Tuesday 11 October 2011

Yet another dingy day

The Safari had a pleasant surprise yesterday tea-time when we looked out of the kitchen window and saw two Blackbirds and two Mistle Thrushes in next doors berry laden Rowan Tree. Almost definitely migrants that ha been on the move between the many bouts of heavy drizzle.

Also skulking about was the first Dunnock we've seen for some time and far less skulky a Robin on the tumble-down shed in that garden and a rather grey looking Great Tit in the herbaceous border.

This morning loomed dull, grey, gloomy...and raining of course. A single Peregrine was sheltering as best it could on the tower while an adult and a juvenile Herring Gull polished off the last of the bread we threw on the garage roof last night.

Not the best of pics taken in the dark, single handed through a wet and salt encrusted double glazed window.

The adult did hop up on to next door's garage roof which is a bit closer...think you can just about make out it is a Herring Gull.


Later there were two wet Peregrines sitting on the ledge...sounds like a line from a kiddies counting song!

Later still we saw one of the Peregrines leave the tower and fly almost directly overhead. Alarm calls of a Blackbird led us straight to the berried Rowan tree where there were a minimum of seven and possibly double figures coming and going! Certainly a bit of a fall. Again the pics aren't going to win many prizes.


At any hint of danger or with a full crop they'd fly to the big Sycamore where we flukily found a Blackcap - a good bird for Base Camp these days since the tree is much more isolated since the removal of almost all of its neighbours.

A Blue Tit cheekily snuck into next door's garage through a gap betwween the ridge tile and the top row of Rosemaries - we didn't see it sneak out again
Two Robins squabbled and more Blackbirds dropped in.
A slight improvement in the light gave a very slight improvement in the quality of our pics.



Where to next? Only six days of plaster-cast left...and counting


In the meantime let us know if there's been a fall in your outback

3 comments:

Warren Baker said...

More exciting there than here Davo! I had to resort to ''through the double glazing'' photos today too!

Anonymous said...

The Blackies scoffed all the berries on my Rowans, weeks back.
It`s gonna be a case of buying cheap apples now, to tempt the winter thrushes down.

cliff said...

Through the double glazing or not I'm loving the Blackbird thieving the rowan berry photos Dave.

Going stir crazy yet?

The Slav Grebe was still at Fairhaven when I visited early afternoon today - but no sooner had I got there it dived under, surfaced right next to me which seemed to spook it & it swam off to t'other side of the lake - it must be scared of ginners :-)

Cheers

Cliff