Never work again
Yes, it's a live photo of a beautiful pied wagtail, one of my all-time favourite birds, grabbed just seconds ago from one of the Springwatch live webcams. Go there now. My friend Dave has just recommended that I do so, and I fear I may do no more work for the rest of the day. (There are six webcams, five of them functioning, with a variety of nesting birds, including a swallow, greenfinch and owl. It's like an ambient soundtrack for the eyes.) If there's an empty chair on News 24 at around 5.30 this afternoon and my name doesn't appear on the credits to the third series of Not Going Out, you'll know why.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 11:45 AM
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My uncle ended up a slave to birdwatching. He's a very well off egg farmer, and had a lake constructed in his garden with a hide so he could watch the birds without disturbing them. He's added to it with all manner of bird-friendly habitats and bits and bobs over the years - it's quite an amazing place to see. Of course, we never see him anymore ... it's just him and his birds now.
The excellent Simon King is on Gardeners' World teaching about how to get birds into our gardens and making it good for them. It'll be on 'watch it again' or whatever they call it.
You might like to know that next door to me there is an old barn which has crows or rooks (don't know) and bats using the same high level access. It gets interesting after 9pm (think nightclub entrance towards midnight with people edging around trying not to set anything off) but I haven't yet got the definitive picture or video.
Very cool indeed.
In suburban Dublin we had a (wait for it !) Heron ! On the roof of the house of our neighbour.
Unfortunately we also saw a pied wagtail ... struggling in a neighbouring front garden. The kids were a bit upset and I felt a bit clueless. The RSPB site said we should leave it alone and if necessary help it into a less exposed area so long as the parents could see it.
Our adopted cat offered to help. Wasn't that kind ?
Last week we bought one of those poles from which you can hang cylinders of bird feed. So we have nuts hanging off it on one side, and seeds on the other.
So which varieties of bird have we attracted? Squirrels.
Are the birds interested. Well, as yet, not remotely.
We must be doing something wrong.
John
John, don't hold it against the squirrels. They eat a lot of my seeds too, and must be admired for the dexterity and acrobatic skill they employ. But the birds will come. Mark my words.
Oh, and crows have a black face and beak, while rooks have a grey-white face and beak, Pest.
You should come over to British Columbia, we have eagles.
Haven't checked on the shed since the cataclysmic wren/mower incident, but will go in and listen for tweeting noises later and keep you posted. Lovely blog, by the way.
Lady B off of NotBBC x
Belatedly, OP, the 'crows or rooks' might be jackdaws, which love old buildings and are most likely to be found in them. They are smaller than Cs and Rs, have a black cap and a grey 'shawl' and are very noisy in a cackling sort of way.
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