Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

I was sat in the pit hide waiting to photograph the Buzzards, (*see below), and again, the Wren that I have seen several  times over the last few days, landed on the logs around the drinking pool.  I quickly trained the camera on the little bird and managed a few photographs as he successfully scoured the logs for small invertebrates. 

The background is the brown fields.   The wren  catches sight of a prey item and moves towards it.

....... and stoops to pick up the prey.

In this picture you can see the tiny insect on the Wren's tongue.

The last couple of daysI have been trying to photograph the Buzzards and it  has continued to be frustrating.  I have been baiting a post with frozen day old chicks (sounds nasty I agree but the chicks are the bye-product of the egg production industry. Using them means that I am making use of these unfortunate baby birds that would otherwise be used as pet food).  When I arrive, all the chicks that I placed the day before have always gone.  When I replace them I hope to catch whatever is taking them.  A few times they have been taken from right under my nose, one second when I looked, the chick was there and then 30 seconds later, it had gone!  Who was the culprit?  Jays perhaps, but they are always so noisey,  Little Owl.... I doubt it, even a Sparrowhawk perhaps?  But yesterday I suddenly discovered the culprit, a Buzzard was there, just momentarily, and then gone, taking the chick with it.  So today when I got there, the chicks had gone and I replaced them as normal. I was caught out yet again when a Buzzard caught me totally off guard, flew in and out as quick as it took me to write this sentence. I replaced the chick and began to wait again, I watched constantly for ages and ages but eventually I lost concentration, my gaze was averted and I missed it yet again.  This time, the chick just disappeared when I wasn't looking.  Watch this space because I am determined to get the shot!

 

 

Crab apples make a good backdrop.

I was given some branches complete with Crab Apples by Terry recently and when I placed them in front of the hide I could immediately see what a good "prop" they would make, and so it proved.  With the start of some colder weather now, the birds are coming in to feed almost constantly, especially in the morning. I used some strong artificial light to try and pick out the detail and until the lamp starts to fade, it's provin to be very effective.  It makes the pictures look as though they are lit by low bright sunlight and to my eyes they look so much better than flash.

A Coal Tit, one of several that visit regularly throughout the day.

 

I was pleased when suddenly a Wren landed on the log, obviously attracted by the presence of the other birds. 

After a few seconds it went down to the water just beneath it and became the first bird that I have seen drinking there, although I wasn't able to capture that unfortunately.

Eventually the lamplight started to fade and I decided to set up the flash guns.

I am not sure that I like the effect of flash but with multiple flash guns and with a good deal of luck you can feeze the action of these small birds in flight.

I had quite a degree of frustration with the Buzzards today.  I disturbed one just as it flew in to the Rabbit carcase. I must remember to always check before I leave the concealment of the hide.  It's very disappointing when you have been waiting for weeks (it's 18 days since I last had one of  the Buzzards feeding in front of me,)  and then carelessly I disturbed it simply because I hadn't doubly made sure that there wasn't a Buzzard around.

Some experiments with high speed flash.

I thought you might find it interesting to share in my expereriments from yesterday when I tried to photograph mainly  the Nuthatches in flight using very fast flash.  When I have tried this before it had been thwarded because the Nuthatches seemed to be more troubled by the firing flash guns than the other small birds.  Now though, with Nuthatches being the dominant and most common birds at my feeding station on the edge of the wood, I thought I would try again.  I set out the flash guns positioned quite close to a pile of seed on a log and armed the flash units with remote wireless receivers and fixed the wireless trigger to the hot-shoe on the camera. I was ready but would the birds accept the flashes without being too spooked?  I would soon find out because it wasn't long before the first of the resident Nuthatches came down to the seed. The flashes fired and off the bird went! The next time a bird came down I let it feed and get used to things before pressing the trigger.  This time the bird reacted to the flash with a twitch but then totally ignored the next one so it hadn't taken long for at least one "nutty" to get used to it. The big problem  with this method is  the incredibly fast speed of the birds flight and then being able to react quick enough to capture the birds flying in which offers the most photogenic pose as the birds "brake" in flight and extend the legs to alight. Usually the first indication of a bird coming in to feed is the sight of it on the food..... very frustrating.  However it's a little easier to capture the birds flying off again. At first I had a couple of near misses but it was incredibly hard to get all of the bird in the frame. I will call these pictures just "record" shots and part of work in progress.

