crow
Chaffinch
Chiffchaff
Coots
Egyptian Goose
Great crested grebe
Great tits
Greylag goose
Grey Heron
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Lapwings
Long-tailed tits
Magpie
Mallard Duck
Moorhens
Mute Swans
Oystercatcher
Pied Wagtail
Starlings
Tufted duck
Woodpigeons

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

Wes Donze said on April 24, 2013

thats a good list – hope to see something similar this weekend as i am heading there myself – 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 – i seem to have been so busy this last week or so – 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 – once in Holland too – 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. I’d never seen a Grebe before, so was very happy to see them, when at Keukenhof they’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
  
  You’ll be going at a great time, the flowers are a lot later this year, a lot still weren’t out when I was were there! First time I’d been back in 10 years, last time I was 23 and with a heap of Aussie backpackers, good fun, but probably didn’t take as much in as I could have.
  
  Totally understand being busy! If I didn’t have to take every second day out for putting my feet up I’d probably not have been able to do updates, but I would have got out a bit more to see the birds. I’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!
  
  I’ll try and get a few photos up before you go, ran out of room on my computer, but will move things about tonight.
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 – 1 to 2 weeks i’d say – also the birds – 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 don’t have any room on my computer, it’s ridiculous! My photography computer is still packed in storage.

Very small bird list, voucher code for Fly On The Wall wildlife cameras!

Feel really bad, didn’t have a lot of time bird watching today was in the garden a lot of the day, digging up dead trees and removing awful plastic under the soil. Other than the LTTs everything else seemed scared to show itself. If I wasn’t in the garden I was helping my Dad remove old pipe and cable work from under the house. Very few birds seen today

I may need to get a few wildlife cameras setup so I can see more of the birds, I’ve started looking into it and the guys at

Fly On The Wall – security and wildlife cameras (sadly closed) have given us an exclusive voucher code for April 2013 this is an exclusive code for a 12% discount on all wildlife and bird cameras, voucher code: WBIST12

I’ll do a bit more about it in a post tomorrow.

Blackbird x 1
Dunnock x 1
Long-tailed tit x 2

even the Woodpigeons didn’t show up!

Cold day in Edinburgh, ISA updates for new season, more DIY, and a few extra birds!

It’s Monday so that means a very busy day updating the best interest rates for ISAs, Savings Accounts and deals on Credit Cards, ISA season has started for the tax year of 2013/14 and there’s a new allowance, so do try and make the most of your ISA by getting in early, you can find the best interest rates here: saverscene.com/isa-individual-savings-accounts/ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) – hope that helps, if you do have any questions do feel free to ask!

Due to the changing of the tax year ISA season has been incredibly busy for me, very few birds were seen today, but I did notice that the female bullfinch was only around very briefly and that it was much skinnier (may have been a different bird) than the one I saw last week, the male continued to forage by itself. Does anyone know; Do female’s loose a lot of body size after laying eggs? I sure hope they’re nesting near by!

The Garden bird list was pretty much all the usual suspects, plus I saw a couple of Jackdaws from the car in Corstorphine Edinburgh, not far from the house, plus a pied wagtail when I was out at Hermiston Gait getting even more paint and other DIY tools, always feels odd when I don’t have the right tool as I had everything I needed back in Australia, but due to carpal tunnel I’ve not done as much mending as I would normally and my dad keeps asking where’s this or that and end up going to buy one, once again I’m rambling but here’s my garden bird list:

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 3
Bullfinch x 2 – the female looked a lot smaller than last week! Hope that means she’s laid some eggs somewhere.
Carrion crow x 4 fly overs
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3 – really showing mating behaviour.
Jackdaws x 2 – from car in Corstorphine
Long-tailed tit x 2
Magpie x 2
Pied Wagtail x 1 – Car park Hermiston Gait – West Edinburgh, once again back at B&Q for more DIY gear!
Woodpigeon x 1

Sunday 7th of April Garden Bird list, went to see Chris Addison last night.

Another very busy Sunday with DIY and out to comedy last night, saw Chris Addison a regular on Mock the Week, good fun! Was exhausted when I got home so here’s yesterdays list of birds:

Blackbird x 1 – singing from 5.30am today
Blue Tit x 2 – getting very territorial
Carrion crow x 1
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3 – also very territorial.
Long-tailed tit x 2 – thought I was going to miss the charming couple that visit the garden, but they showed up about 5pm
Magpie x 2
Woodpigeon x 3

Festival of the Spoken Nerd, Garden Bird list & night time visitor.

This first entry was from last night on the way to an Edinburgh to see a Science Festival show – we went to see Festival of the Spoken Nerd and on the way there I spotted a common buzzard just near Murrayfield Stadium. The show was excellent full of fun science ideas and a good amount of comedy.

Common Buzzard – seen on side of road.

Today wasn’t a great day for birdwatching instead a lot more DIY and when not doing that trying to stay off my feet as my ankle tendons are popping out a little too often, all very frustrating! On arriving home last night I took chewie out for a final visit to the garden and heard the wonderful call of a tawny owl. Here’s my garden bird list for today:

Blackbird x 2
Blue Tit x 2
Carrion crow x 2 flying over
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3
Long-tailed tit x 2 – they were around almost every time I was outside today.
Magpie x 2
Tawny Owl x 1 -heard only
Woodpigeon x 4

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RSPB Scottishbirdfair & The Scotsman – 2 for 1 ticket offer

Tickets

Opening times

Cookies for birds? Are they made of peanuts?