INSIDE LOOKING OUT-UPDATE OF MY DIARY'S 22/01/2016

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I take this opportunity to share both old and new photos taken from either the house or garden. I hope you enjoy
Most of us experienced the cold blast from the North. Behind our housing estate we have a small wood that was cut into two with the building of the M40. A few years back these wood were featured on the news after some bottles of peroxide were discovered. The bottles had links with the planned in-flight bombing of outbound aircraft and it’s because of this that you have a restrictions of liquids in cabin luggage
Fennels Wood

One of my favourite garden birds, the colourful male chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

The chaffinch waiting for his turn on the feeders…….

When I first saw this chaffinch (I must admit not a 100% sure) I had to double take as I thought it was a Waxwing

I took this photo the day before the freeze…….

Some of the chaffinch prefer to use the feeder than ground feed and patiently wait for the tits and robin to grab a seed

This male black bird (Turdus merula—I wonder who dreamed up the Latin name)) liked the mealworms I provided but if he had a chance of a worm on the patches of thawed lawn he took it…Gulp!

Have you ever wondered why the bright red face of the goldfinch? Me Too!

For years not a single goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) then they have slowly started to appearing on a daily visit…

Every winter we have a single pied wagtail (Motacilla alba) take up residence on this large flowerpot saucer-every now and then a lighter coloured of the same species will fly down to share the drymealworms(Tenebrio molitor).

Coal tit (Periparus ater) prefers the mealworm to the sunflower seed

A female chaffinch(Fringilla coelebs) not so colourful as the male waiting for her turn on the feeders. You might notice that the great tits and blue tits are just like a robin-very aggressive to the finches chasing them away from the feeders

First job in the morning was to change the water but an hour later it started to freeze over. I do provide a water feature that seem to stay unfrozen in places

I have just changed the feeders as squirrels have made the garden their main point of rendezvous. The other morning I had two separate gangs of greys and they go hammer and tongs at each other and their sharp teeth have been decimating the plastic feeders..
This photo shows the first blue tit(Cyanistes caeruleus) to use the feeder..

I have posted this photo before of a nuthatch(Sitta europaea). Looks like it might have had a tangle with some netting round the neck area

Until you observe behaviour patterns I never knew that the magpie (Pica pica) was such a nervous bird.

Nice to have the starlings(Sturnus vulgaris) back after an absence of 10 years

Another photo that I have posted before. This female woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is blind in the right eye

* A fluffed up GreatTit (Parus major)*
!http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/blogphoto/image/176416/main/GreatTit.jpg!

Why so glum! The collared dove(Streptopelia decaoct) and the pied wagtail (Motacilla alba) have just witnessed the demise of another collared dove making an early breakfast for a sparrow hawk(Accipiter nisus)

Early one dark November morning we opened the curtains and witnessed the dispatch of a collared dove by a sparrowhawk(Accipiter nisus). Survival of the fittest

Nice to have a Great spotted woodpecker(Dendrocopos major) at the feeders

A few years back I had a visit from a blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

_This little wren(Troglodytes troglodytes) enjoys the sunshine…_

We in the Chilterns also get the odd buzzard(Buteo buteo) fly over..

Nice to have couple of greenfinch(Carduelis chloris) at the feeders

I do see a number of dunnocks(Prunella modularis) in the garden often paired and when you get a stranger on the ground they have the same behaviour of the robin..

The Robin(Erithacus rubecula) killed by a bow and arrow by the sparrow (Passer domesticus) -sorry no photo of sparrow as I sometimes hear from a few blocks down but have not seen one for years
Robins have been rumoured to fight to the death protecting their territories,,,

Just before they lay their eggs we often get the Red legged partridge walk by the front garden even eating seed from a few feet away, so tame then later in the year flushed by the beaters to be shot for the pot..

As a child I often use to see the song thrush(Turdus philomelos) smashing the shell of a snail to get to the fleshy escagot

_ I watched this Carrion crow (Corvus corone) take off from the magpies(Pica pica with intent, I have a bin compound behind my garden and it looked like some one had dropped a few scraps. The crow soon took the food away_

Our new neighbours keeps Koi and this Grey heron(Ardea cinerea) had it’s eyes on them

I hope that you have enjoyed the blog. I have many more photos and videos on my files if you would like me to share
I paste a link for a short YouTube video of some Red Kites that I spotted from my dinning room window
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• 22 Jan, 2016
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