On this one I pressed the shutter a fraction early and didn't get all of the bird in the picture and as well as that it isn't as pin sharp as I would like.

Then on this one I pressed the shutter just a fraction too late. The answer perhaps was to use a smaller lens which would give me access to more of the scene in front of me.

I fitted a 70mm lens on the camera and the had another go.  This time when the birds flew off and when I pressed the shutter, I didn't need to be quite so accurate and I could freeze the action with the bird somewhere in the frame.  Becaus of the very high "f" stop I was achieving a very large depth of field, this is necessary to be able to make the centre of focus as large as possible because you can't predict what the birds flight path is going to be.  I had somekind of success but not as good as I would like.

This one, at least gets all of the bird in the frame but still not as a good as I would like it to be, nor is the one beneath either.

I had a manic few minutes, at one point. Suddenly one of the Buzzards flew on to the carcass.  I was stock still but even though it couldn't have possibly known I was there it almost immediately chose not to feed but flew on to the nearby fence, then it moved on into the bare field to be chased off by one of the other birds.  Perhaps thats why it hadn't stopped to feed, it may have seen it's sibbling and didn't feel confident enough to feed. While all this was going on a Greenwoodpecker called very loudly from the trees around me, I just hoped it would come down to feed but I will have to wait a bit longer for that, but sure it will eventually. 

 

Jay at the hide.

It's not that easy to get a good look at a Jay but this last few days they have been a bit more noticeable. They are well known for storing acorns during the autumn, read about that here  .  I caught sight of this bird from my pit hide and realised that he had an acorn which he was going to bury.  He returned several times to the same gate post and each time he  dropped in to the grass beneath to hide his acorns.  It's said that they can bury up to 5000 and then remember where most are when the weather gets worse and food is more difficult to find. If you stop and think about it, that is such an amazing thing on so many levels. I have often cautioned against believing everything you read on the internet and during my "surfing" around the web I kept reading about this magical 5000 which has obviously been copied and taken as read and then stated as a fact,  just the way that I have, but it's worth being cautious.   Another "fact"..... or is it just another recycled statement that has been repeated ad lib on numerous sites, is the reported shortage of acorns because of a bad acorn harvest this year?  Really? There isn't a shortage in Devon as far as I can tell, for example, an Oak Tree that I pass every day is covered with Rooks and Magpies all eating the acorns and the ground beneath is covered with fallen acorns.  It  doesn't look like a shortage to me. Obviously if there is a shortage there will be a food shortage for not only Jays but other birds and we may get an influx of birds from the continent.  The weather at the end of the week is set to be a blast of cold arctic air from the north and perhaps we may then get our first real influx of winter thrushes such as Redwings and Fieldfare. 

Pheasants have very attractive plumage and their feathers have a metallic iridescent sheen. The bare skin watlles on the side of the head adds to the attractive and distinctive look.

A lot of people think of the Ring-necked Pheasant as a native British bird but it's not.  Yes, they do breed and they are recognised on the list of breeding British birds and "twitchers" will add them to their lists.  However they were first brought here by the Romans getting on for 2000 years ago. They are thought of as semi-domesticated and hundreds of thousands are reared and then released annually.  Pheasants are interwoven in to  the very  fabric of British Society.  They are as much a part of the affluent upper-class as the Stately Home, Dressage and of course the Game Keeper who's job is to rear the young Pheasants to their first autumn.  In days gone by the Game Keeper was responsible for the extermination of all manner of wildlife, in fact anything that could potentially take the young pheasants.  This included Foxes, Stoats, Weasels, Martins all Birds of Prey, Magpies, Jays, Crows, Rooks  and of course Magpies.  Fortunately we live in a more enlightened age where laws are in place to prosecute gamekeepers who shoot and poison Birds of Prey but only today the RSPB stated that more needs to be done to punish offenders.  It may seem nice to see pheasants as we are out and about but with thousands and thousands of  birds released in to the environment annually, and all competing with the native wildlife  very little research has been undertaken to asses the impact they may or may not have.   Any birds breeding independently in the spring are simply the lucky survivors of the autumn shoots. 

