Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Category: Blog

  • 11th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    11th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

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    The weather for the last few days has beeen fantastic. As I write it is 24 degrees C and I have had to come in out of the garden as, with very little breeze, it feels very hot indeed.

    I have followed a routine by taking some photos in the morning but this afternoon a couple of buzzards flew over our garden and I couldn’t resist breaking my regime.

    I have been surprised and pleased what opportunities I have had from our tiny urban garden.

    DSC09079Goldfinch

    DSC09114I have left some dandelions as the bees love them

    DSC09136A flyover grey heron

    DSC09207The vibernum is lasting well

    DSC09159The bees love the aubretia too

    DSCF0505Tulips have lasted so well but are beginning to go over now

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    DSC09275Who let those forget-me-nots in?

    DSC08855Unfortunately our rosemary is being decimated by the Rosemary beetle

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    DSC08939The crab apple in the front garden is looking spectacular

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    DSC08981The magnolia is dwarfed by the crab apple

    DSC09037The acer is beginning to provide cover for the birds

    DSC09280Goldfinch in a neighbour’s garden

    DSC09297Blue tit

    DSC09306Starling

    DSC09333Foreign invaders in our garden – Spanish bluebells

    DSC09387Buzzards

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    DSC08780House sparrows mating

    DSC08668Carrion crow posing on neighbour’s gatepost

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    DSCF0531A touch of Provence?

    DSC09177Lily of the valley and it’s not the 1st May yet!

  • 8th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    8th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

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    Slideshow of some of my photos from the last two days. (If being viewed on an iPad you can pinch and stretch).

    Three weeks in to lock-down and there is clearly a repetition in my blogs. My apologies, but trying to capture photos of wildlife from the boundaries of my home is doing the world of good for my mental stability and, for anyone who sees my blog, I hope others enjoy a little bit of digression from the worries of the terrible Covid-19 pandemic.

    At least the weather has helped to lift moral and my photography has benefited from a little of the sunshine in the past two days, although this morning when I took most of my photos, it was still very grey.

    DSC08322Carrion crow jumping for joy!

    DSC08355…because he’s found a stash of chips (not ours!)

    DSC08415Dunnock getting tarted up

    DSC08509Blue tit about to move off

    DSC08510Blue tit in flight

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    DSC08549Starling with party hat

    DSC08560Bird on a wire

    DSC08591Crab apple in front garden

    DSC08594Bee on crab apple in front garden

    DSC08604Crab apple

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    DSC08612Gull (I’m hopeless on gulls especially when I can’t see their backs or the colour of their legs)

    DSC08621Starling

    DSC08628Neighbour’s magnolia lasting well

    DSC08637Hover fly (well at least it was hovering)

     

  • 4th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    4th April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

     

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    I thought it was meant to be warm this weekend! It certainly needed a lot of resolve to stay out to get a few snaps this morning.

    DSC07811Peacock butterfly

    DSC07729Wood pigeon

    DSC07786Starling

    DSC07820Goldfinch

    DSC07874Wood pigeon

    DSC07880Goldfinch

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  • 3rd April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    3rd April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

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    I realise the quality of my photos today are not really worthy of a blog but it does give me a focus in these strange times and its worth keeping a record for myself. Especially as I added a new bird to my garden list (I’m not really keeping a list) when I spotted a distant male sparrowhawk  flying over head – in fact it was probably more likely to be flying over the neighbouring district of Frenchay as it was a long way away.

    #stayhome  #staysafe

    DSC07583Male sparrowhawk 

    DSC07595Male sparrowhawk

    DSC07272Dunnock (hedge sparrow)

    DSC07280Dunnock (hedge sparrow)

    DSC07301House sparrow

    DSC07314Lesser black-backed gull

    DSC07366Lesser black-backed gull

    DSC07412Collared dove

    DSC07440Dunnock

    DSC07476House sparrow

    DSC07389Bee

     

     

  • 2nd April 2020 – Self-isolation in Bristol

    2nd April 2020 – Self-isolation in Bristol

    Just a few birds taken from the garden this morning.

