This morning I left for work a little earlier as I wanted to get to the patch garden with enough time to watch the feeders for a while. Over the last couple of days both rook and starling fledgling’s have been seen earlier in the morning; I wanted to try and see them. The rooks still haven’t got used to people being in the garden with them so I positioned myself in an upstairs window and waited…
I didn’t see any of the rooks or starlings but I was treated to the house sparrows fledging. I haven’t seen them in the garden before so I think they fledged this morning as the parents were still collecting food and heading up to the roof where they had nested yesterday. There were 4 or 5 balls of fluffy feathers that were bumbling their way through the hazel and white beam tree calling for food. I kept losing them in the leaves as they were continually on the move. It was good to see them using the trees as cover as the amount of corvids that visit the garden does seem to be steadily increasing now the rooks have fledged!
As far as I know it is only the jackdaws that are now left to fledge. I know they are still in the chimney as they can be heard calling from within the house. The home owners will be glad when they have fledged – who needs an alarm clock when you have jackdaws!
In other fledgling news, while I was at work walking back to the office a small bird caught my eye very close to me in a pine tree. I stopped and watched until I could see it clearly; a fledgling chaffinch! I continued watching and one of the parents came back to feed them; I wish I had a camera with me, they were only a few feet away!
When I was leaving the car park a male pheasant chased a female to mate with her and bowled over the chick she had next to her! Thankfully it got back up on its feet and found Mum again and went back to feeding. I need to start taking my camera to work!
photographing them, I was looking into the sun and there was a heat haze across the field – typical! I have never seen two hares together before and I was so surprised to see them. My attention was drawn away to the birds in the hedgerow, two robins that were hoping about having a slight territorial dispute and then to long-tailed tits in the top of the trees. Walking down the lower part of the copse towards the river I again spooked the roe deer. I hear them moving then normally see white bottoms bouncing off through the trees. I need to locate myself in the copse at some point to photograph them. My guess is there is normally two or three that run off. 
The river was full. It had obviously burst its banks recently as a patch of the field was a large puddle. I have never seen it that full before. It did look pretty with the sun shining and the neutral tones of the fields behind. Two swans flew over and later a cormorant. I heard a wren and a moorhen but didn’t see them. The holes that I have seen in the bank previously were fully submerged so if they were homes to any creature they were 100% flooded out. I was stood watching three goldfinch flitting between the trees, I turned round to find a hare metres from me. I slowly lifted the camera to take a photo but it was gone as soon as I moved a muscle, I hadn’t expected to see one right behind me! I estimate there were 3 to 4 hares in the field! As the river receded from its original flooded level it has dropped lots of plastic bottles along the rivers edge, I did think about trying to get them out, however, I was on my own and didn’t know how sturdy the bank was! I will take backup and fish them out next time I go. If the water level doesn’t rise again they look like they will remain wedged in the tree line.
Rather than walking round the field I walked back up the copse. Two wren were in the hedgerow and a blackbird was keeping a few meters ahead of me all the way along, I’d get close it would fly a little further along and the continued. I heard a bee, a queen buff-tailed bumble bee, it was buzzing along the side of the hedgerow.
January 30th – 31 mute swans were just on the other side of the fence, I didn’t have my camera so I took a quick photograph on my phone. I haven’t seen them that far up the field before. Hopefully they will be staying around for a little longer, I think they will still be there for as long as the crop is still sprouting. 
I made my way out into the field through the owners back garden as the road wasn’t a safe place to be! The mute swans are back 🙂 there were six feeding on the crop! I’m sure the farmer isn’t too pleased to see them but I was 🙂 Last April there were approximately 40 grazing so I am expecting the numbers to increase. I walked a different route to normal as I was trying to avoid the accident. I didn’t see a lot, a pheasant that ran away very quickly and a great tit in the trees. There were other small birds about but they were difficult to see as the sun was in my eyes and they were just shadows. As I got closer to the river I noticed a huge number of woodpigeon; I counted approximately 96, they were all feeding on the crop too! The river is so much easier to see into now its Winter. I can even sort of tell where the edge of the bank is! Today I only spotted a wren, grey heron and a moorhen.
On the walk back up I stuck to my normal route, I did however quickly realise it was the much muddier choice! There were three advantages though; I briefly glimpsed two roe deer in the copse, a brown hare ran out from the hedgerow in front of me and a buzzard flew over. I know there are brown hare in the copse and I have seen them in the next field along but but this is the first time on my patch 🙂
On May 10th I wanted to get some images of the Starlings taking food into the roof space. They were visiting fairly frequently and also removing faecal sacs. Then their behaviour changed, at first I wondered if it was my presence but I had stood and watched them before with no effect. One of the adults was taking food to the nest entrance, calling and then flying to the top of the roof calling again, this pattern continued for the next 20mins I continued to watch. Once it was getting dark I left but apparently the calling continued, I believe they were trying to call their young out of the nest.
I have also now noticed that there’s a Blue Tit nest under one of the tiles of the porch. The parents perch on the telephone wire before darting in to feed the chicks 🙂 While watching the Blue Tits I heard a lot of bees. Looking up I noticed a slightly broken fascia board and realised the bees were going inside – Tree bumblebee’s. I did mention it to my friend, he doesn’t mind bees so is letting them stay as long as they don’t cause any trouble! 
