Not a lot flying around at the moment

[thud]

The Blackbirds and Thrushes have gone to the seaside and we are down to just one House Sparrow again.

A flock of finches descends regularly, followed by the hawks most days! If the hawks are not going to pose for snaps they'll have to go.

I think the last photo is one of your ladybirds Mike..

[Jandy]

Lovely selection, Thud. The young greenfinch has posed beautifully! For someone "deserted" you have quite a few characters to keep you company, it looks like!

[thud]

Hi Jandy.

Hardly 'deserted'! When the mixed flock of finches is around (Green, Gold and Chaffinches) we have counted 50+ birds on the ground - with almost every feeder port taken too. Every couple of minutes they take off with a whoosh, and we have had some window strikes. They're back after a few minutes except when the panic was genuine and there was a hawk around - it can take half an hour for them to get their confidence back. After lunch we get 17 or 18 Collared Doves - but fewer finches.

Over the past couple of days we've had a couple of Reed Buntings too - I managed a 'record' shot for the 'archives'. Last year it was early November they came back - the year before it was early December.

[Flower]

You are very lucky, I put a new feeding station out a few weeks ago and the only ones brave enough to use it are the pigeons!


Great photos, how do you manage to get so close without scaring them off? Are you in a hide or something?

Karen

P.S. Yep love MIke's ladybird lol :-) ;-)

[thud]

Hi Karen,

Seed feeders take some time to be accepted here. Sunflower heart feeders are accepted quite quickly. All the birds here seem to like hearts. I've had to remove all the drop trays from the feeders because I couldn't keep up with the amount the Doves gobbled up. It's amazing how much mess can accumulate under the feeders in a week! Once a week I mow the lawns and clear the mess - this morning. This afternoon I'd swear I could hear a good number of finches tutting at me...

I don't use a hide. I settle down by the patio door in my favourite chair - it's called a Stressless chair - but it ain't the way I do it :-)

[thud]

Ooops, this bit got chopped Karen..

Canon D40, 70-200 f2.8 L IS with a doubler. I'd estimate the sparrow, blue tit and young greenfinch were 5 or 6 metres away.