Signs of September

On the 6th September last year we photographed a pair of Grey Wagtails on the barn roof, so I mentioned it would be worth keeping an eye out. Yesterday I saw a Wagtail flying over and going by the call it was definitely not a Pied, so I presumed it was the Grey - and today we confirmed the sighting. Obviously it's the time of the year when the Grey Wagtail appears so we will hopefully have the opportunity to photograph one in the coming weeks.

Another visitor which is not common at other times of year but has been regular in the past week or two is the Coal Tit, both outside the shop and in the Nature Area.

We've seen a Raven on a few occasions recently, including today as one was being pestered by a pair of Buzzards. A Hobby graced the skies above work a couple of times this week too, again at a very similar time to when we saw one last year.

There's still dozens of House Martins here, it will be interesting to see how long they hold on for as the 'Salehurst' Swifts have been gone for over a month now.

Building a Insect House from Pallets

In July last year we undertook a project to build a bug tower/insect hotel out of old pallets. We normally have a couple of pallets of bird food delivered each week to the shop so it seemed a good use for the old pallets. We found a suitable spot in our Nature Area and stacked and stuffed the pallets with fairly well anything we could find; old tiles, logs, pinecones, bamboo canes, hanging baskets and a few old small bug boxes we had. It was good fun building it and hopefully beneficial to many insects, a Leaf-cutter Bee was in fact bringing in leaves while I was putting it together!

This summer, before our Owl Display, I made a couple of planters out of old pallets to brighten up the area outside the shop. With plenty of offcuts left over from those, I thought I'd have another go at building an insect house, but this time to go on the wall above the planters. I made a rough plan, essentially a 50cm square, just the depth of a pallet plank, with a pitched roof on top. I've never been a DIY minded person, so the result is not perfect, but it still looks great on the wall and hopefully, like the tower in the Nature Area, will provide more shelter for bees and bugs. Here it is in situ:

Late July and August Birding

 Our Owl Display, Beer and BBQ event on the 18th July was a huge success once more - with plenty to do and fine weather, the day was enjoyed by all who attended. Owls About Town had a smaller Parliament of Owls this year, owing to a busy schedule and a longer journey since their recent relocation to Selsey, but as always they spent the entire day ensuring no-one was left out, even forgoing lunch! In the garden, the barbecue was more popular than ever and our optics tent looked great and allowed us to demonstrate and advertise just some of the binoculars we sell.

The main event in the farm house garden

'Boris' the Tawny Frogmouth (not an Owl!)

The past month or so has been relatively quiet on the bird front at Feathers, as is typically the case at this time of year. Feeders at Allan's house and even at home seem to be busier than they are at work, with Allan's Siskins in particular feeding regularly.

Juvenile Siskin

On the 30th July we were entertained by a family of Goldcrests, as always, unperturbed by our presence, at one point coming too close to focus with my camera! None-the-less, they're not easy to photograph and despite there being numerous birds and the two of us taking hundreds of photos, we couldn't come up with anything fantastic, though a Wren did sit up nicely while we were there.

Juvenile Goldcrest

Jenny Wren

 Sometime around the end of July/ early August saw the departure of the Salehurst Swifts, though the House Martins are still around.

On the 6th August , a Hummingbird hawk-moth visited the buddleia which is growing out of the wall outside the shop.

On the 4th August and again on the 21st, at least one Raven was calling on its way overhead. When we first added a Raven to our list, we expected it to be a very rare occurrence, but it seems nowadays they are becoming more widespread and though it's not fair to say they are regular, it's certainly no longer a big surprise to see one.

Last but not least, a Treecreeper made a brief appearance this morning to the post outside the shop. It was in and out too quick for photos, but needless to say we'll be keeping a keen eye out today as we haven't photographed one in a few months!

July Birding and other wildlife

Following on from a quiet June, July hasn't been particularly busy for bird feeding either. Still, the nice weather has been good for photography and many of the birds can be found enjoying the sun too. A family of Wrens fledgled the nest just under the roof at the back of the shop next to the road, the youngsters were regularly over by the log pile near the hide, one evidently finding the sun a bit tiring!

Juvenile Wren

Yellowhammers and Whitethroats can be heard calling from down on the farm, only a short walk to where they are singing but not easy to get close to photograph!

Whitethroat

We never had Siskins visit the Nature Area this winter, though I had them visit on a few occassions at home. For some reason, they are now visiting at home much more regularly, though just a male and female still. Allan has a whole family visiting his garden at the minute and has been watching the fledglings being fed by the adults.