THE BADGER CULL IS ON HOLD

Just so glad to tell you that we have won a temporary reprieve.  The Badger Cull is on hold until next year, absolutely fantastic news and yet a farmer is still on the TV as I write saying that we should carry on with the cull.  "The Badgers are riddled with the disease"..... his words but may I remind him and anyone prepared to listen, it's not called Bovine TB by accident. It is a disease of domestic cattle spread to Badgers by the cattle and it's the cattle that should be vaccinated. Badgers were here first and are ibeing nfected by the cattle.

Meanwhile,  thanks for signing the petition and thank you to politicians for showing common sense and heeding the wishes of the people whom you serve. 150,000 people signed the "Oppose the cull petition".

Jackdaws in front of the hide.

I must tell you about an incredible interaction that occurred in the pit hide this morning.  I  was sat waiting for a Buzzard to come down to feed on the carcass. I had been there for quite a while and it was getting tedious.  Suddenly a Wren landed on the ground just the other side of the one way glass and I remained very still. Then remarkably the little bird hopped inside the pit and was right there with me, then it flew the short distance, a foot or so,  to land on the iiPad that I was holding as I read the daily newspaper. It flicked its tail  for a moment, realised that there was nothing for him and left, back through the same little gap.  Amazing.  The scientific name of the Wren is Troglodytes troglodytes which refers to it's habit of entering tunnels and caves so, it was just doing what comes naturally.  But nevertheless, the first time in my 62 years that a bird has landed on me.  

As I continue to "stake-out" the Buzzard, I amused myself by trying to take shots of the small birds illuminated with artificial light like yesterday.  All was going well until I discovered the first flaw. The 6 volt battery quite quickly became depleted giving me just a one hour window to achieve success.  I will need to have at least two fully charged batteries with me and then perhaps find  a way of recharging them here at the hide. It's almost never ending. You need to always go that extra mile and then some more to get the results that you want. 

A massive flock of "corvids" that's crow like birds to you and me, were with me earlier on.  There were at least 200 but probably many more.  Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Rook were feeding by rummaging through the piles of horse dung here and there in the field.  It was quite a spectacle. 

Jackdaws, note the light eye. Always very noticeable.

Here a Jackdaw turns some horse manure looking for grubs and beetles.

Thats rain spots on the back of the bird in the foreground. I am quite fond of Jackdaws, they are a very intelligent bird.  When I was a boy more than 50 years ago it wasn't unusual for them to be kept as pets.  They are a good mimic in captivity and can talk like a parrot. 

As well as the light eye, they are smaller than crows and rooks and have a clear grey nape which is more evident in the spring and summer when birds are breeding. They will nest in tree holes in woodland but also in holes in old buildings like castles and monuments where their distinctive call resonates around. All the other British "corvids" build a nest rather than use a natural hole. Magpies however do build a nest which is domed. Rooks breed in large colonies whereas Crows, Jays, Magpies and Ravens breed in isolation.

I have to confess that I am bemused about the Buzzards. If I wire a carcass to the log, invariably it will have been picked clean when I arrive the next day, all that is usually left will be a head, backbone and rib cage and the skin, empty of meat, obviously eaten by the buzzards.  I can always see lots of white guano as well which proves that  it's the Buzzards and not foxes who will almost invariably take any rabbit that is not securely fixed. So I make sure that I remove the carcass before I leave in the late afternoon and then when I come back the next day I replace it.  When I got there this morning  at just after 10, not one, but two Buzzards were there as if they were waiting.  I quickly put out a lovely fresh rabbit and began the wait. I honestly would have put money on an early return but no...... I was still waiting more than 5 hours later and it never came to feed today.  I dispose of any smelly carcass by burying it just under the surface nearby and then  during the night  the fox invariably comes and removes it.  This is natures way of keeping things clean and fresh.  

It was August 15th when I last had a Jay in front of the hide but today one suddenly landed right in front of the one way glass.  It obviously had no idea that I was there but I could tell that it could sense danger and didn't stay long too long.

The Jay is also a member of the "Crow" family and is the most colourful corvid but probably more predatory than the others, particularly rooks and Jackdaws who are relatively benign by comparison. Jays are more secretive, they have a massive love of acorns which perhaps explains why they have been reluctant to come to the free peanuts like they did back in August.

