Jay Not Magpie Bullying Squirrel

It was interesting to once again watch the interaction between a jay and a squirrel this morning, which was akin to the regular behaviour of magpies.

The magpies were nowhere to be seen and have been absent for a few days, but the squirrels still had no peace, for in the place of the magpies was a jay, whose behaviour was identical to that of the magpies.

The jay sat in the apple tree watching the bird table, directly a squirrel arrived, the jay watched even more intently. As soon as the squirrel moved away across the lawn with his food, the jay followed, low and slow.

The squirrel sat on a tree stump and the jay joined him on an adjacent stump. Feeling he wasn't close enough the jay flew into the low hanging overhead branches and for as long as the squirrel stayed on the tree stump eating, so the jay watched him, moving from one branch to another in a vain effort to be even closer.

As soon as the squirrel finished eating and moved away, the jay dropped to the ground at the base of the squirrels now vacant stump and started gleaning crumbs from the ground.

Larks, Catkins and Speedwell.

Today we visited a field in the next village, the views across the open fields were breathtaking. The temperature was a surprising twenty two degrees.

We saw yellow catkins and along the verges at the base of the hedgerows much pretty blue speedwell, the ground was dry underfoot and there were many people enjoying this fine spring day and walking their dogs.

The best part for us was when we heard a lark and on looking in the direction of the sound watched it rise up and ever up until it was lost to view, but still we could hear its amazing song. We were still under the magic enchantment of the spell the sound had cast on us when we saw and heard another lark,  and while standing watching it first rise and then slowly returning to earth while still singing, our attention was caught by yet another one ascending on the other side of us.

Truly magical.

Sibling rivalry among foxes

Two foxes ate together with no aggression on either side this evening. These were young ones we have watched grow up, the first was a male, he has been well fed and is a fine specimen. He is big and looks strong with a thick glossy coat, and a long, bushy, white tipped tail.

The second one was smaller and timid and ran away if a car came down the lane, while the first one continued eating, to be rejoined after a few minutes by the not so brave second one.

Although we put the food out at dusk the foxes often don't come until between seven and eight o'clock, with the exception of the tiniest cub of the litter, who can be certain of something to eat if she manages to be first. She is much smaller, lighter in colour and always defers to her brother. A habit ingrained when they were both much younger, when if she dared to feed at the same time as her strong brother, he would turn on her resoundingly, and nip her repeatedly causing her to cry out in pain and swiftly retreat.

Charm of Goldfinches

Less than 3 ft from the side kitchen window is a flower border, today I watched a charm of goldfinches feeding on the fluffy seed heads of a clump of last years flowers.

A few days earlier I had thought how untidy these plants had looked and wished they weren't there, today as I looked at the pretty birds feeding on them I was so glad they still were.

Variety of birds bathing in icy weather

Watched a little wren down by the pond this morning, and then going into the lounge saw another one on the patio.

It is difficult keeping water in the bird baths, the weather is so cold that it freezes within ten minutes. This morning we emptied ice from the bird baths and refilled with fresh water, immediately two blackbirds flew down one bathed, while the other one waited. A clever little blue tit perched on the edge of the bird bath while the blackbirds were splashing and availed himself of a free shower. Nearby on the grass a little, brown headed female blackcap waited patiently for her turn, but as soon as the blackbirds went so a great tit flew straight into the water, followed swiftly by a blue tit and then the female blackcap also joined them. As soon as the great tit flew away his place was taken by the male blackcap.

This is the first time I have seen three different species in the bird bath at the same time. Next in the queue was a female chaffinch, who was followed by a greenfinch and for the next quarter of an hour a succession of small birds made use of the water, while it was still a liquid.

Birds need water not only for drinking, but also for bathing to keep their feathers in good condition.

The frozen pond and the squirrels

The squirrels have grown used to the pond being frozen and blithely leap on to the surface and run across, it feels like an accident waiting to happen each time I see them doing it. As the ice melts and grows thinner i will be interested to see at what point they take more care.

Our car is garaged every night and this morning when we went to use it, I found my bottle of water I keep inside it was frozen solid. This has never happened before and I think these terribly cold temperatures will take their toll on our wildlife. All we can do is keep a food supply out for them and also make certain they have a fresh supply of water.

