Sunday 30 June 2013

Bird, wildlife and flower log, 24-30 June 2013

I can't believe how tall the foxgloves have grown this year.  Not only are they tall there are lots of them.
Each year there is usually at least one white plant with the rest being what I consider the standard pink colour.  Some of them are taller than me!  The tallest are a bit over six feet in height.

The lupins are doing really well this year.  I grew them from seed three years ago and each year they have produced more and more flowers.

The weigela flowers are beginning to fade but the senecio has just started flowering, the bush is full of buds and a couple out in flower.

This week has been exciting for bird sightings, I have had my first sightings of a young great spotted woodpecker, young robin and a young greenfinch.

Lupins © 2013 Natasha Forder


Birds Wildlife and Insects Flowers
Blackbird – male, female, juvenile Grey squirrels, lots of! Lupin
Great spotted woodpecker - male, female, juvenile Foxes - two adults African daisy
Chaffinch - male, female Snail Geranium
Greenfinch - male, female, juevenile Slug Campanula
Blue tit - adult, juvenile Pond skater Helianthemum
Great tit - adult, juvenile Bees - various Aquilegia
Dunnock - adult Tree bumblebee Rhododendron/Azalea
Robin - adult, juvenile Early bumblebee Pontentilla
Jay - adult Buff-tailed bumblebee Weigela
Magpie - adult Red-tailed bumblebee Foxglove
Crow - adult Common carder bee Creeping buttercup
Collared dove - adult Large white butterfly Daisy
Woodpigeon - adult, juvenile Small white butterfly
 - unsure what type
Green Hellebore
Coal tit - juvenile Rose
Nuthatch - adult Water lily
Yellow poppies
Birdsfoot trefoil
Clover
Senecio

Friday 28 June 2013

Bumblebees

I've been trying to do a bit of bee identification this week as well as getting some good photos, which is very difficult! I've not been able to get many reasonable photos of them but they are good enough to try and work out what type of bees they are! This is what I have come up with so far:
  • Tree bumblebee 
  • Early bumblebee 
  • Buff-tailed bumblebee 
  • Red-tailed bumblebee
  • Common carder bee
These are a couple of the better photos I took and I have identified the bee as a buff-tailed bumblebee.
The flowers are aquilegias.

Buff-tailed bumblebee © 2013 Natasha Forder

Buff-tailed bumblebee © 2013 Natasha Forder




Tuesday 25 June 2013

Bird log, Birmingham 22-23 June 2013

This weekend Steve and I visited his parents in Birmingham and this is a list of the birds I saw in their garden.
Quite a short list of types but unlike us they get visits from lots of sparrows and starlings.  In the three years at The Brambles I have seen one young starling last year and this year a couple of sparrows collecting feathers for their nest.  Although we do have them in the area a couple of roads away.

Birds
Blackbird – male, female, juvenile
House sparrow - adult
Starling - adult, juvenile
Great tit - juvenile
Robin - adult
Woodpigeon - adult, juvenile

Monday 24 June 2013

Bird, wildlife and flower log, 17-23 June 2013

This week has been an interesting week in the garden starting with the owl...
In the middle of the night I was woken by a noise I hadn't heard before.  It was definitely an owl but not the tawny owl which I sometimes hear.  In the morning Steve and I were busy online investigating which owl it was and have come to the conclusion that is was a little owl.

I must have missed all the nesting blue tits leaving the nest but I've heard lots of little tweets from the trees.  On Sunday I finally saw some young blue tits and great tits.

The young blackbird is now feeding itself but Mr Blackbird is still busy collecting mealworms...  So either for another young one from this brood or maybe for a second brood, I'm not sure.

This week I've also seen goldfinches, they do visit but not very often and can usually be found on the niger seeds or sunflower seeds when they do.  I've seen them once this week but over the last couple of weeks the niger seeds that haven't been touched for a while have nearly all gone.  So I suspect they have been around quite a lot, I've just not been around to see them.  Like the collard doves they usually visit in pairs.

Young Woodpigeon © 2013 Natasha Forder

Birds Wildlife and Insects Flowers
Blackbird – male, female, juvenile Grey squirrels, lots of! Lupin
Great spotted woodpecker - male, female Various bees African daisy
Chaffinch - male, female Snail Geranium
Greenfinch - male, female Slug Campanula
Blue tit - adult, juvenile Pond skater Helianthemum
Great tit - adult, juvenile Aquilegia
Dunnock - adult Rhododendron/Azalea
Robin - adult Pontentilla
Jay - adult Weigela
Magpie - adult Foxglove
Crow - adult Buttercup
Collared dove - adult Daisy
Woodpigeon - adult, juvenile Green Hellebore
House martin - adult
(just the one this week)
Rose
Goldfinch - adult Water lily
Little owl - the sound of!

Monday 17 June 2013

Bird, wildlife and flower log, 10-16 June 2013

Last week was a busy week in the garden and most of the birds and wildlife noted here have been seen either from looking out of the window or when I was feeding the birds in the morning.  The campanula at this time of year looks beautiful and the bees love to visit.

Campanula © 2013 Natasha Forder



Birds Wildlife and Insects Flowers
Blackbird – male, female, juvenile Grey squirrels, lots of! Lupin
Great spotted woodpecker - male, female Various bees African daisy
Chaffinch - male, female Snail Geranium
Greenfinch - male, female Slugs Campanula
Blue tit - adults Pond skater Helianthemum
Great tit - adults Large white butterfly Aquilegia
Dunnock - adults Bat Rhododendron/Azalea
Robin - adults Pontentilla
Jay - adults Weigela
Magpie - adults Foxglove
(just starting to flower)
Crow - adults Buttercup
Collared dove - adults Daisy
Woodpigeon - adult, juvenile Green Hellebore
House martin - adults
(not a usual visitor, approx.
12 flew around for 5 minutes)
Iris

The Brambles

Mr Blackbird © 2013 Natasha Forder

The Brambles is a mix of trees, shrubs and flowers, a small pond and a “lawn”, although more moss than grass!  From oak tree to primrose, badger to pond skater, The Brambles is full of life all year round.

The different seasons not only bring different weather and plants but also a change in the “visitors”.  I always have a book of garden birds and a pair of binoculars to hand because sometimes I have a more unusual visitor to hand.  One I might not have seen before!

All the time I discover new things about The Brambles.  Only this week upon hearing lots of little tweets did I realise there is a family of blue tits nesting in a little alcove in the roof at the front of the bungalow.  Two busy parents back and forth with lots of bugs and grubs.  I had been too busy watching the family in the nest box in the back garden and I had missed this one!

Mr Blackbird has been collecting food in the garden for some time now and finally last week he visited with one of his young.  Feeding it with some soaked mealworms I had put out shortly before.  So great to finally see :)

I am looking forward to seeing a few more families with their young in the garden soon.