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    DSC06984Carrion crow

    DSC06997Male house sparrow

    DSC07039Starling

    DSC07167Magpie (being mobbed by crows)

    DSC07137No wonder the magpie looked worried

    DSC07176Starling

    DSC07194House sparrow

    DSC06945Wood pigeon

    DSC07198Collared dove

     

  • 1st April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    1st April 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    Even though it hasn’t been as bitingly cold as yesterday it has been a very dull day and my trips to the end of the path didn’t produce much. I did see the house sparrows, which are making a nest in the eves of the roof of the house opposite, mating in a nearby tree but the light was so poor for a decent photo. More and more sparrows are appearing and starlings, crows and jackdaws are collecting nesting materials. The dunnocks have again been looking at themselves in car wing mirrors.

    What was quite an achievement was to get a photo of a blue tit on the bird feeder – my presence nearly always frightens them off.

    DSC06540House sparrows mating

     

    DSC06695Starlings collecting nest materials

    DSC06780Wood pigeon

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    DSC06821Blue tit on one of my garden feeders

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    Blue tit on the tree opposite my house

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  • 30th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    30th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    It was very cold standing outside my house this morning. I didn’t get much exercise but I did get some fresh air and was entertained for an hour or so by nature.

    DSC05871Male sparrow

    DSC05865Starling

    DSC05886Collared dove

    DSC05887Collared dove

    DSC05913Collared dove and sparrow

    DSC06135Starling

    DSC06140Female sparrow

    DSC06151Female sparrow

    DSC06193Starling

    DSC06271Female sparrow

    DSC06273Female sparrow

    DSC06297Female sparrow

  • 28th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    28th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    I managed to get a short fix of nature this morning whilst self-isolating at home but I didn’t stay long outside as, with a strong north-easterly wind, the temperatures had plummeted.

    The bird feeders in our garden continue to go down but I get little or no opportunity to photograph the birds on them because as soon as I go in to our small back garden the birds disappear. I can see them from the bathroom window  but that’s too geeky for even me to photograph them from there. Consequently I am restricted to photographing birds discretely with a long lens in neighbours’ gardens or on nearby rooftops.

    The wood pigeons were easy to spot but I didn’t see any of the collared doves which have been around recently.

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    There seemed  to be more house sparrows this morning. It is very encouraging to see them as, although once quite abundant locally, they had disappeared in recent years.

    DSC05698Male sparrow

    DSC05681Female sparrow

    I could hear goldfinches but didn’t see any today.

    The dunnocks appeared again and instantly made for the car across the road to look at themselves in the wing mirrors or at their reflections in the car windows.

    DSC05742Dunnock getting ready for the day ahead

    On the same wall I also saw a robin.

    DSC05596\DSC05604European robin

    In a distant garden  there were a pair of blackbirds. I haven’t seen any locally recently but I have heard them. That’s the next thing – recording bird song!

    DSC05715The best I could manage of this male blackbird

    On the roof tops there were jackdaws, crows and magpies.

    DSC05777Two jackdaws

    Before going in I spotted a huge bee busy on a flowering red currant next to the back door.

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    I made a mental note to myself to learn the names of different types of bees. As Simon Barnes writes in the Sunday Times today:

    ” I can’t kiss you. I can’t buy you a pint. I can’t invite you to drop by and watch the football. All I can offer is the best thing in the world. Nature”. He goes on to say:
    “It all starts with noticing. The second stage is seeking the name, and that will give a greater intimacy, as names do.”

    But enough was enough and I disappeared indoors to find some chores to do.

     

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  • 26th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    26th March 2020 – Self-isolating in Bristol

    We have been self-isolating at home all week. We had a 7 am walk in our local park last Saturday but didn’t feel safe as people, especially runners, came very close to us (even though I often pretended to be looking for a bird in the bushes).  On Sunday we travelled to the Forest of Dean where we managed some exercise in isolation. However, reading what NHS workers had to say, and pleading with us to stay at home, we have remained at home. Neighbours and friends have helped with shopping. It has seemed very strange because it has always been in our nature to help others and now we find we can only help by staying at home.

    To some extent I have enjoyed painting fences, building garden storage, cleaning the patio and so on as the weather has been wonderful for this time of the year. However, I have missed my camera (and nature) and today I self-indulged by taking photos from in and around our tiny urban garden. If I can’t go to nature, I’ll have to let nature come to me. I could see a herring gull, goldfinches, sparrows, dunnocks, wood pigeons and collared doves, jackdaws, crows, starlings, blackbirds, a robin (only heard),  blue tits and great tits (only heard), bees and a peacock butterfly.

