A Bird's Eye View

At the end of my Easter Holidays, I visited Cornwall for a short break. We were staying near Penzance, and the coast offered for some great wildlife watching. Fulmar in Flight Friday 15th April After travelling down from Somerset, we decided to go straight to Land's End. Here, there were some incredible Fulmars, a Gannet, a Chough, a Black Redstart, huge numbers of Sand martin, House Nartin and Swallow, Shag, Cormorant, Manx Shearwater, Stonechat and Whinchat. Phew. The view was picture-perfect, and the sea, too, looked like someone had edited it, with a huge mix of green, blues and greys. Fulmars must take the award for the best fliers in the bird world. Travelling at great speeds, they manipulate the wind, allowing themselves to freefall, yet somehow always in perfect control! I noticed the Gannet out at sea from its large body, black wingtips contrasting the all-white body, and flight. The Manx Shearwater were far out, but there have been as many as 40,000 close in off ...

Hello all, The best today was a male and female Siskin on the sunflower seed feeders, the first of the year in the garden! 2 Great Tit   showed well, along with 4 Goldfinch.  A Wren  came close in, along with 2 Dunnock. Three Woodpigeon were on the seed feeder for much of the day, with the quantity going down by about two inches in twenty minutes! A male Blackbird  sheltered in a Yew tree, and 2 Starling   were on the suet ball feeder, fighting off the smaller birds before perforating the lawn like small sewing machines. However, 2  Blue Tit were also using the feeder, as well as two Long-Tailed tit. A Chiffchaff braved the elements, and showed well nearby, as the photo shows. Many flyover gulls were also welcome, and 8 House Sparrow were in the yew for much of the day. All of these photos were taken through a rain-splattered window, but were "messed about with" on Windows 10 photos programme. Just my changing the contras...

 Hello all, The best was a male Blackcap (first male of the year) at about 1:10, as shown to the left. The suetball feeder had constant activity on it, mostly 4 male and 4 female House Sparrow. Two Goldfinches will hopefully remember the Sunflower heart feeder, as they landed on it as soon as I had hung it up!  Two Blue Tit were intermittently on the seed feeder, and a drop- in Greenfinch was the first of April. A Chiffchaff on the lawn, albeit briefly, was excellent, as well as 3 Collared Dove , not often seen around here. Blackbirds , Dunnock, Robin and Woodpigeon appeared many times, as well as one Great Tit. Flyovers included all the commoner gull species, corvids (except jay and raven), and a continuous stream of small passerines.  A shortened walk around my local patch had to show for it 1 Coal Tit and 1 Long Tailed tit of note, and a singing male Chaffinch ! Also, badger digging marks and a badger latrine were good finds. More soon, ...

Hello all, I've just had a fantastic bird land in my garden: a male Sparrowhawk. Although these are relatively common, you only ever "see them leaving." Sadly, by the time my brain had registered my surprise, the Sparrowhawk departed, and back came the House Sparrows. Of course, having predators is a fantastic sign of bird populations in the area: a predator won't be where there isn't food! Hopefully, this beautiful bird will become a frequent visitor to the garden. Bird round up of the week As far as garden birds go, good numbers of House Sparrow, who are using both the fat ball feeder and seed feeder, with 4 males and 4 females in the garden constantly! Goldfinches also turned up, with 3 or 4 in the garden for most days of the week, but with only brief visits. A Chiffchaff/ Willow Warbler graced my garden yesterday, followed by the call of another Chiffchaff. Robins were regulars throughout the week, with 2 usually present, and 3 woodpigeons all week were we...