Monday 6 July 2020

Out and About

Ok the post title might be stretching it a bit, we're doing some major renovating work on the dining/living room at the moment so we haven't had time to go anywhere really! 

We did make a detour after dropping a food shop at my parents a few weeks back to see a Rose Coloured Starling in Collingham. It had been around a while and was still showing well though at a distance and mostly in the garden on a farm - very patient owners with all the bins/scopes trained towards their house! It was flying with a flock of Starlings and helping strip the cherry trees. I only got a record shot but was able to watch it for a while. A beautiful bird and one of 70+ that have popped up around the UK over the past month or so. 


We've been to the woods before work a few times and have seen young Chiffchaffs, Robins, Long-tailed Tits, Blue/Great Tits and a very young Woodpigeon!







My commute to work, which i've missed a lot, is lovely, it's quiet of course, there's very few people and only a handful of school children.  Someone has set up a little feeding station at the side of one of the paths, I think it must be someone from the flats over the road, it draws in the Sparrows, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Tits. I've seen a Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, Pied Wagtails, heard Chiffchaffs and Chaffinch singing. Seen Swifts, House Martins and Swallows - Swallows at head height as they fly to and fro from the farm field. Plus a Skylark singing near work almost every morning, that is a delight!




The garden is bursting with flowers, bugs, bees, birds, mammals...........We haven't mown the front lawn in a while and all sorts are coming up through the grass - Ragwort, which we've had Cinnabar Moths on and Sparrows hanging from it, clover, daisies, buttercups and self heal. I've sprinkled a few wildflower seeds in one of the beds over the years and there's always something flowering over the months. 













A bit of a worn Ringlet Butterfly, only the 2nd i've recorded in the garden


We've had Hedgehogs every evening up to 4 at times, they have been quite entertaining charging around at high speed bowling into each other, it's fascinating behaviour. We have a couple of Bats at dusk, a Squirrel is still a regular and there's been a Fox now and again, when we first saw it it wasn't in the best of conditions, mange perhaps? But it's fur is growing back and it's looking slightly better each time we see it. 




Some of the young Starlings are starting to get their adult feathers now, we're still getting up to 30 on a regular basis but i've noticed large flocks of them gathering around town too. There are still lots of young House Sparrows being feed by the adults, we also have young Goldfinch, Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits, even one young Greenfinch briefly stopped on the feeder. Overhead we have Swifts and House Martins.

Goldfinch 


House Sparrow




Woodpigeon


Long-tailed Tits


Starling - you can just see the adult feathers on its back



Blackbird


Magpie Moth in the almost empty water dish, it was drinking the droplets


There's been a lot of rain over the past week and mushrooms have started popping up 


Foxglove 






We even had hailstone that looked like a light covering of snow


The Caterpillar I saw eating the nettles wrapped itself in a cocoon but the following week the nettle leaves it was on looked like they'd been eaten




We may at some point, depending on how things go in the house venture further afield on my husbands weekends off!

14 comments:

  1. Your photos of the flowers were totally delightful, really pretty. All the birds are so busy growing up and learning the ropes and the adults barely have time to take a breath, Kudos for the Rose Colored Starling. Hope the house rework is not too stressful!

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    1. Thanks Sondra, it's lovely at the moment with so many in bloom! A couple of setbacks with the house but nothing major so things are slow!

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  2. So much in your post to enjoy. I love the wildflowers in your front garden and your walk to work looks and sounds delightful. How lovely that you got to see the rose coloured starling tht must have been special. Young wood pigeons make me smile as they are so ungainly. We too noticed that our parent foxes looked a little worse for wear after their cubs were born. We put it down to the struggle to feed them. Now the cubs fend for themselves the parents are beginning to look a lot better:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. The Starling was a beauty! I'm not sure if this fox has had mange, but we have seen it in a while now.

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  3. Hard to imagine so many Rose-coloured Starlings flitting around the UK. i would have loved to have seen this species. So many starlings are incredibly beautiful and I have been fortunate to see gorgeous species in Africa. With so many in Britain you have to wonder whether breeding is about to begin and whether this will become an established species. Good to see the fox recovering. You hate to see sick animals.

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    1. Yes, we have a few each year but this year has been exceptional, things are changing... (and I won't start on the Bearded Vulture that's been in the UK for the past couple of weeks!!). Yes the fox is looking a lot better than when we first saw it thank goodness.

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  4. A lovely post Pam and well done on seeing the Rose-coloured Starling. You have seen some great species on your walk to work and in the garden and your front garden looks super :) Hope you finish the renovations soon :)

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    1. Thanks Caroline :) I must admit I didn't realise how much I love my walk to work until I wasn't doing it anymore, it's so good to be back! Renovations are a little slow but we're getting there!

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  5. Lots of lovely things here! Great to see the starling too. There was one about 30 miles away from me a few weeks ago, I'd like to have seen it but didn't make the trip.

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    1. Thanks Louise, this one was around a while before we decided to go, tying it in with a food delivery to my parents worked well!

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  6. Great post Pam so much going on in your garden, and thanks for the inspiration to have a bit of a wild meadow, even if it's just a small patch.

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    1. Thanks Amanda, even a small patch works!

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