New project, small birds photographed with artificial light.

I know that this is just yet another Nuthatch but I'm pleased with the picture because I used  artificial lighting  to bring out the detail in areas of the bird that would otherwise have been in shadow.  I had always imagined that this would be effective even though I have never heard or read of it being used by other bird photographers  before.   It has been hard to find a light with an intense enough beam and I knew that if I could find the right lamp I would be able to improve my pictures. Today, using just one intense lamp I was actually able to acheive 1/3000 of a second which is quick enough to freeze wing beats so I am hoping to get some good action shots very soon.  If I use more than one lamp I could double the intensity of the light. This  will make it possible to get some really good action shots and thats my plan now.  Surprisingly the birds were not in the least frightened by the light.

By way of an update, 3 Buzzards were around the hide today, circling above. One landed in the meadow near the hide but unfortunately I disturbed it.  The rabbit had been well and truly eaten so I feel sure that, given some luck, I will be photographing Buzzards again in the next day or so.

The artificial light has imparted a nice warm colour to the bird in this one. Interesting to see the bird's beak so clearly.

This is a lovely little Coal Tit, probably the best photo of this species that I have taken. Again the buff underparts are very nice and the light has picked out the detail beautifully. This is actually a hard species to photograph because they are very quick and never still for very long.

 

 

Goldcrest - Regulus regulus

This is a a beautiful little Goldcrest that I photographed this lunchtime. I went over to see my friend Terry and as we chatted from inside his house in the hallway, I suddenly caught sight of a Goldcrest that was displaying just in front of a picture window and just a few feet away.  It could obviously see its own reflection in the window and was displaying back.  It went on for several minutes and Murphy's Law meant that with such a great photo opportunity, I hadn't got my camera with me. Idecided to rush home to get it and 10 minutes later when I got back the bird had gone but very quickly returned to crry on with it's almost manic display. The situation wasn't ideal though, through double glazing and in dullish light which meant it was really hard to freeze the action of the constantly moving little bird.  During the next couple of hours the one bird was joined by another for just a few seconds, obviously a pair.  Out of more than 300 pictures taken only these two were worth posting.

 

Its very pleasant sat here watching the woodland birds coming to feed on a log behind one way glass just  one foot in front of me. Nothing particularly exciting species wise, mainly Nuthatches and Coal Tits but being able to watch them from 12 inches is a thrill.  I have been experimenting with LED lighting to see if I could improve the photos but unfortunately that isn't going to work.  I will have to make much more use of flash which I find looks so unnatural that I don't really like the finished pictures. 

At the moment there is quite a spectacle unfolding in front of me, a field full of Herring Gulls are feeding on the bare earth in the newly harvested field, a quick count reveals an estimate of 75 at least. They seems to be enjoying the left over maize that got scattered during the harvest.

 

Buzzards.

When I got here this morning and as I got to the gate, I disturbed a Buzzard that flew away as normal when disturbed.  I was very  pleased to see it of course.  An investigation of the rabbit carcass showed that some flesh had been taken, thats good as well.  However,  I had put out a few day old chicks for the Jays, hoping to get them to come in and feed as I have been hearing them in the woods behind me quite a bit just lately. Something had polished off 3 of the chicks and one which had been literally on top of the hide,  looked as though it had been delicately picked over with exposed flesh..... could this have been the buzzard as well. If so it means that the buzzard I had disturbed was actually sat on the hide when I got here. This is good because it proves a total acceptance of the set-up here.

Back at the caravan this morning and there are big changes.  Firstly, no buzzards whatsoever which is unusual and the first visit in several weeks when there has been no sign of at least one buzzard.  This has got to be as a direct result of yesterday's harvesting which is now over and all that remains is a bare field. Meeting up with the "shooting" fraternity yesterday makes me suddenly realise how vulnerable the wildlife is and particularly any species that comes in to conflict with the interests of the shooting fraternity.  Foxes are the obvious example but I would have thought that buzzards would be seen as a pest by people who introduce (legally of course), pheasants in to the environment.  These pheasants cost money and human nature dictates that the owners of these pheasants would want to protect them.  Quite how far they would and are prepared to go is uncertain of course but there are regular examples of poisoning of buzzards here in Devon.  At the moment as I sit here in the hide there isn't a buzzard to be seen.  Hope this is a temporary thing.  

