Lovely birds and rare sightings

Not really rare but I was happy to see a female chaffinch this morning in the garden.

That's such a fantastic bird to have seen greyduster, and on a tv areal!!!
It's one that's always escaped me and I would love to see even just one.

I was excited to see about 4 and 20 blackbirds gorging on the windfall apples yesterday. I don't bother with birdseed because it always gets eaten by squirrels or crows.
In winter I see redwing and fieldfare on the fruit trees.

The rowan trees attract waxwings every year.

All my flowers are eaten by roe deer so I'm not so keen on them.

The kale has been gobbled by pigeon.

It's hard to be a bird watcher and a gardener.

We have house martins nesting in the eaves and swallows nesting in the stables, I never feel that spring has arrived until they visit. and some years, they just don't! That makes me feel very sad but until now, they have come back the following year.

We use the Merlin app to identify the birds we can hear but not see and we have a quite a variety.

We've lived here for 26 years now and it's been interesting to see how the wildlife has changed. We now have roe deer and muntjac visit the garden, we have had years when we've been over run with rabbits but currently they have disappeared and we have a young hare which I see very frequently in our paddocks. Like in many other areas, red kite are increasing in numbers and Mr fox, seems to have decamped to the towns and cities. We still have our visiting heron although he's had most of the fish in our pond but worryingly we have a new pest in our vegetable garden, a miner beetle which completely destroyed our crop of leeks....climate change is bringing changes!

We don’t get sparrows anymore where we live so I was quite excited to see one down near our beach house. Never thought I’d feel that but when you watch them they are rather nice little things. Cheeky stealers,too. We get a few little hooded plovers and they are an endangered species apparently. Very cute the way they run across the beach. At night little penguins come up out of the sea which used to be our big secret for years but, sadly, people have found out so they come to watch them and numbers are dropping because these people are noisy and frighten them away. Grr. People.

While drinking coffee in bed, I have been watching a Jay hopping around the flower beds. Lovely bird.

I have watched jays burying nuts in the autumn to get them through the winter but it always amazes me how they remember where they are when they need them. I often bring things home, put them in a cupboard and then completly forget about them. If I were a bird I wouldn’t last five minutes!

I’d love to see a jay, what a privilege.

Lovely post OP. We have peregrines living on top of the cathedral (they raise their broods every year and the young leave but the adults stay) and I’ve been delighted to see many wagtails pecking away at the ground, even in the town centre.

Today it has been very,very hot here (42c) and I was in our pool when a kookaburras dived in next to me, cooled off and then flew off. I told him he was a gorgeous bird ( I know, I know but I often talk to the birds we get ) Never had that happen before, they are not water birds.

Last year I was heavily pruning a very old 'Wedding Day' rambling rose. It had to be done as it was over a building that was having a new roof. I was actually standing in the middle of the stems when I heard the unmistakable sound of a flock of long tailed tits around - I froze and eventually about 7 or 8 of them came onto the rose with me inside. One was only about a foot from my face. It was magical, I had my phone in my pocket but didn't dare move!

nanna8 I love kookaburras. They are so friendly or at least the ones I've met have been.

nanna8

Today it has been very,very hot here (42c) and I was in our pool when a kookaburras dived in next to me, cooled off and then flew off. I told him he was a gorgeous bird ( I know, I know but I often talk to the birds we get ) Never had that happen before, they are not water birds.

How exciting!

Yes, I talk to the birds. I did tell the robin that he might think it's his garden but it is in fact mine. He did not agree.

I had a little flock of long tailed tits in my garden this afternoon, there were probably about 10 of them. They were taking turns to feed on the peanuts.
We don't see them very often around here, they were just passing through. Lovely to see.

Starling murmarations near where I live (Brough, East Yorkshire) are a magnificent, breathtaking sight-sadly, house building has destroyed where they used to gather, I have to go further afield (literally!) to see them on a nature reserve called North Cave Wetlands now-they used to be on the Bae airfield...better than anything you will see on t.v, and free to view!

My morning was brightened by the sight of a grey wagtail perched on the Dock wall, the yellow feathers glowing in the sun. They’re such a beautiful little bird.

(Not my photo, it’s from the wonderful bird guides.com)

Starling murmarations go over just below our house. It’s at about 4.15 now. I know some birds are in decline but I feel that this year it is bigger than ever. They are really noisy and it’s not a good idea to below them when going over

MiniMoon

I had a little flock of long tailed tits in my garden this afternoon, there were probably about 10 of them. They were taking turns to feed on the peanuts.
We don't see them very often around here, they were just passing through. Lovely to see.

We quite often get a little flock of them, up to 8, on our fat ball feeder in winter.

Not rare, but definitely beautiful. A mute swan in our local park this morning.

On holiday walking alongside a river in East Devon I saw a kingfisher. So beautiful and smaller than I'd imagined. Never seen one before or since.

Saw a sparrowhawk dive into a spiky shrub in my garden and take a sparrow one day. It happened so fast.

I love birds and I see, rarely, a coal tit or blue tits or a chaffinch in my garden. Makes my day.

They say that the flocks of LTT split up into pairs on Valentine’s Day 💕

The parakeets are taking over! www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c99km49ejjeo

As I was waiting for a train today a black-backed gull flew over the station. We have gulls by the zillions here in Cornwall but I've never seen a black-backed one so far inland.

I have a pair of wrens residing around my ivy-clad patio. They are always in and out of the dense creepers.

Tuinoma

Hedge sparrows, the odd tree sparrow, fieldfares, mistle thrushes, the odd osprey flying over, buzzards en kestrels, a sparrowhawk dived over my bird table a while back and flew off with a bluetit while I was watching from my window.
Plus of course the usual crowd.
I love watching them

Magpies, Sparrowhawks etc raise their young by killing other birds, if you want a reason for lack of hedgerow and garden birds look them.

Im sorry you enjoy seeing a sparrorhawk killing a blue tit.

At first glance my neighbour thought this was a stork but no, congratulations are NOT in order!