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 Hereās my bird list for Saturday 27th:
Iāve 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 itās still lying at 23.00! Ā Iāve just been outside burning garden waste for more carbon and I couldnāt believe how much was still on the ground! Ā The weather brought out a few extra birds on the feeders, hereās my garden list:
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 āĀ 2 for 1 ticket offerGet 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. |
TicketsAdult Ā£12 (concessions / RSPB members Ā£10). 2-day ticket Ā£20 (concessions / RSPB members Ā£18) Children under 16 go free. |
Opening timesSaturday 9.30am-5.30pm (food, bar & entertainment until 9pm). Sunday 9.30am-5.30pm (seabird cruise & BBQ 6pm-9pm). |
After being away and having internet problems in the hotel, I get home and I try to do a post and my netās 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 doesnāt 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 Iād 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 Weāve also not set up a good open compost for garden waste and only have a closed one for food scraps, once Iāve 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. Hereās my bird list for the day, sadly a bit short, but great to see the LTTs and the Bullfinch back:
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 Iāve been in the garden and Iām impressed by whatās 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, didnāt 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.
Hereās the list for today:
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:
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, Iād love to go back! Iāll try and get a few photos up in the next few days, Iāve got a lot of work to do on the money saving websites and a few smaller jobs Iāve got to send out photos for. Ā Hope thereāll 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 
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 didnāt see as many bird species today as I did the other day, hereās my list today:
The Comments that were below this post before the server move:
Sorry the update didnāt happen yesterday, once again the free wifi was down at night, Iāve 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 didnāt get to see it and I didnāt get out toĀ Keukenhof gardensĀ yesterday due to my torn ankle tendons, my bird list for yesterday is all from the SchipholĀ airport as thatās where Iām staying at the moment.
Iām heading back to the gardens today, Iām 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 Iāll have another bumper day watching birds whilst doing my work of photographing flowers!
After saying how great it was to have free internet the hotelās internet has been down all evening this will just be a quick one, with my bird list, pretty short today:
* new for this year
Iāll hopefully be back out at the gardens for the tulip festivals tomorrow, my ankles couldnāt handle the pace of the city and getting bumped a lot at the central train station, Iāve decided to try and get more good photos from the tulip gardens.
Hope others are getting to see a lot of great birds!
Iām off for a few days, not sure if Iāll be getting my bird lists done, hopefully my family will keep a record for the garden while Iām away.
What birds Iāve seen today:
Great news everyone! Ā The RSPB Sparrow Terrace Nest BoxĀ that I put up earlier in the year is now in use! Ā Not by sparrows, but a blue tit has started using the middle box, was a bit worried nothing was going to, but very excited to see a blue tit bringing nesting material into the box yesterday!
Sorry my bird list is a day late again, a lot happening with my parents being here! Ā I also was updating all the finance pages for www.SaverScene.co.uk yesterday, which during ISA season takes a bit longer due to a lot of changes. If you havenāt taken advantage of the tax free cash ISA you can find theĀ best ISA ratesĀ here: SaverScene:Ā Highest ISA interest rates (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession), obviously if you have any questions about that feel free to ask on the forums or drop me an email.
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. Iād never seen a Grebe before, so was very happy to see them, when at Keukenhof theyāre 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
Youāll be going at a great time, the flowers are a lot later this year, a lot still werenāt out when I was were there! First time Iād been back in 10 years, last time I was 23 and with a heap of Aussie backpackers, good fun, but probably didnāt take as much in as I could have.
Totally understand being busy! If I didnāt have to take every second day out for putting my feet up Iād probably not have been able to do updates, but I would have got out a bit more to see the birds. Iāve 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!
Iāll 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 ā 1 to 2 weeks iād 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 donāt have any room on my computer, itās ridiculous! My photography computer is still packed in storage.