As far as small birds are concerned, this morning for a while it was pretty much pandemonium with birds coming and going constantly.  I experimented with the one way glass and had Nuthatches 6 inches from me on the other side.  Now at lunchtime it's very quiet again, I suspect that the forenoons are the optimum time for feeding.

Keep checking back daily to see whether the buzzards return...... I certainly hope so and I have got my fingers crossed.

Stop Press .........I am glad to say that I did see a buzzard feeding, probably on worms, on the bare soil of the newly harvested field.  From the distance I couldn't tell which individulal it was. 

 

An update from the caravan hide.

I should imagine that my regulars will be wondering what I have been up to this last few days so here's an update.   I have had a few personal problems with my band  this last week and then when the dust settled, my family came down to stay which kept me away from the  wildlife.  Having said that, on Friday last I took my son and his wife to have a look at the caravan hide.  As we walked up along the edge of the wood, I immediately saw a Buzzard feeding in front of the hide.  We froze in our tracks and watched it before it realised and off it flew.  We sat in the caravan and I had hardly said "we won't get another Buzzard down now" when there it was. Unbelievably the really light bird that I call Blondie was there and stayed for 20 minutes feeding on the remains.  My daughter-in-law Carrie is lucky with birds, when we went to look for Kingfishers, 2 turned up and then when we watched Dippers  they were just in front of us..... and now 2 Buzzards from 15 feet, how lucky is that. To make the point, on Tuesday I waited for literally 7 hours and neither Buzzard came to feed.  Then today I watched for 3 but then all hell was let loose!!!!!!

The adjoining maize field  harvest had started. At first I thought it was going to be interesting to see what impact it might have but then I realised that the peace and quiet was totally shattered and I heard a shotgun being fired nearby. I suppose the owner of the field has the right to do what he likes but there is a considerable contradiction in what I am doing and what anyone with a gun is doing and it does stick in my throat quite a bit.   I packed up and then had the problem of getting back to my car which meant that I had to walk  in front of the marksman!  It's always intimidating to walk past anyone with a loaded gun.  Having watched the wildlife around my hide for the last 12 weeks or so I was quite troubled by the potential slaughter and the obvious disruption. I expect it will be several weeks before everything settles down again. It will have no impact whatsoever on the small birds but I wonder how many foxes will be shot this afternoon. Very sad. I can't imagine that the buzzards will be too troubled either, once everyone departs the scene. I chatted to the 'gun" for a while and asked him what the attraction was and asked if he ever feltl any remorse?  It turned out he was only 16 so I guess at that age you are just influenced by your peers. As we chatted his grandfather turned up and told me he had been shooting in the wood for the last 40 years and I didn't get his point really  He said, 'live and let live" which is fair enough I suppose but is a bit of a contradiction really because the shooting fraternity don't let live do they? But I got his point.  But just one thing, when I shoot something it flies or runs away and then everyone has the chance to see it a second time but when they shoot something it's taken out of the environment and then robs both me and them of course, from seeing it again. It doesn't belong to me, or them but they rob me of the pleasure of watching it in the future. There is no catch and release with shooting!!!!!  I have had my arguments with the shooting fraternity on several occasions and you can never win, they are so entrenched that only drastic legislation will put an end to it.  This may happen in the future  but not all the time we have a parliament packed with the landed gentry who enjoy the delights of blasting pheasants out of the sky.

 

 

Almost impossibly wet and a nuisance squirrel.

It's been almost impossible to get out and about this last 4 days, the weather has been just too wet.  I did spend a few hours in the hide on Tuesday and hardly saw a bird, not even a Blue Tit. In between showers today I had another go, a few more birds appeared including Nuthatches and a Green Woodpecker calling nearby but it was so wet and muddy I was frightened of damaging my equipment.  On top of that this very annoying Grey Squirell just wouldn't go away and every time I chased him off, of course that was bound to disturb the Buzzards who sit watching from quite a distance checking that all is well before they come down to feed. So, eventually the rain will stop and things will return to normal!

My annoying friend who just won't go away!

