It continues to be quiet in the garden. There was a grey wagtail down by the pond, but nothing else of note.
Grey wagtail, Christophstal April 2020
Grey wagtail, Christophstal April 2020
Pebble hook-tip moth, Forbach valley nr Baiersbronn, April 2020
Not a lot happened today. The highlight was seeing this pebble hook-tip moth down near Baiersbronn while out on a run. These are relatively common, but I've yet to record one in our garden here. The photo was taken with my old phone, so isn't very good.
We saw 32 bird species today. I think that is a record.
There were plenty of photos to choose from today. I've chosen a random selection - mostly birds but also a rose chafer which was hovering around the bird cherry all day. The bird cherry is fully in blossom now and looks and smells wonderful.
The conifers are producing clouds of pollen at the moment and everything is covered with a thick yellow powder.
Common redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Mistle thrush, Christophstal April 2020
Wood warbler, Christophstal April 2020
Rose chafer, Christophstal April 2020
Clouds of tree pollen, Christophstal April 2020
Blue tit in box, Christophstal April 2020
Goldfinch in bird cherry, Christophstal April 2020
Firecrest, Christophstal April 2020
Firecrest, Christophstal April 2020
Pensive willow tit (injured), Christophstal April 2020
Bird cherry in blossom, Christophstal April 2020
I finished work late and thought I'd spend the hour before dusk seeing if there were any interesting birds about.
It went quiet for a while when this beast turned up and tried to catch a jay. The jay fought back and Mr Sparrowhawk flew away empty handed.
The injured willow tit is still getting around. He tries not to fly too much so we see him hopping about between branches on the same tree. This photo is taken from above and you get an idea of how much wing he is missing.
Anyway, if I'm honest, the real reason I made the time to watch the birds was that I was hoping to see a nightingale as this is about the same time as last year that we saw three. Well, I wasn't really expecting to see one, but there he was!
Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2020
Injured willow tit, Christophstal April 2020
Nightingale, Christophstal April 2020
Moorhen, Christophstal April 2020
Moorhen, Christophstal April 2020
Moorhen, Christophstal April 2020
Another new bird species seen from the garden today. This solitary moorhen stayed most of the day but was gone by evening. This brings us to 97 bird species. We've got 98 species on our list - but that includes the white-throated dipper which we've seen down by the Forbach maybe 100m from the house, but we're unlikely to ever see directly from the house.
Today was the last day of my short holiday which I took specifically so that I could record the bird migration better this year. Well it hasn't worked out like that. I'm not sure what happened. The weather has been very strange and we didn't see anything like what we've seen in previous years. OK, we had a good number of bird species, but not in the numbers we've had before.
Today was really quiet. The cold wind has finally gone and it was much warmer today. Christine went out in the garden to draw a dandelion and I thought it looked like a Monet's springtime, so here's a photo. I wonder if the model for Monet's painting had to deal with a tick like Christine had when she came in. They've started early this year.
The apple tree down by the drive has just started flowering and this blue tit visited while it was back-lit by the morning sun which produced a wonderful bokeh.
We had a male and female blackcap visiting the bird cherry and broom regularly. They were clicking to each other all the while. And common and black redstarts continue to please.
Springtime, Christophstal April 2020
Blue tit in apple tree with bokeh, Christophstal April 2020
Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Male blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Common redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Male black redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Sketchbook Dandelion, Christophstal April 2020
Here's a page from my sketchbook. I will add some of these to the diary as they come up. I learn a lot from doing these sketches and the colour reference is useful if I want to draw the plant in the future. The notes are based on Collins Wild Flower Guide and Rose's The Wild Flower Key.
Just taking a break!, Christophstal April 2020
This doesn't happen often, Christophstal April 2020
Mistle thrush, Christophstal April 2020
Mistle thrush, Christophstal April 2020
Kestrel, Christophstal April 2020
Small copper butterfly, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow hunting frogs, Christophstal April 2020
And it's gone!, Christophstal April 2020
I'm starting today with a couple of red squirrel photos. The first shows a squirrel leaning up against the shed. The second is a rare sight - two squirrels sharing the bird table. I've never seen this before - there's usually a huge punch-up if a second squirrel attempts to join a squirrel that is already there. A third squirrel did attempt to join these two, but that didn't end well!
There were two mistle thrushes strutting about in the grass today and a kestrel was sitting on the pylons on the other side of the valley near where he caught a slow worm a couple of days ago.
