We have been encouraging the birdlife with food and currently have a crowd of young Siskins eating us out of house and home! Competing with them for the birdseed are Chaffinches, Coal Tits, Greenfinches and a pair of Sparrows. The Blackbirds nested early and their young have fledged. The Starlings nested in the eaves of the house but one of their young was caught by a Sparrow Hawk. Noisy Jackdaws hop around looking for scraps, and Cuckoos can be heard in the surrounding trees.
The Swallows nested in an ancient Swallow's nest in the old stables - not used last year, and we can now see some beaks peeping over the edge. There are also House Martins swooping around with the Swallows, catching flies. We have seen a Common Redstart on the garden wall, and frequently spot a Buzzard in the distance on the field wall. A Yellowhammer visited recently, and families of Great Tits and also Blue Tits can be heard demanding food from their busy parents. Our birds are very fortunate in that we have no cats!
Further afield, Dave almost stumbled upon a Meadow Pipit's nest (see photo above) and recently flushed a pair of Mallards and a Heron from the nearby Cherry Brook. This Heron photo was taken by one of our guests last year in the front meadow.
Earlier in the year we saw our first ever Brambling on the bird feeder and they became constant visitors for several weeks. The male (bottom right) and female (top left) can be seen on our photo, together with Siskins and a Chaffinch.
The Swallows nested in an ancient Swallow's nest in the old stables - not used last year, and we can now see some beaks peeping over the edge. There are also House Martins swooping around with the Swallows, catching flies. We have seen a Common Redstart on the garden wall, and frequently spot a Buzzard in the distance on the field wall. A Yellowhammer visited recently, and families of Great Tits and also Blue Tits can be heard demanding food from their busy parents. Our birds are very fortunate in that we have no cats!
Further afield, Dave almost stumbled upon a Meadow Pipit's nest (see photo above) and recently flushed a pair of Mallards and a Heron from the nearby Cherry Brook. This Heron photo was taken by one of our guests last year in the front meadow.
Earlier in the year we saw our first ever Brambling on the bird feeder and they became constant visitors for several weeks. The male (bottom right) and female (top left) can be seen on our photo, together with Siskins and a Chaffinch.
