Tuesday 5 July 2011

Some surprises in my garden...

When I got home tonight I sat by the patio doors looking out at the bird feeders. I sat with my camera next to me as we had some lovely visitors to our bird feeding station yesterday. I wasn't disappointed.First came the sparrows...

Then the goldfinches arrived. There are at least five that I could see today, and some young ones too. These two are adults (not the best photo I'm afraid)...
Then three young long tailed tits arrived! Two flew back to the trees very quickly, but this little fella hung around for ages!


I'm no expert, and these aren't the best photos, particularly being taken through glass in the rain, but I'm so happy we are getting some different birds and so close to the house too. All I need to do now is find a way of deterring the neighbourhood cats - any suggestions?

15 comments:

Lynne K said...

Wow! Great to know you've got so many different species visiting. And you got photos! We get long tailed tits frequently, and the occasional goldfinch, but I've never managed to get a photo of either yet.

Cath Wilson said...

Gorgeous, Sally - and lovely to see those long tailed tits - lucky you! Not bad, either, considering the glass AND the rain - you shouldn't apologise! Love them. Thank you for sharing x

Carola Bartz said...

I love to watch birds myself and am always happy about the feathered visitors. We have a lot of different kinds of birds, it is amazing. Neighborhood cats are a problem though - if there is coverage close to the feeding station it should be okay, though. More problematic are ground feeding birds, but as far as I know they always have one eye open for predators.

Jules said...

Hi Sal

Great photographs .. .. your windows must be very clean !!! LOL!!!

We get a few bird visitors and some made nests in the garden this year .. .. only for us to find a cat stalking and climbing up posts to get to them.

Hubby wants to invest in a kids "super soaker" in the hope that he can use that to keep the cats at bay .. .. but personally I think he would just look a bit daft playing with kids toys in the garden!!

Are you on holiday countdown yet?

Love Jules xx

brenda said...

Great pictures Sally.

We love wathcing the birds and because of our very rural location, no that sounds too grand, I actually mean miles from anywhere, we gets quite a lot of unusual ones, like an eagle that seems to spend a lot of his time close by.

B x

Heidi said...

These are lovely photos, love to watch the birds in our garden, even tho we have one cat and two dogs, the birds know where they are safest from the four legged animals. the only predators we get floating up high in the sky are mummy and daddy and baby buzzard, the occasional merlin and don't forget the black crows that like the really high trees, so if anyone has any ideas for ridding us of these large black cawing birds it would be great as they are starting to scare off the little birds. We too are off the beaten track a little, although there is a B road near the house we back onto a lovely hillside/trees etc. so get lots of birds, thanks for sharing your pictures, it is always nice to see how much enjoyment is found in the simple things in our lives. hugs heidi x

Zoechaos said...

Fabulous we have some beautiful birds in the British Isles many of them will visit with just a little encouragement and you are getting great shots, love the Gold Finch's head just peeping round from the back of the feeder.

Re the cats (its why I stopped feeding the birds have 3 young fit healthy cats!) you might try pepper but of course the rain will wash it away. All the cat scarers you hear about are actually quite cruel to cats who have amazing hearing.

Enjoy your visitors. XOXO Zoe

Lesley Edmonds said...

Pepper - cheap and works a treat! Even my own cats won't go near!
Fabulous shots of the birds. I just love it when the goldfinches are in the garden with their singsong chirping and the families of gold finches are just adorable.
I'm hopeless at photographing the birds - always come out blurry so lovely to see your pics.
Lesley x

craftimamma said...

Thanks for sharing these lovely photos Sally. I've seen you fab bird feeder and garden so I'm not surprised you have lots of visitors. We don't look after our visitors half as well but we have had some more unusual birds this year but I'm afraid I'm not too good with the names. I do love to see them though and one of them has been sitting in the hawthornes over the fence singing his little heart out for hours.

He must have a very loud voice for such a little bird because I have a 50% hearing loss and can still hear him beautifully for which I am very grateful.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Lisa Jane said...

oh i would have run a mile lol.. birds scare me
Lisa x
ps fab pics though

lisa said...

It's great to watch the birds isn't it. We have goldfinches this year which I've never seen before, lots of blue and coal tits, a blackbird family and also several Red Kites which are amazing to see flying, they make a really strange noise too. We have two cats and I was afraid we'd loose the birds when they arrived but thankfully not, they both wear bells which seems to work.
Thanks for sharing your great photos.
hugs Lisax

Vicky Hayes said...

I love it that you shared your pictures Sally. We have lots of birds in our neighbourhood but loads of cats too. If you have the time/patience, spraying the cats with a water pistol does deter them and hurts nothing but their pride!

Kim Dellow said...

Great piccies of the birdies! So lovely! Kim

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Beautiful photos, just love looking at the birds in our garden too, we have a variety too, so peaceful watching them isn't it?

Cath Wilson said...

Just had a quick browse, Sally and noticed the fat balls are still in their nettings, so thought I'd better pass on a warning someone else gave to me - probably Springwatch, lol. Apparently, some birds have become tangled in them and damaged their feet, so they now advise removing them. I put mine in fat ball feeders and they love them - especially the tits. Thought you'd like to know. Hope you're enjoying your well deserved break x