Blackbirds

A few weeks ago when I started birding in the garden. I had a male and female Blackbird in the garden there's now about half a dozen using my garden.  Also yesterday there was one starling feeding in my garden today there was two both on the same fat ball feeder.

Garden birds

Today my garden population expand yet again I mentioned in a earlier blog that starlings had arrived in my garden today there was three of them feeding on fat balls and peanuts.  Also a woodpecker arrived in my tree he did not stay in the tree long or take any food but flew to a nearby garden tree I think a woodpecker is one of the more exotic birds to get in the garden.

Aso added suet and meal worm pellets and black sunflower seed and sunflower hearts to add variety to the food. 

In the garden

Just seen a Chaffinch female in the garden tree it did not come down to feed.

In the garden

I have bought a feeding station to hang my bird feeders on there seems to be much more activity now as the birds use it for a perch while flying from one feeder to the next. Today a Starling was feeding on the fat balls two Jackdaws were in the tree but they did not come down to feed.

Yellowhammer

I've spotted a Yellowhammer near where I live. They are status red on the RSPB website. Saw it twice in the same place once on the way out on a walk and again in the same place on my return.

Annitsford mole hill

Today on my way back from a visit to Annitsford Pond I was walking past some mole hills when I saw one move.  I stood for quite a while in the rain watching the soil move waiting for a mole to pop its head out the hill was heaving so much at one point a golf ball sized chunk of clay rolled down the hill. I was waiting with my hand in my camera bag holding my camera to keep it dry until the mole came out. Imagine a balloon buried under some loose soil and air being pumped in and out and it might give some idea of how much the hill was moving.

Unfortunately I had to leave before anything happened due to the heavy rain.

Holywell Nature Reserve.

After my visit to Seghill nature reserve I continued my walk. On route twomallardge flocks of geese flew by.

Holywell nature reserve is not very well signposted there is no sign on the main road to tell you to turn in (approaching from the Avenue road) if you had a car there's no where to park, best approach would be from Holywell village that would include using the bus.

There's a public hide a wildlife trust hide and two feeding stations it is a large lake unfortunately for me there was not much to see from the public hide. I did better at the feeding station where I saw a pheasant. 

I had a chat with two volunteers who were trimming some trees and they said there had been large flocks of pink legged geese in the fields I had walked by I guess they must have been the geese I had seen flying by earlier.

The volunteers invited me into the wildlife trust hide were I saw a skaup, Gadwell, mallard, teal, widgeon and a Reed Bunting the Bunting  photos were really good so it was probably that photo that made the trip worthwhile.  I will go back again and to the Seghill reserve to see if I can see more because the Holywell reserve is supposed to have a large variety of wildlife.

I only got to see so much due to the kind invitation of the volunteers as everything was around the corner of the hide. There was not a 

Group for this reserve on flikr so I created one feel free to post your photos.