missy enjoying her chewbone

mrs black bird

while she was off the nest yesterday i had a peek in and counted 3 eggs, took a couple of photos of her sat on the nest.

nesting time

the birds in our back garden are going about the business of nest building,i put up a new wooden screening a few weeks ago which is at the side of the garage door,the black bird has decided to build her nest in it, our robin is taking the mealworms to his mate which is in another garden, the blue tit box has had a few visitors but early days yet,we have a pair of long tailed tits going in and out of the ivy, mrs black bird doesn't mind us at all, when we go to the wheelie bin, which is right underneath her nest and about head height 2ft away she never moves, put the mealworms on top of bin and they both fly on straight away, what a wonderful time of the year.

nesting time

a few photos i have taken today, the blog that i intended to do has been put on my other blog INSIDE THE BOX, please bear with me, thanks

a new bird in the garden

will catch up with everyone's blogs over next few weeks, family problems have kept me away, mainly my dad being in hospital, things looking up at the minute so i can find time to start blogging again,got off early from work today to go and see dad, popped into the garage and saw through the window this bird on the feeder, rushed into the house for camera and hastily took a shot, not good i'm afraid but will post anyway, i think, by looking on the internet that it is a linnet.

the wren

quite an elusive bird to photograph.

a few photos taken over christmas

think it's a black cap

two of these have been visiting our garden for the last couple of weeks, they mainly feed on the suet cake, was able to get a photo of one of them this afternoon, had a look on the internet and the nearest i could get to identifying it was a black cap, please correct me if i'm wrong.

our missy

we bought this coat for her last christmas but it was too big, we tried it on again tonight, and it fits perfect.

roosting bluetit

the bluetit nest box that we put up in the autumn has got a visitor, it comes in at about 5pm, and leaves about 7am, we managed to download a bit of video after several days of trying this, then that, then this, you know how it goes, will keep an eye on it over the winter months.

greenfinch

quite a lot of greenfinch are visiting at the moment, took a couple of photos of them.

sparrowhawk

we saw him take one of our greenfinch last sunday, today he wasn't so lucky.

starlings

the starlings have found their way into the feeder box

feeders and nestboxes

decided to make a new nestbox and feeder, made the nestbox from 6" wide decking plank, fitted a nestbox camera inside (which i purchased from handykam), the old nestbox that the bluetits nested in, has been converted to a feeder, fitted some 1" galvanized mesh on the front, so that the bluetits can get in, and left a gap at the bottom, so that the robin, great tits, sparrows and other similar sized birds may enter, the starlings can't get in but they are catered for in another part of the garden. the nestbox camera is piped through to the tele in our bedroom, fingers crossed that the blue tits will nest in it next year, the feeder is situated directly facing the nestbox, and hopefully when the bluetits go looking to feed their chicks, they will see the feeder full of mini mealworms, thus enabling them to rear their young more easily, also any other similar sized birds may do the same, posted a few pictures of nestbox and feeder.

greenfinch

we have several of them that visit the garden but this one stays around a lot longer than the rest

bath day

just after they were given a bath.

mealworm feeder

the bug

does anyone know what this bug is called, found it crawling up the gable end of our house the other day, very interesting looking thing.

our dogs

the dogs went to the groomers yesterday, took their photos before they get chance to mess it up.

mrs robin

mrs robin is looking a bit dishevelled at the minute, not surprising after 3 broods, ( she must be worn out ) she wasn't the resident robin in our garden but she has become very friendly over the breeding season, i leave the garage door open and she helps herself to the mealworms that i leave on the worktop, yesterday whilst i was on the computer she flew into the house, and had to go through several doorways before she found me, she then sat on the printer until i got up and got her some mealworms, all of her broods have been in our garden but as of yet we haven't seen one baby robin.