Birding Brilliance

Today has been the best ever day of bird watching I've had in the garden. Its been none stop with (area) rarities. It started at lunch time with a visit from a Male Reed Buntin. We've only ever had one in the garden at that was exactly 12 months ago, well 12 months on the 15th April to be exact. He didn't stay long but I was lucky to capture a couple of shots of him before he disappeared completely. Then around 2pm I was watching what I though was a female Siskin from behind when it turned around and I realised it was a REDPOLL!! Now I've only ever seen one of these once before in my life and that was literally a 5 second glimpse in the garden back on the 15th of May last year. This one stayed all afternoon and was quite a feisty little bird, taking no nonsense from the male Siskin's. From the front they are so distictive with their red cap and chestThen when I thought it couldn't get better a spotted a female Reed Bunting. She only stayed a few minutes, its a shame she missed the male by a few hours. I thought originally she may be the one from last week but this one isn't ringed, so definitely a different bird. So that's 3 mega rarities for the garden along with a flock of Siskin's which are usually quite rare in this area, here all in one day, wow. As you can tell from the photo's, we've had a lot of snow over night and during the day. A good few inches and its not showing any sign of abating yet. I'm not complaining though as it's the bad weather that's brought these amazing birds to my garden. I saw the woodpecker feeding on the ground today which I've never seen before. This poor male Black Bird was braving the blizzard. The Blue Tits had to dig deep for their food today. Last night I went out for drinks with my good friends Chris and Penny, we had a lovely time. Even though I was absolutely shattered when I got home I couldn't resist trying out the new Chimnea in the dark and its amazing. I was sat in my rocking chair out on the veranda with a cup of tea and the chimnea glowing brightly, it was lovely and made me feel so snuggly and warm.

Buzzards fill their talons

With all the severe weather warnings in force today I was really surprised to be out in the garden during a few moments of sunshine. It didn't last long but it was long enough for me to see a pair of Buzzards chasing each other as one had managed to get what looked like lambs after-birth in his talons. You don't get to see things like that every day, let alone have a camera ready, so I was really pleased myself, even though the photo's quite blurry. Yesterday I treated myself to a Chimnea for the garden. I wanted one last year but they were too expensive and I had only just got the firepit so couldn't really justify it. But yesterday I went into a shop and they had one left and were selling it off for only £29.99! I couldn't believe it so snapped it up and luckily managed to squeeze it in the car. I think it was last years model that they were clearing out in time for this years delivery but I don't mind as its just perfect for me. I've seen so many cheap ones with doors that look wonky or made of ceramic which wouldn't last long in my wild garden. This one is made of cast iron and I think, really looks the part. I did light it but its hard to see the full effect until its dark so I'm hoping the rain which is now pouring down will cease later so I can go out and have another play. It's even got a bit to cook on. can you tell I love it :-) The crows are being very mischevious at the moment. I spotted this one pulling the fleece straight from this poor sheeps back. This other one was flying and attacking its own reflection in next doors window. I've been noticing the patterns the sheep trails are leaving on the grass, I bet it looks amazing from the air. This part looks like a tree, I reckon. The trunk is where the gap in the wall is and then the branches spreading out above in each direction. Ok maybe you need to be here :-) The field was full of what I think is a flock of Meadow Pipits today. At a glance you can't see anything but if you focus on one spot then you slowly see lots of little brown things moving around in the grass. The Blue Tits are coming into full breading colours now.

Bernie's Back

I've just spotted a Squirrel through the kitchen window. It looks like Bernie but just very skinny. The markings match but the only thing making me unsure is I thought it was Bernie who turned up back on the 14th Feb with a badly injured ear which I doubt could have healed that well. I think maybe I was wrong back in Feb as this certainly looks like out Bernie. It was only yesterday that I noticed the Hazel nut shells piling up at the base of the tree's. I've been out most of the day so didn't get the chance to take many photo's but I do have loads from the past few days to share with you. When I was out in the woods yesterday I saw lots of new holly bushes sprouting up everywhere .. I did do a little bit of tidying in the garden yesterday as I wanted to clear the winter's worth of seed husks from the ground. Much to my surprise as I dug up the husks I came across hundreds of worms literally a inch under the soil. I also got stung by some newly opened Nettles too. The 'Redcurrant'? I think, bush is starting to flower in the garden. This poor female Chaffinch turned up with the worse case of Papilloma virus I've seen. She was still managing to walk around ok, despite the deformity to both feet. This hole in the wild part of the garden has been dug out some more in the last couple of days. I did put more food out for the hedgehogs last night but they never appeared. However, a couple of babies did arrived in the early hours.

