See amid the springtime snows!
Despite the weather the garden continues to be quite active. The Blue Tits now resident in nesting box 2 continue to aggressively defend their space. This morning it was a Nuthatch which was on the receiving end of their attention.
The surprise visitor to the garden arrived mid-morning. Out of the window I caught sight of a small brown bird disappearing into one of the bushes. At first I imagined it was a Dunnock as we have at least one pair who nest in the garden or else perhaps that rarest of species a House Sparrow. It was with great surprise then that when I located it in the binoculars, I could clearly see the brown cap that marked it as a female Blackcap. The majority of these are summer visitors to the UK, although increasing numbers are now over-wintering. Was this our first summer migrant or one of the now resident birds? If the former then I’m sure that the weather wasn’t what it was expecting.
We have occasionally had a pair of Blackcap in the trees and bushes at the east end of the Tarn during the summer, but this is my first record of this species from the garden.
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia) 2
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus) 4
Eurasian Jay [sp] (Garrulus glandarius) 1
Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica) 3
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone) 2
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus) 4
Eurasian Blackcap [sp] (Sylvia atricapilla) 1
Eurasian Nuthatch [sp] (Sitta europaea) 1
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula) 2
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula) 1
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis) 1
Pete's Favourite Things 