Friday 22 May 2009

Garden Birds

It's five and a half years since I moved to the Rede valley and, coming here from a small house with an almost birdless back-yard garden in the suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, it has always been a pleasure, and sometimes a great surprise, to watch the various birds that visit or fly over my garden. I am lucky here to have a small mixed wooded area immediately in front of the house which includes white poplars and Scots pine and provides cover for the birds when visiting the feeders.

Very occasionally, a new bird is added to the list; the stars this year have been the Redpolls that appeared out of the blue on the first day I put up my new nyjer seed feeder in late February. Long-tailed tits also found, but seem subsequently to have forgotten their way to the garden this year. It's not a very large list, some 40 species at most, but when the weather or something else stops me from going out, they all help brighten the day.

The list includes the males, females and young of most but not all of the following: Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch; Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll; Coal, Blue, Great and Long-tailed tits; Blackbird, Song Thrush and Fieldfare; Reed Bunting and House Sparrow; Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff; Pied Wagtail, Wren, Robin, Dunnock and Nuthatch; Great Spotted Woodpecker and Tree Creeper; Tawny Owl and Sparrow Hawk; Rook, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw; Starling and Pheasant with Heron, Swallow, House Martin, Swift and Buzzard flying overhead.

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

16 comments:

Mike said...

Your photos are fantastic!

Stuart Brocklehurst said...

Hi Emma

Thanks for your comments on my blog. I've just had a look through your blog. You have some great photos on here I'll certainly keep reading with interest.

Anonymous said...

Superb images Emma, the Pied Wag in particular.

Helen said...

Your photos are so good. I have been trying for ages to get a photo of the spotted woodpecker that visits my garden.

Leslie said...

Gosh, such nice pictures (and birds), so colourful. Lovely!

RĂºben Neves said...

Wonderful series of pictures! Light, sharp and composition are at the best. Congratulations

Becky said...

These are some awesome shots! These birds are all new to me, and wouldn't I love to have them in my garden!
B.

Springman said...

Your Post is overwhelming! Please publish a Garden Bird Calender so we can take a month on each image. It was a revelation when I left the big city and experienced the variety of bird life for the first time too. It instantly made a nerd of me when formally I had been very cosmopolitan. Thank you for sharing your garden! ;-)WBW

NatureFootstep said...

great portraits of all the birds. I am familiar to all of them. :)

http://nfbird.blogspot.com/2010/11/blames-parus-caeruleus-blue-tit.html

Sondra said...

Excellent visitors to your yard!! Awesome shots too so colorful and sharp! Good Job!

Empty Nester said...

What gorgeous photos! I love the colors on the Goldfinch especially.

jeanlivingsimple said...

Super Sightings!

Small City Scenes said...

Excellent shot of some very beautiful birds, some very new to me. Thank you for sharing these. MB

Unknown said...

Nice shots! Having that many species in your own garden must be a blessing :)

Steve said...

This is super interesting. Going to check this often

Hilke Breder said...

Lovely collection of garden birds, Emma! And I just love your header photo!