In the late afternoon, we had a walk up to our meadow and were pleased to see a lot of nice wild plant rosettes even though everything is really dry as it hasn't rained for weeks. On the way back, I spotted a newly emerged small copper butterfly.
To finish off, I've got a sequence of photos of a carrion crow hunting for frogs in the pond. He seemed quite happy to get wet and he eventually pulled out a whopper. Within seconds, a red kite swooped down and grabbed the hapless frog and the crow was disappointed. He did come back later and caught another one, which he shared with a friend.
The day began well again with a black kite flying right overhead.
It was much colder today with a cold gusty wind. Even so, the migrants keep coming in ones and twos. Today it was a beautiful male pied flycatcher.
I'm finishing off with a couple of photos of a male blackcap looking picturesque in the bird cherry.
Black Kite, Christophstal April 2020
Black Kite, Christophstal April 2020
Black Kite, Christophstal April 2020
Black Kite, Christophstal April 2020
Male pied flycatcher, Christophstal April 2020
Male pied flycatcher, Christophstal April 2020
Male pied flycatcher, Christophstal April 2020
Male pied flycatcher, Christophstal April 2020
Male blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Male blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Plum blossom, Christophstal April 2020
Crow with food, Christophstal April 2020
Coal tit on bird cherry, Christophstal April 2020
Kestrel with slow worm, Christophstal April 2020
Jay, Christophstal April 2020
Jay, Christophstal April 2020
Mistle thrush, Christophstal April 2020
Mr and Mrs Hawfinch, Christophstal April 2020
Wood warbler, Christophstal April 2020
Wood warbler, Christophstal April 2020
If we ignore the lack of migrating birds, there was quite a lot happening today.
The plum is in full blossom which, considering how sick the tree is now looking generally, is impressive.
The nesting crows were flying back and forth all day and this one had found something large and tasty (I can't identify what it is - it could be the remnants of a fatball).
The hawthorn, bird cherry, birch and maple are all producing nice, fresh leaves which makes nearly every photo look fantastic. See this coal tit on the bird cherry.
I saw a bird-of-prey over the other side of the valley and struggled to get a photo. I was leaning out of the window here and so the result is a bit shaky. This looks like a kestrel and he's got a big slow worm there!
I don't often take photos of jays as they're usually skittish and they're always around so I don't usually bother. They offered a couple of photo opportunities today so here are the results.
I got a bit excited when a strange bird landed on top of one of the distant conifers. It was making a very strange buzzing sound. The photos show it is a mistle thrush, but I've never heard them make that sound before. I've subsequently found out that it is one of their normal calls.
As the evening drew in, we had a visit from a pair of hawfinches. And we finished the day with a wood warbler in the bird cherry - I'm including two of those photos as they look so good.
I had a suspicion that the migration days following yesterday's fantastic show, might turn out to be a bit of an anticlimax and today it proved to be.
It started off promisingly with a four ravens flying over the house while I was emptying the moth trap early this morning. The ravens seem to have moved further down and on the other side of the valley this year and don't seem to be using the area close to us that they've used for the last few years.
Even the moth trap provided meagre interest despite the temperature holding up and no moon.
After that there was nothing. I amused myself with a few OB (open beak) photos.
There were a few warblers about. The first one is probably a willow warbler but I'm not 100% sure. The second is a wood warbler, so the warblers and a female common redstart were the migration highlights.
Black redstart singing, Christophstal April 2020
Greenfinch singing, Christophstal April 2020
Crooning dunnock, Christophstal April 2020
Crooning dunnock, Christophstal April 2020
Willow warbler?, Christophstal April 2020
Wood warbler, Christophstal April 2020
Wood warbler, Christophstal April 2020
Female common redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Lesser whitethroat, Christophstal April 2020
Lesser whitethroat, Christophstal April 2020
Lesser whitethroat, Christophstal April 2020
Whinchat, Christophstal April 2020
Male blackcap with nesting gifts for the female, Christophstal April 2020
Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
Dancing great tits, Christophstal April 2020
Ring ouzel, Christophstal April 2020
Northern wheatear, Christophstal April 2020
Northern wheatear, Christophstal April 2020
The bird migration really kicked-off today. It began early with this lesser whitethroat, closely followed our first whinchat of the year.
