Search This Blog

Saturday 14 December 2019

Whipsnade lifer

A bit of a celebrity bird has taken up residence in Whipsnade Zoo - a bird all the way from Thailand! After many pop ups from Twitter and Rare Bird Alert reminding me that there is a RARE bird in the neighbourhood I thought it was worth a punt and to see if I can get another lifer under my belt... its been SO long! (2 years in fact)

With the help of Alex from Whipsnade Zoo (a train commuting friend of Anna's- thank you Alex!!)  and Ian from Tring ressie birding fame (he always knows which way to look and when - I would have missed this if he hadn't been looking in the opposite direction to me) I connected with this fabulous far travelling bird. With eyes firmly on the berries by the siding on the railway at the zoo, Ian spotted cameras pointing at the pig sty. So off we went and lo and behold the little beauty popped up in the tree and smiled at its adoring fans - a lovely looking male BLACK THROATED THRUSH  lifer #307 , probably blown off course from its trip from Asia to wherever it fancied heading for the winter... 
Quite a daily crowd twitching this avian visitor , entry fee £21.30 to the zoo if you want to see it!

Male Black Throated Thrush at Whipsnade Zoo








Sunday 8 December 2019

Ring Necked Parakeets in the garden!

Just heading out to town with the family chatting to Kev the postie , I heard and then saw 4 RING NECKED PARAKEETS in Evelyn's tree at the back of the garden - first time this species has been seen in Granville garden, taking Granville Garden species to #42

Sunday 1 December 2019

A trip to the ressie with the family

A sunny day and a trip to College lake with the family. With the help of a man with a scope I saw SNIPE, GOLDENEYE but missed out on a waterail

Splashing in the puddles
Ready to bird! 
Checking out the water



Concentrating on bird ID'ing!

Fozzies at the ressie


Me and my boy with our binos 



Arty leafy shot 

View of the ressie 

Tuesday 18 June 2019

The mystery trail....

Inspector Foster solved the mystery of the slug trail this morning.... security camera in place ....2am wake up by baby Daisy....


Camera in place
Monitor ready

What’s that crawling over the rug is it a monster......

No slugs died in this blog post - despatched out the garden room door!!!

Saturday 15 June 2019

More young at Granville

Further babies appearing in the garden - ROBIN and DUNNOCK 
Juvenile Robin

Juvenile Dunnock

Wednesday 5 June 2019

Young feeding at Granville

Spring has certainly sprung - BLUE TIT and GREAT TIT young on the feeders today . Also ROBIN around and JACKDAW dominating the feeders
Jackdaws on the feeders
Blue tit feeding young
The garden in Spring
Bird action on the feeders
Great tit young and parent feeding


Monday 27 May 2019

Bucks birds

Near the Beacon this morning with some nice local birds in the sun

Whitethroat calling in the bushes

Red Kite
Swallow in the fields 

Carrion Crow
Chaffinch


Wednesday 22 May 2019

Goldfinch on the dandelion

First time I’ve seen a GOLDFINCH picking away at Dandelion stalks in the garden


 

Sunday 19 May 2019

Larger birds on the feeders at Granville

It’s not just tits and smaller birds on the feeders - put a suet feast out and it’s fair game for all species
Jackdaw looking very GoT
A hefty Carrion Crow
Magpie after the suet


Jackdaw joining in 


College Lake trip

A brief trip to a College Lake with the kids while Anna had a cuppa in the cafe

Lapwing

Black Headed Gulls  
Blue tit feeding its young
Harry peeming at the ressie


Saturday 18 May 2019

Startops and Marsworth

A stroll around the ressies with the two kids after a hefty Bluebell all day breakfast (Anna kipping in the car in recovery still) 
Greylag Goose
Black headed Gull on a tern next 

A couple of gulls across the ressies

Gliding gull
Term rafts


Gull zoomed in - far right 

Wednesday 15 May 2019

Suet block Blue tits

Plenty of interest on the suet blocks - including these lovely blue tits

Blue tits on the suet 

A feast for the lovely blue tits
 

Bird boxes in place at Granville

I think being on paternity leave sparked more than nesting in our own house - as I’ve now got 4 bird boxes in place !
Robin box facing east 
Wren box facing west
General purpose box - with WiFi camera! Facing North East
General purpose box facing North