 

Reasons for opposing the Badger Cull

You may remember froma previous Blog post that I oppose the badger cull.  One of my observations mentioned that farmers are supposedly upset when their infected cattle are culled in spite of being compensated generously by the government for their "loss".  I pointed out that this was massively hypocritical because farmers. including dairy farmers, are in the business of slaughter and it was hard to believe that they would be sad when a cow was slaughtered because it had Bovine TB when it was going to be slaughtered sooner or later anyway.  I thought you might be interested this which I have taken from the Daily Mail Newspaper today.  It speaks volumes in support of my argument.

"ANIMAL rights campaigners have claimed dairy calves only days old are being shot to feed hunt hounds. 

Undercover footage by campaigners shows a young male being shot in the head as it stands on a pile of calf carcasses in a trailer. 

The farm in Bristol shown in the film supplies milk to Cadbury, which makes 250million bars of chocolate each year. 

Male calves are virtually useless to farmers as they do not provide milk and there is little demand to buy them. 

Campaigners claim the calf is one of around 100,000 male dairy animals executed shortly after birth each year as there is no market for them. 

The undercover film-makers from Viva! claim the calf was shot by a member of Beaufort Hunt. This was regularly attended by members of the Royal Family including Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry before the 2004 foxhunting ban. 

The calf’s corpse was later taken away to be fed to the hounds. The footage was secretly recorded by animal welfare activists who infiltrated a number of farms which supply milk to the confectionary industry. 

Despite the distressing images, none of the actions seen in the film are illegal. 

Dairy cows must be impregnated yearly to produce milk for human consumption but many of the male calves born are deemed surplus as demand for veal is limited. 

They are shot soon after birth and turned into pet food or other low-value products. Speaking after the footage was released, Viva! campaigner Kat Affleck said: ‘Consumers have a right to know the brutal truth that Cadbury’s would rather keep quiet, how dairy products are produced. 

‘The cruel parental separation and shooting of thousands of male dairy calves hardly fits in with their picturesque pastoral image. 

‘One hundred thousand shots ring out on dairy farms every year because of unwanted males. Sadly virtu- 

‘We do not enjoy it’ 

ally all milk, has similar provenance . The cruelty is inherent to the industry.’ 

Ian Farquhar, joint master of the Beaufort Hunt, last night said the hunt was ‘helping out the farming community’ to deal with unwanted calves. 

He said: ‘It is not a question of being cruel. I was a farmer when calves were raised and put into the food chain. But through EU legislation and DEFRA policy, there is no longer a market for them. 

‘It has nothing to do with the hunts. It is simply non-viable for the farmers to raise calves. ‘The hunts who still collect calves are doing it purely for the benefit of the farmer. We do not enjoy it, it is simply a case of the rural community helping each other out.’ 

A spokesman for Kraft, Cadbury’s parent company, said the firm took animal welfare ‘very seriously’ and said it was an out-of-the-ordinary incident. 

The spokesman said this particular calf had a deformed leg. He was taken from the farm by a licensed slaughterer from the Beaufort Hunt Kennels and dealt with humanely. He said: ‘We purchase milk from hundreds of farms across the UK. This video is 18 months old and, at the time it was released, we said we took animal welfare very seriously and nothing has changed.’ 

Reflections

A Coal Tit, seemingly more common than Blue Tits  on  the feeders at the Pit hide.

This bird is interesting, thats not a brood patch you can see. I am quite certain that  it has escaped predation and the black you can see is the under down after the outer feathers have been plucked.

This is the same lucky little bird, still very active and behaving just the same as all the other birds.

I have been seeing it for several days. If it has been attacked by a Sparrowhawk, that's interesting because I have yet to have one visit the site.

Blue Tit

An interesting shot as a Coal Tit flies in.

This is "Blondie" the lighter Buzzard from Wednesday.

A Buzzard feeding Video

 

From yesterday's fantastic "Buzzard-fest"

"Blondie" the young Buzzard comes to feed.

