A bird for the table

Is this what people mean when they talk about poultry being "for the table"?

This is where I eat my breakfast in summer!

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Cockfighting

These two male Pheasants were having a bit of a fencing match in the garden this morning, to little avail

video taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Babies

This morning has seen the arrival (in the garden) of six tiny Pheasants, accompanied by their mother, father and 'aunts'.

At the moment they're fluffy and cute, and can fly short distances, but I doubt they'll stay that way for long.

On the move

In case anyone wondered, I'm still alive.


I've moved house, that's all. Here's the garden. As you can see, it's quite big and open. I can't remember the garden list so far, but after a month it does include Peregrine and House Sparrow!

House Sparrow seems to be a major rarity just here, as we've only had two records of a single female bird.

Green Woodpeckers are somewhat more frequent, and a male Great Spotted visits every day for seed.


Up to five Pheasants also visit daily and are making a bit of a mess under the feeders.

Here are some of our noisier neighbours.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Castor Hanglands NNR

Whitethroat. Welcome back, my trans-Sahara migrating friend!




Marsh Marigolds




A very smart purple-blue-green-black Pheasant


This Chaffinch was a bit coy, hiding behind a twig...


Blossom

A truly splendid visit to Castor this morning. Two Grasshopper Warblers (the first of many) reeled in the scrub. A Nightingale started up - made me shudder and then grin like an idiot. Lesser Whitethroat rattled away in a hawthorn bush, but evaded capture on Compact Flash card... A Cuckoo sang, getting a bit over-excited and going into that crazy chuckling they do.

Many Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers, but no Garden Warblers... can't be long now, surely?

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece