Hi all, I'd like to offer a bit of background to this thread, if I may? We moved back to central, rural Scotland from S Wales in 2022 and have been adapting to but loving the solitude and quiet that has brought but, for me, it's the wildlife, the birds. We are SO lucky to have birds visiting the garden that I'd hoped I might see here. Now I see most of them daily so, I have a "few" photos taken from my den, (wee box room) where I look out directly at an Ash tree and our feeders.
So, I'd like to share some of those images here, I hope that works or is the way it's done?
September 1st 2024
As an example, as I typed this, I spotted a wee bird landing at the base of the tree, turned out to be a young Robin. Robins are a less frequent visitor so I was up and grabbing a few shots when an adult shot in and chased it off!! Typical.
This morning, my mood was totally lifted by the first (as far as I know) visit of a wee flock of Long-tailed Tits AND, a couple stood still long enough to photograph! Bonus
Set September off nicely.
I don't think I've had such clear shots before, they're usually at dawn or dusk and in a hurry!
Really pleased to get these shots, I'm sure there will be more, they come through more often as the weather changes.
Lovely photo captures; nice to see the tree sparrow and GSW together at the suet feeder
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Regards, Hazel
Morning William Parsons and many thanks, we do indeed get a great assortment here which also means I don't have to move too far to watch them It's pouring this morning
Thanks Mike B I've even been out to clean the window!!!
Morning HAZY having the Tree Sparrows here was a super bonus for me, love it. They've just started exploring the branches against my window, brings them up close!
January 8th 2024
Good morning all, dank and grey yet again up here in our bit of Perthshire, still, plenty time to sort through photos
I have quite a backlog that I try to work through all the time, try being the operative word here. I had a "sort out" a couple of weeks back and I've just discovered I accidentally deleted several days worth from Lewis earlier in the year! Gutted, I had many, many shots of two White-tailed eagles that turned up at the local beach on my birthday.
Ach well, there you go eh?
So, this goes back to January this year, I think I've mentioned the side and back of the garden, I forget to go there so these are a set I took of that area at that time.
The side hedge is often full of mixed birds, the Sparrows, both kinds and Chaffinches live in there but others drop by or hide if I'm round there. The Reed Buntings use it as a perch to survey the fields beyond.
Male Reed Bunting on the hedge
The Yellowhammers also hide out in there, if I went round more often I'd see them more.
Yellowhammer female and Blue Tit
Reed Bunting female and friends
The hedge can be a real cacophony of bird sounds at the right times, I have a sit-on mower and when I ride by too close, there's a real racket.
There's another Ash tree round the back and that can be a great spot for the birds.
Yellowhammer female with Blue Tit and Chaffinches
The Blue Tits are always around, no idea where they nest but they are all over the place here.
I do love Reed Buntings, they were another real bonus when we moved here, I first spotted them bobbing around in the back field when it was ploughed.
Young reed Bunting male in the hedge
I can stand at the back corner of the house, the sun rises and sets towards the front so I'm in a little shadow there so get to watch the birds without too much disturbance for them.
Yellowhammer males and females
My list of "hope for" when we moved was Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer!!! There have been a few bonuses too, I'll get to those at some point.
Goldfinches are possibly the first bird I ever noticed. WAY back in (1976-ish) I spotted some birds flying out of a shrub border alongside the road I walked to and from lunch down in Cornwall, I asked if anyone knew what they were, describing the yellow wing flashes, the person who told me was quite a surprise!
Another bonus bird, that I hadn't even considered was the Linnet.
They gather in the back tree before heading out into the fields, I was over the moon when I first saw a flock of them but they're pretty shy so can be hard work to get good shots of around the garden.
Starling, Yellowhammer & Chaffinch
Mixed flock
Here's a wee test. What can you see in that small flock?
Or this lot?
Linnets in the back tree
Linnets were a real bonus, I hadn't even considered seeing them in the area.
I worked my way along the side of the house, towards the front and caught this little beastie on the other feeder.
Long-tailed Tit on a feeder
They have to be our cutest bird right? I do love Goldcrests as well but don't get to see them too often, they rarely sit still and NEVER see them around the garden.
So, moving towards the front of the house, we're back to the feeders I see every day.
Blue Tit and Coal Tit on feeders
Meanwhile, over on that side hedge again ....
Carrion Crow and Yellowhammers
The numbers of Crows and Rooks here is amazing, add Jackdaws into that mix and there are huge amounts. Now and again, but more often on my favourite walk, I'll get treated to ravens. When I lived down in Caerphilly, we saw lots of Jackdaws, they roosted all over the castle for instance, not so many Crows, I think I saw one Rook and never a raven, to my knowledge. Of course we were in a more built up area so it makes sense. All that said, I've seen one Magpie in the garden on two occasions so that's a bonus even though I think they're fabulous birds they can be a real pest.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind an introduction to the other birds we get around us.
I've noticed a couple of images not displaying properly but I'm not going to edit again .... in case, when I click on the symbol, the image opens anyway
You get quite a variety Scozmos, nice photo's.
Thanks SnappyMac we do indeed, I absolutely love it, my nearest and dearest does too, except when I'm constantly running outside and back again