 

The blond bird arrives next to the rabbit carcass.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I posted this morning "live from the Buzzard hide".  I had to be really patient today and it was well in to my 5th hour of waiting before.... there it was, at last!  Having learned a lesson yesterday and on other occasions, as soon as I realised that there was a bird with me  I froze.  After such a long wait It is a big temptation to panic and try and get some pictures immediately but the best course of action is to wait for the right moment and then  train the camera on the bird.  Wait till the bird lowers it's head to feed and then move the camera and not before!  Thankfully the bird settled and lowered it's head to feed and my caution paid off.  I watched it as it fed on small pieces of meat but mostly on intestines which wasn't particularly pleasant but very interesting.  After 10 minutes or so another buzzard started to call above which dieffinitely made the feeding bird uncomfortable.  I was hoping that this second bird would come down and then who knows what would happen. "Blondie" flew to the fence opposite and the other bird continued to call from somewhere very close by.  The original bird nervously glanced continually up to the sky and eventually it seemed to grasp the opportunity to escape in to the woods.

 

 

It checked that everything was a safe and then moved  down to the carcass before starting to feed

Surprisingly it preferred to eat the intestines rather than meat.

It was quite a messy affair.

It was showing really well as it delicately fed on small pieces of meat.

I had also placed a fresh rabbit which it decided to investigate but because this carcass was not opened, it didn't feed on it.

 

Just another day in Devon

The damp days of autumn are with us now, always a pleasant time of year once the early morning mists have cleared and the sun has warmed the air.  I mention this because with the robins now singing their winter song, even with your eyes closed you could almost guess the date. I'm sat in the pit hide waiting for a buzzard and, robin apart, it's very quiet. Last evening as I had sat here a buzzard arrived, perched on the log and surveyed the scene trying to sense any danger.  It was a glorious sight from just 13 paces away but it didn't stay long enough to get a photograph, long enough for me to say that it was the lighter of the two birds that have been making regular visits.  These two birds are juveniles and the product of a successful breeding season, as yet no adult has been down to feed but from time to time I see 3 birds together circling above, I don't know why I don't see 4, one of these mysteries that can't be solved. Young Buzzards, in their first year,  will spend the winter in their parent's territory so I expect to see them through until next spring at least.  I have read that buzzards will have several nests in their territory and use a different one each year, one of their nests is high in an oak very close by and it will be interesting to see if it gets used in the coming breeding season.  More than interesting!  It is a large deep platform of sticks in the fork of the trunk, a very stable looking structure. 

I mentioned the other day that I have been seeing a Kestrel regularly in the nearby lane on the other side of the wood, as yet not on my side but I pray for it to move nearer to the hide.  At this time of the year  the small woodland birds move around in flocks of mixed species. A few minutes ago, typically, a small flock arrived here at the feed.  Great Tits followed by Blue then Coal and finally a Nuthatch.  They fed for a few minutes and now it's quiet again.  It doesn't make sense that once they have found a food source they still continue to roam the woods.  This is probably a strategy to escape predators like Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus who would be attracted to a busy bird feeder.  It is of some surprise that I have yet to have a Sparrowhawk pay a visit but I live in hope.  

Buzzards

It's difficult to describe the impact that the sight of a Buzzard at close quarters can make on you, is it magnificence or is it  beauty?    I'm sat in the new version of the pit at this moment, there's  been a few days of disturbance because of the rebuilding and the last close view I had was on Friday.  Having said that, I have disturbed a buzzard waiting on the log twice as I arrived, last evening and this morning so I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when I looked out through the camouflaged cover from the pit just a few seconds ago, to see a wonderful sight,  a creamy chested Buzzard, the lighter one nicknamed "Blondie" who was  perched on the original log and eyeing the remains of a rabbit laying there waiting for it. For some inexplicable reason it decided against it today and suddenly it wasn't there any more. Now having said that, I am very confident that it will return again when it has surveyed the scene and decided that it is safe to have another go.  Its quiet on the bird feeder now, a sure sign that the little birds are keeping their heads down, it will be perched watching from somewhere nearby I expect. 

The hide is now a grand structure, the pit is a comfortable place to sit, overlooking the pool, the buzzards log and the scene in front of me at eye level, but now instead of having to crawl through a tiny slot, I can get in via steps cut out of the earth to my left.  These steps are accessed via a covered path from around the caravan.  Its all pretty special to be honest. By changing the "props" different photos of the small birds can be taken, here's a nice Nuthatch from earlier.

Later on, the darker Buzzard also arrived but decided against staying, something is putting them off?  Then later still the lighter bird was perched on the fence nearby and as I write, a Buzzard is calling.  I am sure things will settle down again eventually.