Bullying Magpies - A Disturbing Sight

This morning I put the food out for the wildlife as usual, it was very cold at 8a.m. according to the computer it was minus thirteen degrees, so I can't imagine how cold it must have been during the night. With temperatures like these there was little chance of the snow melting yet. The birds and squirrels were tucking in to their food and I went to have my bowl of porridge.

Finishing I carried my bowl to the kitchen and looking out of the side window I noticed the food had almost gone. On opening the window to put more out, I heard a lot of very loud distressed bird screeching sounds. There was nothing to be seen from this window so pulling it shut I moved to look out of the end window and there it was.

Four magpies! Three of them appeared to be attacking the fourth who was underneath the others on his back. The noise was awful, they were pecking him and pulling at his already out stretched wings.

Suddenly it was over as one magpie extricated himself and flew a few feet away, holding in his beak a biscuit, the others released their hold on the down trodden one and he very unsteadily stood up. He was dishevelled and slow to move and when he did so he was very unsteady on his feet and he had definitely lost his typical magpie bounce and strut.

I have never seen magpies gang up and set on one of their own kind before and I hope I never see it again.

Snow, snow, glorious snow said the fox!

Awoke this morning to a fresh layer of snow, covering the old and obliterating all the bird and animal tracks in the old still thick layer. It looks beautiful.

In the grassy area the other side of the end of our garden are the tracks where the fox left our garden and proceeded across this area, I was amused to see that every ten to twelve feet he had rolled in the snow.

I know this because his footsteps followed a straight line for a while then there was a massive snow disruption, this pattern was repeated as far as I could see, and this is exactly the same behaviour as I used to see in our dogs during their lifetimes.

This behaviour was an expression of sheer joy in our dogs and I imagine it is the same for the fox

Great spotted woodpecker

Heard and then saw a great spotted woodpecker in the garden this morning

Later I looked out and saw a moorhen and pheasant feeding together from the same small pile of bird seed, I find it interesting that the older pheasant will readily share his food with the moorhen but won't have the younger pheasant close to him, without becoming aggressive.

The jays are still following the squirrels around hoping for their food, this morning one was lucky, the squirrel climbed the silver birch and tried to hide a biscuit in the crook of a branch, the jay sat patiently waiting about a foot away, obviously intent on stealing the food as soon as the squirrel left.

However the biscuit wouldn't balance and fell to the ground, before the squirrel had reached the fallen treasure the jay was on it and had already flown higher up the tree and was devouring it!

Jay and Squirrel

Watched a jay harassing a squirrel this morning for his biscuit, in much the same way as the magpies do. The jay followed the squirrel across the lawn, and when the squirrel climbed a post and sat on top, the jay settled on the next post facing the squirrel, but realising it wasn't good enough he flew nearer on to a tree branch. This still wasn't good enough so he moved to another branch, doing this he gradually moved right round the squirrel, who sat as if he were oblivious of the behaviour of the jay and just continued eating until he finished then climbed down from the post, whereupon the jay hopped onto the post and picked up all the crumbs.

Yesterday two magpies did the same to a squirrel, who was sitting on top of the woodpile eating a biscuit. The magpies sat one either side of the squirrel, who was totally unfazed by the pair sitting so close.

Fieldfares, Redwings, Malus and Cotoneasters

The garden is noticeably quieter, the malus is now empty of it's crab apples and the cotoneaster has but a handful of berries scattered over it, as a result the magnificent flocks of 100+  fieldfares and redwings have moved on to more productive pastures.

I miss seeing these attractive winter visitors, (both types) when I look out of the back kitchen window. I realise how lucky I was to have them visit daily for so long.

We felt during last year that the cotoneaster had grown too large and somewhat out of control, but having seen the beauty and quantity of it's berries and then enjoyed the visiting fieldfares and redwings, we are having second thoughts about touching it.

 Never again would we be able to enjoy such huge flocks of these two very attractive birds, so on reflection the tree probably has to stay.

