Post Furlough Return To Work....

OK, yes I've been a bit absent the last couple of weeks, and with genuine reasons. Normally I pop on on a Wednesday afternoon after my weekly hospital visit, but with the current climate, I'm at work until the hospital appointments resume, and, working has been variable days and times, which means fitting in shopping and other tasks around my work hours, oh and not forgetting the HS2 road closures, narrow lanes etc as they ramp up their work!

So, I'm well, and I hope you're all well?

Any gossip, please tag it here.....

My local reserve I understand has been overwhelmed with visitors, so I've kept away, because in places, social distancing is not practicable. That's nature, not a fault of the reserve, making some paths very narrow. Long term, it doesn't look like things will get much better quickly, especially as a nearby town is experiencing uncontrolled Covid-19 cases, but not deaths, and if Leicester is anything to go by, if a localised lockdown does occur, then i will be impacted.

Lets hope not.

I've not been too busy with the camera, but here's a few, and some interesting rare visitors included....

A large white butterfly enjoying one of the new lavender plants

A peach of a sunrise....

The next two sunrise pics were taken about two mins apart.

A hiding pond lily

And a blooming nice lily

The newly planted erysimum and lavender plants are filling out nicely,

And the big surprise visitors, long tailed tits, of which at one point, we had at least ten on one feeder!

This pic below, there were two just out of the the image, which I didn't see til afterwards.

One cutely waiting its turn...

This one gave up waiting and found another feeder...

And once the feeding frenzy had died off, this one came back....

Take care and stay safe and I'll hopefully catch up with more posts over the weekend.

STOP PRESS!

More LTT's this afternoon!

  • Excellent timing to get the 'flying' mealies!
  • Lynn L said:
    Thank you for the fun and frolics in your garden. Messy sparrows indeed. How do you keep the coconut shell upright on the post, so that it does not tip over and the mealies come out?

    The coconut shell is held on by a piece of sisal string, that it came with. The length is just right to loop over the chimney top handle without being too tight or too slack.

  • Unknown said:
    Excellent timing to get the 'flying' mealies!

    Thanks Nige, though I'll confess to record shots for that.

  • The last few before Christmas.

    Tues 22nd, the lollipops were out in force on the pellet feeder.

    Along with the blue tits.....

    Plenty of house sparrows around the garden and all feeders...

    Including one of this years young still with downy plumage....

    The ever popular robin(s)

    Some of you may recall the coal tit with crossed mander bills earlier this year.

    Well, it looks like we may have another coal tit with the same condition. It could be the same one, but I doubt it for two reasons, the first being the limited lifespan of coal tits, the second, close inspection of the beak doesn't look as long as the original. It could be one for the young, which would suggest a genetic fault, or it could be a totally unconnected brood.

    But, the crossover is the same, right over left.....

    Wednesday 23rd, was a dull, wet and miserable day, but surprisingly, the birds were out in force, particularly the blackbirds, who felt it was good to bathe in the puddles on the patio. I was absolutely astounded how well I managed to pull the photos through, they were dark, and using an ISO of 12800 and shutter speed of 1/500s followed by Photoshop, I couldn't believe my eyes.

    So apologies for the grainy images, but they're worth a view....

    From today, Christmas Eve, a house sparrow checking out the masonary...

    and a shy male chaffie.....

    And a couple of short videos from today...

    Robin enjoying meal worms for lunch
    Preview YouTube video Blue Tit enjoying meal worms for lunch
    Blue Tit enjoying meal worms for lunch

    It was a wee bit nippy out....

    My thoughts are with those having a tough time this Christmas. We'll be having a quiet one this year, no family, my inlaws are both over 80 and my mother-inlaw is still recovering from cancer (and all is going in the right direction, all precautionary advise from the hospital), while our son and his partner are trapped in Tier4, so we're going nowhere, not even a reserve or two, one is flooded out, the other is locked for Xmas.

    On that final note, Merry Christmas all, whatever you're doing, stay safe and we'll catch up very shortly.

  • OK, perhaps I should have been in bed by midnight, and Santa would have visited, instead of flying up and away....

    Merry Christmas everyone, wherever you are and whatever you're doing

  • Tues 28th was a day at home, after a brief shopping trip. The sky was getting darker, and had that snow look about it, though looking at the forecast, we would only get a wee bit with being on the edge.

    However, it did a good job, and the snow came down thick and fast, much to my surprise.

    So here's some snowy garden pics....

    Before the snow, well, it was just trying to do something at the time this was taken...

    But that didn't stop the LTT's feeding from the pellet feeder

    Or the goldfinches pecking away at the sunflower hearts...

    The snow was starting to take a grip, and for here, because we're in a sheltered area weatherwise, this was heavier than normal.....

    A robin was eager to have its share, and more, of mealies....

    before flying off....

    The chaffies were braving the weather for their food....

    Mrs, (or is it Miss?) Chaffie feeding on a fallen sunflower heart....

    and then Mr Chaffie comes down to feed....

    A robin makes a nice timely winter appearance

    and finally, a charm of goldies in a neighbouring tree....

    The three wise goldfinches?

    and a poser....

    And the grey, snowy day was topped off with a nice urban sunset...

  • I just love the goldies...Lovely pics Mike..the birds look good against that fine dusting
  • Linda257 said:
    I just love the goldies...Lovely pics Mike..the birds look good against that fine dusting

    Thank you Linda.

    I think they're Mrs PR's second fav after the lollipops.

  • Thanks, Mike. The Goldfinches are living Christmas ornaments and I just love 'em!
  • Unknown said:
    Thanks, Mike. The Goldfinches are living Christmas ornaments and I just love 'em!

    They certainly are, and you're welcome.