A pair of blackcaps were exchanging gifts in our bird cherry and a pair of great tits were performing a marital dance in the hawthorn.
Towards the evening, when I'd finished work, I spent a little time while watching out of the window, but it started getting dark and I closed the windows. At that moment, a ring ouzel flew into the bird cherry. Unfortunately he stayed behind loads of branches but as this is the first photo I've managed of this species, I'm more than happy with the grainy results. Christine was watching out of the window and saw another strange bird beyond the sheds. This is another new species for the garden, a northern wheatear.
I'm now looking forward to the next few days to see what interesting things will show up.
Easter Monday gave another opportunity to spend time watching nature. It was a bit colder today and there was a cool wind. There wasn't a huge amount of interest, but I've got a few photos of some red squirrels. We've had a lot recently - six or seven at a time hogging the bird tables. We don't get many that are actually red. Most are black or reddish black. The black one here seemed to be enjoying the warmth of the shed roof.
There are several pairs of carrion crows nesting in the nearby trees. Here's one carrying a big branch which he's having problems controlling.
A sparrowhawk flew by but didn't come close (as far as I know).
Wood pigeons are a rare 'treat' for us. They often fly over, but there were a pair sitting in one of the conifers today.
There were also a pair of magpies preening in the same conifer.
The injured willow tit from yesterday was back again and I watched him for a while struggling to fly between trees.
There were a lot of black redstarts about again and there were lots of territorial skirmishes.
I'm finishing up with a photo of a brambling (taken through a window - hence blurry). Yesterday was the first day since the end of January where we didn't have a single brambling in the garden. This one may well be the last of the winter.
Footnote: I've added an image of the Jay with a tumour that we first saw for the first time just over a year ago. I've made the initial image small. Although you can click on the image to zoom in, I don't recommend doing that if you aren't interested in such things. It is a bit gruesome to be honest. He is now completely blind in one eye and seemed to be a bit lethargic so I don't think he's going to be around for another year.
Red squirrel, Christophstal April 2020
Red squirrel, Christophstal April 2020
Red squirrel, Christophstal April 2020
Carrion crow with nesting material, Christophstal April 2020
Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2020
Wood pigeon, Christophstal April 2020
Preening magpie, Christophstal April 2020
Injured willow tit, Christophstal April 2020
Black redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Brambling, Christophstal April 2020
Jay with tumour, Christophstal April 2020
Ichneumon wasp, Christophstal April 2020
Mr and Mrs Hawfinch, Christophstal April 2020
All clear?....., Christophstal April 2020
...then here I come, Christophstal April 2020
Fearless mouse, Christophstal April 2020
Buzzard with frog/toad, Christophstal April 2020
Distant crested tit, Christophstal April 2020
Kestrel, Christophstal April 2020
Chiffchaff, Christophstal April 2020
Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2020
While I was putting my moth trap away yesterday night, I came across this Ichneumon wasp in the bathroom. The photo isn't really good enough to get a full ID.
I got up early again to see what birds were flying. Here are a bunch of grainy photos I got before it got properly light. There was a male and female hawfinch on the bird table. The blue tit was coming and going from the nest box. There was also a mouse running about seemingly without fear of all the cats and birds of prey that are around. There was also this crested tit at the top of a distant tree. He did come to the garden briefly but was behind branches. A buzzard was trying to fly off with a particularly large frog/toad.
Once the sun came up, we saw a kestrel, a chiffchaff and a female blackcap.
And we saw our first orange-tip butterfly of the year. We'd seen one a week or so ago down the valley but this was the first one in the garden.
There was lots of bird activity around the garden today. There were several blue tits doing mating rituals including this female begging for food.
I think the pair of white wagtails that have been with us for a few weeks are now nesting near to the house. This one landed right opposite me and sat obligingly still.
There were lots of black redstarts and a pair are nesting under the guttering of the house in the same place as last year. This black redstart caught a large noctuid caterpillar and was tenderizing it by slapping it onto the path. Nasty!
I saw the first common redstarts and blackcaps of the year. I only managed to get photos of the common redstarts. We heard the first blackcaps singing on Thursday.
We don't get many identifiable willow tits here, but this one was calling continually. He was a bit funny looking and seemed to have a very short tail. He wasn't flying too well either. Looking at the close-up photo, it seems that most of his left wing is missing too. An escape from a sparrowhawk attack perhaps?
And to finish today, we had a very, very early wood white butterfly. These shouldn't be flying until mid-May.
