Sparrowhawk versus woodpecker versus magpie

I've seen a few sparrowhawk predations in my garden, especially during the winter months. They've usually been things like blue tits, but today's events took me by surprise and made me wish I could spend more time at home.
My evening phone conversation with hubby was suddenly interrupted when he saw a sparrowhawk drag a greater spotted woodpecker from our peanut feeder.
Describing it in real time as he watched events unfold, my other half described how the bird of prey was hanging on to the woodpecker, which was clinging in vain to the feeder.
The birds fell to the ground with the sparrowhawk creating a cloak with its wings over the would-be prey, but the woodpecker quickly escaped to the shelter of our last year's Christmas tree, which is planted next to the feeder.
The woodpecker was now out of sight but was squeaking and the sparrowhawk made two attempts to approach it but eventually gave up and moved to the shed roof, presumably to wait it out, away from the woodpecker's sharp beak.
But the commotion also attracted the attention of a curious magpie, which began tentatively approaching the injured bird.
Faced with further opposition, the sparrowhawk flew off, followed shortly by the disinterested magpie.
At this point my hubby hung up, expecting that he'd have to put the woodpecker out of its misery, but instead he got the fright of his life.
He called me back a few minutes later to say he'd pulled back the Christmas tree and the startled bird flew straight past him, first into the chicken wire veg patch fence and then up into the tree.
Here's hoping it recovers.

Sparrowhawk pays us a visit

I just looked out of my window to see what birds were on the feeder - expecting to see a woodpecker or a couple of great tits.
Instead, the feeder was looking rather deserted and, rather than the usual array of garden birds, I saw a sparrowhawk perched on the edge of my compost heap, surveying the area - no doubt looking for some lunch.
It's not the first time we have seen birds of prey in the garden - sparrowhawks and kestrels are regular visitors here in the winter - but this is the first time we have seen one at this time of year.
It was a browny colour, so presumably a female, and had white feathers on its wings and back.
It sat there for ages, looking about. I managed to get a couple of shots but decided to watch it through my binoculars.
What a treat...

A tale of two feeders: the outcome

A while ago I wrote about my bird feeders.
I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort on this topic, partly to encourage the goldfinches into my garden and to discourage the pesky squirrels from destroying my peanut feeder.
Well, the good news is that I seem to have had some success. Not only have the goldfinches at last discovered the £1.99 nyjer seed feeder attached to the shed, I also have a steady stream of greenfinches visiting the garden.
Sadly, the squirrel completely wrecked the peanut feeder but I have already installed another, which seems to be working well so far. I was worried the woodpeckers would be discouraged too but I have just seen one feeding quite happily - despit having to perform some extra acrobatics to reach the peanuts.
I have also purchased the Gardman "guaranteed squirrel proof" peanut feeder but have yet to find a suitable place to install it - it only works if the squirrels are forced to approach from above. I hope to borrow a ladder and fit it to the eaves of the house some time this week to see if it will work.
In the meantime, the lovely wooden peanut feeder given to me at Christmas hangs forlorn on the shed as a testament to the squirrel which systematically ripped all the wire mesh to pieces, removed the stopper on the back, snapped the wire which held it to the shed and chewed all the wood.

A tale of two feeders

I bought a nyjer seed feeder for my birds this week.
My motivation? To encourage some of the goldfinches from the neighbouring woodland into my garden to join the party.
At £1.25 from Wilkos, I thought it was worth a try. One of my Twitter friends said theirs worked a treat and the goldfinches are regular visitors to their garden nowadays.
Having filled it full of the tiny black seeds, I nailed it to the shed.
It's safe to say it did initially generate a lot of interest from the great tits and blue tits - even the nuthatch came and had a look - but, with the exception of one or two blue tits, none of them managed to master the art of standing on the little green perches and feeding from the hole in the tube.
Meanwhile, the peanut feeder at the opposite end of the shed continues to be oversubscribed with a steady queue of woodpeckers, nuthatches, coal tits, great tits, blue tits and even a robin managing to cling on and feed.
Underneath, the chaffinches, dunnocks, blackbirds and occasional magpie, jackdaw and pheasant feed off the crumbs dropped on the ground.
Cut back to the other end of the shed...
Nothing.
I'll go back to the drawing board and see if I can find another feeder that would give the tweetlets easier access.
They look interested, but not interested enough to persevere.

RIP Bob Robin

I have some sad news.
Bob, the cottage robin, is believed dead.
I arrived home from work on Friday and did my customary circuit of the garden and discovered a little bird snuggled down in a hollow in the lawn. He must have been there a while because he was dead and had a drooped wing and a ruffled chest as though he had been attacked. He was less than a metre from the bird feeder and the hedge where most of our garden birds congregate.
While I can't be sure that it was Bob, there have been two robins in our garden since the heavy snowfall in December. I had been surprised that they had managed to co-exist for so long.
I had been quite worried about one of them which had been hiding in a hollow under the snow during the bad weather. I had given him water and mealworms to help him through and he seemed to be doing okay.
There hasn't been a morning in a long time when I haven't seen our robin on the corner of the shed roof but yesterday morning there was no sign of him.
I left the dead bird in situ overnight, expecting a fox or larger bird to take him, but when he was still there on Saturday morning, I decided to bury him behind the shed where he spent so much of his time.
Whether its Bob or his rival, RIP little bird.

Birds: a minute in my garden

Birds in my garden - 10 January 2011 from Roz Tappenden on Vimeo.

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Garden birds: making new friends

I love little birds - the smaller and noisier, the better.
It's incredible how a little wren, as tiny as it is, can make such a loud sound.
One of the most exciting things about my garden is the birds. The southern perimeter is surrounded with Rhododendron hedge where the birds love to hide.
Already I have seen a young green woodpecker and a kestrel on my lawn - although not at the same time. I suspect the kestrel is on the look out for one of the mice which live at the end of the garden.
Other species I have seen include wrens, great tits, blue tits, chaffinches, song thrushes, blackbirds, sparrows, goldfinches and my very own robin, whose favourite spot is on the gable end of my shed.
In nearby woodland I have also seen jays, long-tailed tits and buzzards.
As my vegetables began to emerge, the great tits in particular could be seen hopping up and down the rows of rocket and mixed leaf salad, picking off the bugs and flies.
To make the garden more bird friendly, I bought a terracotta dish and filled it to make a bird bath and put out a few crumbs but I quickly abandoned putting any food out because it seemed to attract magpies. Instead I have bought a half coconut shell packed with seeds which I will hang from the eaves of the house (just as soon as I can borrow a ladder).