busy in the garden this morning.

[rossy]

had a variety today alright, usual mob of sparrows, great spotted woodpecker, jay, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, collard doves, blackbirds, dunnocks, wood pigeon, starlings, robin, wren, magpies, jackdaw, and to top it off REDWINGS, then the birds scatterd , and yes it was the SPARROWHAWK , he, MALE ,didnt catch any , TRY as he might to flush the sparrows out of the bush, next to the feeders, showing just how agile these birds are, after a couple of minutes of landing on the fence and flushing, he left without, any prey, THIS is one good reason to place your feeders near or close to where birds can make a quick dive for cover, amazing to WATCH. rossy.

[nikolai_avenger]

Originally Posted by rossy

had a variety today alright, usual mob of sparrows, great spotted woodpecker, jay, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, collard doves, blackbirds, dunnocks, wood pigeon, starlings, robin, wren, magpies, jackdaw, and to top it off REDWINGS, then the birds scatterd , and yes it was the SPARROWHAWK , he, MALE ,didnt catch any , TRY as he might to flush the sparrows out of the bush, next to the feeders, showing just how agile these birds are, after a couple of minutes of landing on the fence and flushing, he left without, any prey, THIS is one good reason to place your feeders near or close to where birds can make a quick dive for cover, amazing to WATCH. rossy.

Nice one - I'd settle for half of that list!

[Dogghound]

My garden has gone off the boil now, as the leaves have dropped off most of the trees and there is less cover. I tend to fix my bins/scope on the sky at this time of year and look for fly overs.

Great list though, is it year round or just a recent increase?

[rossy]

ok doghound, redwings 1st visit this year,of the rest jays , long tailed tits, are of late, but the rest have been visiting all year, the sparrowhawk has less cover now, as its been ambushing from up a sycamore tree, which is bare after the gales, the sparrows know when its around, as the blue tits give out the alarm call, get in the bush , which is a prickly one ,and dont budge, cant blame them, but admire how they have adapted, to have chance of survival against a remarkable predator, ive seen the sparrowhawk cart off a few starlings, but that was 2 months ago. rossy.

[RobinP]

I had a busy wildlife morning on Tuesdday when it was cold and foggy.

First I had a fox snuffling around the ground under the feeders, then mother Muntjac and Fawn appeared in the woods just beyond my garden, to be followed a few minutes later by the fox! Hope the fawn wasn't taken, it was only the size of a cat.

Later on two male pheasants appeared, the first of the year, and of course the usual tit/finch pack swept through, nothing unusual amongst them, Bullfinch count was 9 (only 2 females) and a couple of Goldfinches was nice

Robin