Hedgehogs & Frog Spawn

I've been putting out peanuts each evening for the past week but every evening they are still there when I go to bed, until last night. I opened the door just before midnight and they were gone. I couldn't hear or see anything so I set up watch in the bedroom with the light off to see if anything appeared. After about an hour I spotted a lone Hedgehog scurrying across the lawn. It was too dark to take a photo so this is one from Autumn last year, just before they hibernated. Today I went for a walk in the woods in front of the house and saw some amazing Lichen with bright red stems and there were blankets of moss which looked soft enough to snuggle up on. We've been so lucky with the weather, the ground was bone dry and the leaves crunched loudly beneath my feet. Oh yes, we have Frog Spawn all along the gully's at the side of the farm track. We've had two single Lambs over night, which is great. Its so much easier for the Ewe to protect her lamb when there's just one. The Woodpeckers are in fine colour and early this morning the whole air was filled with their hammering. Daisy's are out too.
I have so much more to tell you but I'll leave it until tomorrow, spread it out a bit.

Skunk Cabbages & Tree Climbing

I've had another lovely day. My mum came over and we had nice walk onto the hill behind the house. On the way we stopped to see one of Capel's best kept secrets, a real Skunk Cabbage. When I moved here 12 years ago I was walking through the woods when I accidentally came across this strange plant. The flower stood a good foot high and was surrounded by flies. It looked a little like a 'lords and ladies' but 4 times the size and bright yellow. As the months followed the plant grew and grew until each leaf was over a meter wide. It took some investigating but I finally found out what it was and it is very far from home. Skunk Cabbages are native of North America but I believe this one was bought back by an eccentric botanist who lived in the house in the woods back in the 50's. I've since found quite a collection of strange and wonderful plants dotted around the hillside including a full size tree fern, which would be worth a fortune if people new where to look. Next to the track behind the house I spotted some colts foot growing on the ground and in the tree above where newly emerged Pussy Willows. We had another black lamb today, the others have been taken over to field near the farmers house so I don't know how the new ones fared last night. You'll never believe what I saw 'Cheeky' the stray cat do today? He climbed the Larch Tree at the top of the garden. Not just a few branches but virtually right to the top. He then carefully but confidently made his way back down branch by branch. It was incredible to watch but definitely heart in mouth stuff.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Its been an emotional day today from the very highs of new life to the low of discovering savagery at its worse. The day started excitedily with discovery that we were now up to 8 lambs. Late last the night we had a pair of black twins born in the field above the house, which was wonderful. There's something extra special about black lambs, I reckon. I went up this afternoon to take some photo's only to discover the fox had killed and taken away one of the twins. I was gutted but then moments later I spotted another black Ewe giving birth. She had just the one lamb whilst I was watching. The farmer turned up to move yesterdays lamb to a field closer to his house but whern he spotted the new one he realised he was too small to walk all that way. So he walked them to the field next to our house and will move them across the his house tomorrow when today's baby will be stronger. Just need to hope he survives the night. The rest of the flock are very good and were surrounding the remaining twin virtually all day, although wern't paying any attention to the new born yet. As I was taking photo's I got chatting the the farmers son who's only eleven but full of interesting facts about his (the black ones) sheep. I was asking how he could tell the difference between todays baby and yesterdays and he said just look at the length of the legs and he was right. The length difference in one day is incredible. We walked down the hill together, me with my camera and him with his Rifle as he wanted to shoot some crows and also some Grey Squirrels. Its a weird relationship I have with him and his dad as we believe completely different things where wildlife are concerned but yet we get on really well. The farmer was quite upset when I told him about the fox I had in my garden each evening last year and didn't tell him but he did admit it was him that shot her, the night she disappeared from me. When I got back to the house we discovered two little bodies. The white twins that were born on Wednesday had both been killed by the fox and left laying there for the crows to finish off, it was horrid and so so sad. On a happier note there are lots of new holes in the grass from Shrews and Voles I suspect. On the feeder I spotted a Green Finch, not seen one of the in ages. Bad photo but you can just work him out. I was sat in my summer house at tea time and remembered about seeing the Crows a few days ago pecking at the roof. So I went to see if they had done any damage and boy have they. There's one big hole where the felt has been ripped off and then there where other smaller holes all over. Its going to be an awkward job to do, especially as the weather is due to turn bad again. As I was sat on the veranda of the summer house I heard a Song Thrush and a Black Bird singing their hearts out next to each other in the tree. Its was beautiful. I noticed the moon was out early today as I was watching this Buzzard in the sky.