December already! Although it is still feeling quite mild here in this part of the country. I'm eager for a nice frost as I've missed a nice crunchy walk!
Yesterday after I took Bracken for a walk I spent some time catching up with blogs and watching the birds who were coming and going in the garden. I have been inspired by Mike Dilger's new book to watch the behaviour of the birds who visit the garden and I've been writing a little bird diary. Something which I am sure most naturalists do.
Over the weekend I had a go at making my own birdy fat treats. Ages ago I bought one of those coconut halves and obviously they demolished the contents within a few days, however it was the perfect vessel to refill. I bought some white vegetable fat and melted it down, firstly putting a layer of mealworms, then some of the melted fat, then some oats and some more mealworms until it was packed with yummy bird treats. I also used a plastic pot which was destined for the recycle bin, and filled that with the same selection of morsels. The garden birds are still checking it out, making sure it isn't going to jump off the tree and eat them. There were 5 blue tits all inspecting it from afar, but still just a little too scary to nibble.
The weekend before, we went and explored some woods nearby which we hadn't been to previously. The walk was okay, but it was quite difficult to follow the woodland path. We encountered some lovely free roaming piggies which luckily Bracken didn't notice, so I was able to call him back and pop him on his lead. Probably not a footpath we shall use again, but that is what is great about using the OS map - we can find which places we like and which we aren't likely to return to. My camera's battery died after a few minutes so that was quite irritating.
Usual volunteering activities have been taking place, along with a dormouse check which resulted in just one wood mouse which had taken over the intricate dormouse nest. We then made a hasty retreat back to the truck as it started to tip down. Hopefully all the little dormice gained enough weight to survive the winter and have found a nice little hidey hole to hibernate in.
Anyway that is probably enough of my ramblings. Here are a selection of photos from the last few weeks worth of walks.
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| 21st November |
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| 21st November |
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| 21st November |
23rd November - Walk along The Saxon Shore Way
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| Bracken having enormous fun with a plastic sheet. |
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| Kestrel |
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| Flock of roughly 170 brent geese |
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| Flock of linnets and goldfinches |
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| Linnets and goldfinches |
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| Another shot of the finch flock |
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| Reed bunting |
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| Poignant pose |
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| Sanderling |
Last Monday I took this cake along to our volunteer task for the Warden's Birthday. Usually no more than 10 people turn up so I cut the cake into 10. You can guess how many people turned up to that task....
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| Delicious Birthday carrot cake |
The changes in the sky on today's afternoon walk...
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| Lime tree leaves |
I am playing catch up with all your blogs, I haven't forgotten you I promise! I hope you are all well :)
Thanks for reading and any comments you take the time to write, I truly appreciate what you have to say!
Wow what fantastic pics to end with, such stunning skyscapes, and another beautifully illustrated post :-) I like the finch flocks and the pic of Bracken is fantastic, while the other pic of Bracken playing with the plastic bag made me smile :-)
ReplyDeleteI too keep a garden bird diary and it can be fascinating seeing the variations from year to year that such records can reveal.
PS. Those are certainly very generous slices of cake :-)
Thank you so much David! I tried to take a video of Bracken when he was running around with the plastic but I couldn't because I was laughing too much :)
DeleteI will try and keep up the bird diary!
Beautiful shots, love the sky views .
ReplyDeleteMy fave is Mr One Ear Up One Ear Down :)
Thank you Willow! He often positions his ears like that - weird dog!!
DeleteWhat a fantastic set of pictures Lou. I love those first ones, Bracken and, well, all of them really. I think my favourite is that first one though - just brilliant. Nice cake too!
ReplyDeletePS - any chance of getting rid of the word verification thingy? God, I hate them and at the moment they're asking for two really long words instead of a word and a number. Sorry, I'm
ReplyDeleteranting now.....x
Thanks Em :) I will have a look at the settings - I wasn't aware I had the word verification thing on!! They annoy me too! x
DeleteI love the flock of finches and those beautiful skies. And lovely Bracken, of course. We've had the first real frost of the winter here this morning, so I shall be increasing the bird feed and monitoring the water here, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy :) I shall certainly be increasing bird food but it just costs so much money!
DeleteTruly impressed with the flock shots of Linnets and finches, well impressive. But I also like the cloud/sky shots at the end.
ReplyDeleteThanks Doug, I was really hoping there was going to be a brambling or two amongst the flock but I could make any out!
DeleteWonderful photos Lou.. the sky ones are amazing... oh and by the way I'm in love with your dog, he has the most gorgeous face :o)
ReplyDeleteThank you Julie! He is quite photogenic sometimes and often fools us into thinking he is slightly angelic with his puppy dogs eyes, but most of the time he is a little terror!
DeleteLovely pictures to accompany your outings Lou Mary. you have so many brents, linnets and goldfinches that I'm rather jealous. save me some cake, unless it's all gone.
ReplyDeleteThank you Phil. That was only a small fraction of the brents around here. Not rubbing it in! The cake was definitely demolished in less that 5 minutes! Sorry :)
DeleteLovely pic of the boy looking extremely well. I've made fat treats for the birds before- they had a desultory peck then turned their beaks up at them! Hope yours fare better. Cake looks delicious x
ReplyDeleteAh still no takers! Maybe when it gets really cold they will have no option!
DeleteLovely photos - I especially like the skyscapes, the goldfinch and linnet flocks and Bracken :)
ReplyDeleteThe cake looks absolutely delicious - I bet everyone enjoyed it :)
We've made bird treats for the birds too and they usually go down well. Although to be fair its a thing I tend to do when its gone really cold to eke out the suet balls :) I keep a bird diary too - its great to compare different years and sightings :)
Thanks RR :) The other vols did say it was nice! I do love to sit and watch the garden with a cup of coffee. Usually there is one male chaffinch who sits at the niger seed feeder and hogs it all day!
DeleteBeautiful skies, beautiful flocks, a beautiful kestrel (my favourites!), and a cheeky looking Bracken! Great photos Lou - and that cake has made me hungry!!
ReplyDeleteTom x
Thanks Tom :) Love a good flock! It has made me hungry thinking about it... might have to bake another one! x
DeleteWhat a lovely collection of photos. Bracken and the cake look wonderful-for different reasons of course, and I am very fond of cake and dogs! I love the images of the flocks of birds-they look amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Suzie!
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