    Unfortunately, all of the birds (except the blackbird on the washing line) were outside of the garden and I hope that neighbours don’t think I am being a voyeur with a long lens. I hope my photos are the proof of it.

    DSC04597Goldfinch

    DSC04605-2Dunnock

    DSC04612-2Wood pigeon

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    DSC04694Jackdaw

    DSC04706-2Male sparrow

    DSC04737-2Male sparrow

    DSC04762Magpie

    DSC04779-2Female sparrow

    DSC04784Dunnock

    DSC04790-2Female sparrow

    DSC04853-2Jackdaw

    DSC04875-2Dunnocks

    DSC04881Dunnocks

    DSC04902Dunnocks

    DSC04903Dunnocks

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    DSC04946Female sparrow

    DSC05047Female sparrow

    DSC05115Collared doves

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    DSC05297Peacock butterfly

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  • 22nd March 2020 – Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

    22nd March 2020 – Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

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    At the end of the first week of self-isolating due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was a sure delight to get out and about today. I have kept myself busy during the week doing jobs in and around the house but I have felt hemmed in (not surprisingly) and the lack of social contact was beginning to have an effect on my moral.

    We were pleased to hear earlier in the week that the National Trust was keeping its outdoor spaces open but as people went there in their droves social distancing was clearly not possible and this decision was revoked. So we decided to give the Forest of Dean a go. We have been many times to the RSPB Reserve at Nags Head in the past and  never seen many people. Fortunately again today there were very few people around and we could keep a good distance from them.

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    The aim of our sortie was to get some exercise and not particularly to do bird watching, which was just as well as we didn’t see many birds at all (we avoided the bird hides even if they had been open). It was a lovely sunny day and the beauty of the forest certainly lifted our spirit.

    Although we didn’t get many sightings of birds we did have a wonderful moment when a bat flitted around above us. A managed one rather poor shot which might enable anyone who knows about these things to identify it. – a pipistrelle perhaps?

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    Right at the beginning of our walk a lone greylag goose mystically appeared from nowhere.

    DSC04364Greylag goose

    There were a few blackbirds, some coal tits and frequent noisy robins.  We also heard woodpeckers, probably Great Spotted although Lesser Spotted are found here.

    DSC04407Blackbird

    DSC04460Coal tit

    DSC04537Robin

    DSC04548Robin

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  • 16th March 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    16th March 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

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    It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get out and take photos and write a blog as its been very wet and I have also been sidelined with a poorly foot. As a septuagenarian the risk of Covid-19 will clearly limit my opportunities for a while. Hopefully I will manage a little exercise in the park and maintain social distancing.

    It was truly beautiful this morning. The stars for me were a peacock butterfly, a wren, a chiffchaff , a couple of grey wagtails and a kingfisher but I also enjoyed photographing the ducks, geese and swans on the lake.

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  • 27th February 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    27th February 2020 – Eastville Park, Bristol

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    It may seem a bit mundane reporting on the same walk around Eastville Park but its all we had time for  and anyway there’s nearly always something interesting to see. Today’s highlight was definitely a tree creeper.

    DSC02230Tree creeper

    We heard, and generally saw, robins all round the park. Early on we saw a goldcrest (sadly no photo) near Fishponds Brook.

    DSC01859A robin to greet us

    DSC02241Another robin half way round

    On the lake there was a grey heron, a coot, a couple of  moorhens, 6 mute swans, two Canada geese, lots of black-headed gulls and a couple of lesser black-backed gulls.

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    DSC01897Grey heron

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    DSC02024Mute swan

    DSC01946Canada goose

    DSC01882Moorhen

    DSC01937Black-headed gull

    DSC01975Lesser black-backed gull

    DSC01967A pigeon strutting its stuff

    DSC01926Crow

    For the first time for a while we saw no cormorants but there were plenty of corvids, mainly crows and some jackdaws lurking in the trees and around the lake.

    We saw the tree creeper along the River Frome. True to form it landed on the tree and made its way around the trunk out of sight. When it reappeared it hid frustratingly behind the small branches but then fleetingly gave me a chance to capture it. I’m sure my editing of the photos makes its stand out much more than we saw as its camouflage on the bark was quite amazing.

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    DSC02205Tree creeper

    On the way home we saw a jay, lots of magpies and several wood pigeons.

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    The other pleasing sight was the celandine which was quite prominent in the sunshine

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    DSC02321A different robin to bid us farewell