It was very cold today, the soil hard and the water frozen in the bird baths. Looking out into the garden there was a sense that, for the moment, it didn’t belong to me. My garden was held in the grip of winter. I watched the birds bounce on top of the soil – there… Read More Time to ponder
Today I put out cheese out and set up the video camera to see if I could catch a Wren on film. I had seen this tiny little bird bouncing down the rocks that surround my small pond. Yesterday it looked like it went in one of the little cave pockets I built for it… Read More Who took the cheese?
The status quo of birds feeding at my bird feeders today was still nowhere to be seen. I would say in fact it heightened to outright Bird Wars. The Goldfinches were the only species that didn’t fight with each other. It was quite cold today, we had snow overnight but it was all away by… Read More Bird Wars
Today the strong winds had died down so I expected the calm would be reflected at the feeders after the frantic dashes for food the birds have had recently. Quiet it was not. I can certainly see why Alfred Hitchcock was inspired to use birds for a horror film! Hungry Starling, video 0:14 with background… Read More Invasion of the Starlings
This morning I finally managed to get back out into my garden. Although still very windy it was quite pleasant, no rain and the sun even broke through for a brief while. There have been a few jobs I have wanted to do, and it is not unheard of for me to garden in the… Read More Back to the borders – frost forecasted!
Last March we put up a Terrace Nestbox which was successfully used by one or more Blue Tits. Details of the success of this Nestbox can be seen on the link https://www.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2006/11/preparations-for-winter-birds.html . Unfortunately the box unit itself has not been a success. Rain damaged the exterior and it looked unsightly as seen below. We… Read More New Terrace Nestbox
Last week I read an article in the ‘Craigie’ column of the Courier newspaper referring to visits of Blackcaps to other gardens in Scotland. Others too, like me, were unsure what it was. I was only certain when I saw the female – there lies my worry. I emailed the column in the Courier telling… Read More Blackcaps – tempting fate
Today has been another wild, windy day with heavy rain showers. Disappointingly, I was unable to finish a tidy-up of the borders which I began yesterday. I did however tidy the border I look directly on to from this window and this morning it revealed a tiny visitor dashing across it – stopping at plants… Read More Tidy-up reveals tiny visitor
Attracting birds to my garden by providing a variety of foods has allowed me to see birds I have never seen before. I began using my video camera to capture a Robin on film and my collection of videos has grown since then! You can see all my garden bird videos in posts through my… Read More Garden Bird videos
Another new arrival to the bird community of my garden – only this time the bird looked instantly familiar! It appeared on Saturday morning and has been a regular visitor since. This new bird looked exactly like the last one except it had a chestnut brown cap instead of black – so not a Marsh… Read More I don’t believe it!