Live Stream of my Bird Box - Bluetits Nesting - Chicks Hatching Now

kinetic747 · 7 Jun 2020 at 11:53

Robins are quite fearless. I have one in my garden that'll come within inches of my boots when I'm digging. He's obviously looking for worms etc but it's nice when he gets up close. :cool:

Nazbit · 7 Jun 2020 at 11:55

Yeah they can be very tame particularly while I'm gardening. Always a welcome sight.

Robins were my grandads favourite bird so they always raise a smile for me.

Mcnumpty2323 · 7 Jun 2020 at 11:58

Nazbit said:
Just had four Bluetit fledglings and two parents on the suet cage. Didn't manage to get a picture but will keep the camera by the window.

Having jays must be good. Think I've only seen one in my life.

Agree with the robins comment. They can be so hit and miss. Last week so saw three adults on a branch together. Totally not bothered. Yet they can be so aggressively territorial when they need to be.

We have a nature reserve where you can go and walk among red squirrels and you'll see one every 2-3 mins which is lovely. Not sure I've ever seen a red one in the wild other than at that reserve which, i mean its huge, but it's up to you whether they're wild or not.

yeah jays are pretty shy
my partner had never ever seen one i had to tell her what it was lol
like i said earlier cemeteries are a good place to see them
as its quiet and usually cemeteries have lots of mature trees
its a shame they are on the wrong side of the garden or would try to get some photos
but theres no benches there and my back problem means cant stand around
waiting for them to appear for more than 5 minutes before the pain starts

Junglist · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:02

I'm about to go on a walk along the river in a moment, that's where I've often seen it/them. If, by some miraculous chance, I see one today I'll see if I can get a decent photo.

That was the one I saw last week, not the best photo sadly. I was trying to get a video of it as I wanted to catch the blue

Nazbit · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:02

@Mcnumpty2323 do you have any old mobile phones in working condition?

You could prop one somewhere or tape it to a tree.

There are apps that will take a photo in response to motion or just take a picture every minute etc.

Mcnumpty2323 · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:08

Nazbit said:
@Mcnumpty2323 do you have any old mobile phones in working condition?

You could prop one somewhere or tape it to a tree.

There are apps that will take a photo in response to motion or just take a picture every minute etc.

yeah got an old mobile
but trust me it wouldnt stay there very long lmao
did you ever see my the guy stole lead of my roof post

Mcnumpty2323 · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:09

Junglist said:
I'm about to go on a walk along the river in a moment, that's where I've often seen it/them. If, by some miraculous chance, I see one today I'll see if I can get a decent photo.

That was the one I saw last week, not the best photo sadly. I was trying to get a video of it as I wanted to catch the blue

still a decent photo though
but yeah as they fly off you really see the colours

Junglist · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:13

Mcnumpty2323 said:
still a decent photo though
but yeah as they fly off you really see the colours

he was there for quite a while as well! I had the chance of seeing him jumping around the branches and not really being bothered with my presence. I guess I was just enjoying the moment too much rather than looking at it through a phone!

As you say, when they fly it's staggering how beautiful they are. Like a big king fisher, is how i'd see the blue.

Mcnumpty2323 · 7 Jun 2020 at 12:23

Junglist said:
he was there for quite a while as well! I had the chance of seeing him jumping around the branches and not really being bothered with my presence. I guess I was just enjoying the moment too much rather than looking at it through a phone!

As you say, when they fly it's staggering how beautiful they are. Like a big king fisher, is how i'd see the blue.

know what you mean
when i saw one at the cemetery was so busy watching it
and explaining what it was to my partner that i forgot to photo it
but jays werent new to me so i took it for granted
i had the good fortune as a kid in scotland to grow up with a huge area
of woodland and bogland literally over my back garden fence
so saw a huge variety of wildlife

sadly now they built a huge shopping centre and god knows what else on it

Junglist · 7 Jun 2020 at 15:49

I think there must be a few Jays in the woods near me. Couldn't see any but could hear the call of one which sounded quite close

Mcnumpty2323 · 7 Jun 2020 at 17:16

Junglist said:
I think there must be a few Jays in the woods near me. Couldn't see any but could hear the call of one which sounded quite close

That's about right
Usually you hear them but don't see them
Most people probably heard one and didn't know what it was
But most people never actually seen one

Nazbit · 9 Jun 2020 at 09:11

Baby blackbirds have just started to pick their own food and they've found my strawberry patch!!

Had the baby bluetits back we believe there are four.

We've also had baby goldfinches this morning.

Will try and get some pictures

Junglist · 9 Jun 2020 at 09:29

Haha, uh oh, that's a worthy sacrifice though, right? You can always get some sup-par supermarket ones

We used to get a nice gold finch that sat on the telephone wire right outside of our bedroom window

Looking forward to seeing the pictures, this thread is my safe place in GD at the moment.

Edinho · 9 Jun 2020 at 10:37

Great thread thanks. It also confirms my deep hatred of cats.

Nazbit · 9 Jun 2020 at 10:58

Here are some of the goldfinches this morning. Three adults and two babies.

Note the very similar wing and tail but the totally different head and face.

Nazbit · 9 Jun 2020 at 11:06

More blackbird chickies.

Still taking food from dad but starting to find their own too. The problem is what they've found!!

Luckily I grew 120 Strawberry plants this year so I'm going to move some back in to the greenhouse for us humans and leave a few out for them to enjoy.

I wont use nets because it scares me that they'll get stuck and hurt or worse.

You can see how much they've grown already look at the length of their tails to previous pics.

Junglist · 9 Jun 2020 at 11:17

Thread delivers as always! Do goldfinches have any different features between the sexes? I know a lot of birds don't so probably not. I can only really tell the difference between black birds, ducks and swans!

They're definitely fattening up a treat thanks to the strawberries.

Do you have any other visitors throughout the year?

Minxy · 9 Jun 2020 at 11:19

Those goldfinches are beautiful. I have a soft spot for the blackbirds as they always seem to have character and can get quite brave and cheeky.

Junglist · 9 Jun 2020 at 11:25

Minxy said:
Those goldfinches are beautiful. I have a soft spot for the blackbirds as they always seem to have character and can get quite brave and cheeky.

Same reason I have a love hate relationship with seagulls. They're pests but I can't help but respect how brazen they are

Nazbit · 9 Jun 2020 at 11:27

Goldfinches - not that I'm aware of. I believe that the red and white on their face doesn't develop until they mature as an evolutionary way of helping them avoid predators. Without the red and white face they can be a bit more hidden until they have better survival instincts. Then in later life I think the vibrancy of the red is involved in mate selection. But differences between the sexes not that I know of.

This is what I tend to get in my garden

Plentiful: Goldfinches, Sparrows, Blackbirds
Common:Bluetits, Robins, Green Finches, Chaffinches
Once in a while: CoalTits, GreatTits, Starlings, Magpies, Crows
Rare: Siskins
OMG WTF is that: Sparrow Hawks

Think that's everything