Female blue tit begging for food, Christophstal April 2020
White wagtail, Christophstal April 2020
White wagtail, Christophstal April 2020
Common redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Common redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Black redstart slapping a caterpillar onto the path, Christophstal April 2020
Black redstart with caterpillar ready to eat, Christophstal April 2020
Willow tit, Christophstal April 2020
Willow tit wing and tail damage detail, Christophstal April 2020
Common birds nest fungus, Christophstal April 2020
Common birds nest fungus, Christophstal April 2020
Common birds nest fungus, Christophstal April 2020
Mottled Grey, Christophstal April 2020
More fine dry weather today. It being Good Friday, we got to spend a lot of time out in the garden.
Christine spotted this bird's nest fungus under one of her crown imperials. This is a new fungus for the garden. We've had fluted bird's nest fungus before but this is common bird's nest fungus.
I had the moth trap out a few days ago, but it coincided with a full moon, so I only got three moths! I tried again tonight as the moon was waning and was less prominent in the sky. The result was much better: 8 species including a new species for the garden, the Mottled Grey, Colostygia multistrigaria. Unfortunately, as you can see, this moth is every bit as dull as its name suggests.
Today we had our 95th bird species seen from the house. This Egyptian Goose arrived just after 8:00 this morning and stayed all day.
While taking photos of this fine chap, I spotted a treecreeper in our birch and managed to get some more photos of him too.
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Egyptian Goose, Christophstal April 2020
Treecreeper, Christophstal April 2020
Treecreeper, Christophstal April 2020
Stretching Egyptian Goose (click to see animation), Christophstal April 2020
Blue tit with nesting material, Christophstal April 2020
It won't fit through the hole!!, Christophstal April 2020
Twenty-plume moth, Christophstal April 2020
Twenty-plume moth, Christophstal April 2020
Hawfinch, Christophstal April 2020
Hawfinch, Christophstal April 2020
Hawfinch, Christophstal April 2020
I got up early again as we were hoping to see a wryneck. No luck with that.
The blue tit was trying to get some more nesting material into his nest box, but he couldn't fit it through the hole. He eventually gave up and dropped it.
I checked the cellar trap as we tend to get frogs and toads getting trapped in there around now. There were no amphibians, but I disturbed this fine twenty-plume moth, Alucita hexadactyla. This is quite an unassuming moth (its wingspan is only ~15mm) until you see it up close. I've included two photos which show its plumes with spread and closed wings. You may notice that there aren't actually twenty plumes - it's a stupid name. As the Latin name suggests there are 6 plumes on each wing.
It reached 20oC on the patio this morning and the insects are beginning to wake up. I found a new shield bug for the garden, a pied shield bug, Tritomegas bicolor.
As I reported yesterday, the dandelions are important nectar sources at this time of year as this brimstone butterfly illustrates.
Later in the afternoon, we spotted a treecreeper on the birch and a female hawfinch was singing in the bird cherry (not sure if you can call those weak chirps a song).
Finally, the cold weather has broken. Next week is predicted to be warm and today was the start.
I got up with the sunrise to see if there were any interesting birds about. Apart from this crested tit, there wasn't much going on.
I spent a bit of time watching the other birds once the sun came up properly and warmed things up a bit.
The blue tit who had nabbed our first nest box, now has a mate and they were both moving in today. Our second nest box has finally got some attention - this time from a great tit. This second nestbox is meant to be designed for nuthatches, but so far they haven't shown any interest.
I took some photos of a greenfinch in his breeding colours and a brambling, as the bramblings will soon be gone until next winter.
There were a couple of mistle thrushes hopping about today too and lots of black redstarts.
The first dandelion has opened in the garden. I spend a stupid amount of time each spring trying to keep them under control but this early they are an important nectar source so this one can stay for now.
Finally, please look away if you're sensitive, as promised a couple of weeks ago, I've captured a male red squirrel displaying his wedding tackle - to show how easy it is to sex them when they're hanging upside down.
Crested tit, Christophstal April 2020
Blue tit with nesting material, Christophstal April 2020
Great tit on nest box #2, Christophstal April 2020
Greenfinch, Christophstal April 2020
Brambling, Christophstal April 2020
Dandelion, Christophstal April 2020
Mistle thrush, Christophstal April 2020
Black redstart, Christophstal April 2020
Male squirrel, Christophstal April 2020