Squirrels and Snow

Woke up to snow! Wonderfully picturesque but not so good for birds and mammals who to a certain extent depend on being able to scratch and / or peck on the ground.

It is deep snow, we measured it and in every place it was five to six inches deep.We made a hole in the ice on the pond and put food out in cleared areas for the wildlife.

I was waiting for the squirrels wondering if they would brave it, they did but they were very cautious when walking along the branches, which inevitably had snow piled high along their length. Suddenly one little chap wasn't so lucky, the snow on the branch gave way under him and he fell heavily onto the ground below.

Was he hurt? I was ready if he appeared to be, but he stood up, shook himself and climbed back up the silver birch from whence he had fallen. He was even slower and more careful this time and ignored the larger snow piled branches he usually used and instead climbed higher and traversed the fine hanging twiggy pieces, which were almost devoid of snow.

The depth of snow is such that as the squirrels cross the lawn, they do it in leaps and on landing they sink deeply into the snow, so that only the very top of their back and their tails show.

Farewell to the huge flocks of fieldfares and redwings

With hardly any fruit left on the malus or cotoneaster --- perhaps I should explain the latter is not a bush but an enormous tree --- we no longer are visited by the huge one hundred plus strong flocks of fieldfares and redwings. They still come but only in ones, twos or threes. I shall miss these very attractive birds.

It is still bitterly cold and snow is expected. Bird baths emptied of their ice and refilled freeze within minutes and the broken ice on the pond is also quick to freeze over, which leaves the birds and mammals nowhere to drink or bathe.

I am trying to work out a way to provide the birds with an unfrozen supply of water, but so far have not come up with anything. I shall keep working on it, I believe the answer is probably easy but I have to change the way I am looking at it!

Delighted to once again see a charm of goldfinches in the garden today, also long tailed tits have frequented the fat balls and a little cole tit has been here again, on both the hanging peanuts and the bird table.

Displaying Dunnocks and Robins

It is 4:30pm on a beautiful day, sunny with perfectly blue skies and looking toward the south there are tiny puffs of pink clouds dotted about, very pretty against the blue.

It is bitterly cold, the lawn has remained white all day and the bird baths and pond are still frozen solid, outside an odd trio are feeding together on the lawn --- a moorhen, a young gull and No-Tail the pigeon.

Looking across another part of the lawn from the lounge window I can see another trio of birds on the white frozen lawn, this time three dunnocks fluttering their wings and flirting coquettishly with each other, while in the old apple tree are two robins both displaying. So as cold as it might seem, I see these signs and know that spring can't be too far away!

The fieldfares and the redwings have almost cleared the crab apples from the malus and the berries from the cotoneaster. Round the back I noticed a berberis thickly covered with orange berries with a solitary male blackbird feasting on them, his beak was the same colour as the berries.

The robins, bluetits and blackbirds are so hungry each morning that they arrive on the bird tables even as I am filling them.

Noticed a cole tit in the garden again today, we don't see these birds as often as we used to. I think there must have been a decline in their numbers.

When do Dunnocks drink and bathe?

I enjoy counting firsts in the garden, but have been here for so many years now that they are very few and usually far between. However this morning was notable because for the first time ever I watched a dunnock drinking from the pond, in all the years we have lived here, I have never seen this before in fact this is the first time I ever remember seeing a dunnock drink. Although there are many bird baths around the garden I have never seen any dunnock use them for bathing or drinking and yet they need to do both, so I must keep a better watch to see if I can find the answer.

Wrens and Cole Tits

Pleased to see tiny wrens still whirring low across the garden, these are one of the small birds which concern me this cold weather. They never feed at a feeding station , so I wonder how they find enough to eat, also with such tiny bodies I am concerned for them keeping warm if they don't have enough to eat how can their bodies regulate their temperature?

Apart from having woodpiles or coniferous trees and shrubs where they can nest and find some sort of wind protection, I am not sure what else can be done. On reflection maybe we ought not be too fanatical  about tidying the garden in late autumn and winter, because that is of course where they find their food stocks of tiny insects hiding away amongst the dead last year foliage.

Delighted to see a cole tit feeding on the fat balls and later on the bird table, these little birds are for some reason less frequent visitors to the garden lately.