Male Siskin

When the birds are quiet, it's quite nice to search for and photograph other wildlife. A dock leaf plant just outside the shop was covered in Blackfly (Black aphids) which are a favourite food of the Ladybird and ladybird larvae, though the Ants provide some protection for the aphids as they former feed off the 'honeydew' the aphids produce.

Seven-spot Ladybird larvae

Seven-spot Ladybird

There are a few more butterflies around now too, though they are still not in abundance. Large and Small Whites, Large and Small Skippers, Red Admirals, Meadow Browns, Small Tortoiseshells and Commas.

Comma

Comma Butterfly underwing, showing the 'comma' it gets its name from.

Our resident Pied Wagtails are doing well with their nest in the pallets, the eggs have hatched and the adult(s) are now bringing food in. I question whether there are two adults left as a Sparrowhawk flew off with a bird in its talons and one of the Wagtails in pursuit, and I've only seen one adult bird since...

Pied Wagtail

The Nature Area needed a bit of tending; some light gardening, a few feeders needed cleaning and a few things moving around. Overall, there's now a better view of the feeders from the hide and better opportunities for photography.

Juvenile Great Tit

(Crested) Blue Tit

Great Tit and Goldfinch

Robin

We are well prepared for our Owl Display & Barbecue on Saturday, the forecast for 20° and sunny spells promising a fine day. You can find out more about the event on our previous blog post here: www.blog.featherswildbirdcare.co.uk/2015/06/owl-display-beer-bbq-sat-18th-july.html

Hawke and Vanguard Optics will both be here on the day displaying their range of binoculars, in the meantime you can browse our entire range of binoculars online here: www.shop.featherswildbirdcare.co.uk

Owl Display, Beer & BBQ - Sat 18th July, Salehurst, East Sussex

Hosted by Feathers Wild Bird Care & Busters Farm Produce

Owl Display by Owls About Town

Stalls from Hawke Optics, Vanguard Sporting Optics, The Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and The RSPB

Browse our range of binoculars online

June Birding

June is normally one of our busiest months of the year, both in the shop and for birds on the feeders, as all the fledglings arrive in gardens. It seems this year is significantly quieter, very few Blue Tits or Great Tits, the Sparrows are busy but not a whole load of youngsters, the Starling youngsters were out in May and have slowed down too. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers have brought one juvenile in though, which is always nice to watch, and the Nuthatches are certainly regular at the minute too.

Adult Male (left) and juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

A brief but nice surprise in the Nature Area was a male Blackcap, just staying long enough for Allan to get a nice photo.

Unfortunately the Spotted Flycatcher's attempt to breed was unsuccessful, the nest was built but then destroyed, presumably by a corvid or rat. A big disappointment for us as they now haven't bred here for the past 3 years.

The Pied Wagtails didn't breed in the same place as last year and so far we have seen no young, though they are seemingly now gathering nesting material so we're keeping watch on that.

The Kestrels, however, did breed in the same place again as the Church tower evidently provides a safe home. Though we haven't kept up with their progress as well this year, they are certainly very active now and it seems the young are out flying now, though not venturing too far from the safety of the Church, particularly as the Jackdaws give them a lot of grief!

Allan had an unusual event in his garden recently as an adult Great Tit was feeding a couple of baby Blue Tits. This is known as cross-species feeding and according to the linked BTO article can be down to a number of factors, including mixed clutches and nest failure.

Cross-species feeding: Adult Great Tit feeding fledgling Blue Tit

Spotted Flycatcher

In 2013, the Spotted Flycatchers investigated the nest site they had used previously but disappeared without attempting to breed and in 2014, we only spotted one a couple of times during the summer. So this year we were hoping they would return to breed once more, as unlikely as it seemed. Much to our delight, Allan spotted one by the Oast House on the 27th May and a pair together on the following day. They have now built a good nest which will hopefully withstand any further miserable weather we seem to have been getting recently. They're not always around the nest site at the minute and are obviously venturing further afield to find food, and after having last week off, I'm now back and hoping to get a few nice pics. Today's fine weather presented my first opportunity and Allan has taken some nice pictures too.

The Oast House is also home to a pair of Blue Tits, at least one pair of Wrens and numerous House Sparrows. The Blue Tits in the nest box in the nature area fledged late in May.