Monday 16 July 2012

More of my garden wildlife................................................................................

Sparrows and Blackbords weren't the only visitors to my garden yesterday... here's a few of the other birds that enjoy my hospitality.

Magpie... probably my best image of one...
...shame about my neighbours washing line in the background.

Song Thrush

Juvenile Robin...

...so cute...

...and one of it's proud parents.

Coal Tit... this little bird is in and out in a flash.

I got home this evening to find a feeder similar to the one above broken... the two plastic perches ripped out and what was left of the (expensive) sunflower hearts all over the ground.

He may look cute but he is a vandal... and as far as I can make out he works alone.
I don't want to harm him though.

Any ideas for trapping a squirrel and how far Iwould have to drive before releasing him to make sure he doesn't find his way back?
On second thoughts forget it... another would just move in.
Better the devil you know.

A link here to Stewart M's new meme: Wild Bird Wednesday

27 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

laughing at your squirrel! i have no less than usually 7 at my bird feeder tree EVERY DAY so i feel your pain.

love that handsome magpie!

Caroline said...

The elegance of magpies and the vandalism of squirrels, a universal note to be sure.

Huge fan of European robins here.

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Hi!!!.. Great post.. Variety and beautiful pictures.. Congrat.. Regards

Brian King said...

You will drive yourself mad trying to foil those tree rats! LOL! Love the magpie! The plumage is outstanding! Great shots, Andrew!

Dave said...

Nice sharp images Andrew, always nice to get a Song Thrush still visiting in the summer months

FOREST SNAPPER said...

ENJOY ANY WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN, great photos.

Fábio Martins said...

You've so many different animals in you garden. Amazing life :)
Very nice shots... i like your history about "the vandal" :)

Bob Bushell said...

The Magpie is so good looking, I love 'em. And, well, it's a Squirrel, he/she eats to live.

Findlay Wilde said...

The young Robin is my favourite

Shaun said...

squirrels are the devils animal. you could barb wire a bird feeder and have laser death rays pointed at it................And they would still seal the bird food.
Shaun

barbara l. hale said...

You can't trust those little bugger squirrels. They will destroy whatever they reach and eat you out of house and home. Good thing for them that they are so darn cute. Wonderful bird pics! Love the magpie and the juvenile robin.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Piggy little squirrels, but agree prbly not much you can do.

Beautiful birds -- that coal tit reminds me of our chickadees, they used to flit in and out of the feeder so quickly for one seed at a time, I often wondered how they got enough calories to survive the travel .

Carole M. said...

lovely magpie photograph and quite different to ours. Ugh the squirrel is quite the vandal isn't it; what a shame. It really surprises me to see how seemingly tiny in stature they are; I just imagined them to be bigger, kind of rabbit-like I guess.

Rohrerbot said...

Your magpie is beautiful. Ah...the line doesn't make a difference. You have a nice shot of the bird and that's what matters:) Love all your birds. What a wonderful selection to choose from for your camera:)

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Wonderful bird photos all. I would not have noticed the neighbors wash line had you not mentioned it.

Anonymous said...

These are amazing...so enjoyed all of them!

Susan said...

I've never seen a magpie. He is a beautiful fellow! All the pictures are awesome!!!!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Oh my gosh Andrew, I've just been checking out all your latest posts, you are definitely a master 'birder'. I still haven't found out if we have a hide at Hyde (seriously) Park yet but everytime I check out your images it makes me want to do so immediately!! How wonderful to see young Findlay already so interested in birds and nature, so encouraging to see.

Unknown said...

Fantastic close-ups, Andrew!

Connie Smiley said...

Great shots, Andrew! I especially love that magpie. We don't get to see them around here.

trump said...

Images so close some would consider them x-rays, well done. Richard

Larry said...

Super shots of all the birds Andrew! I put baffles on all my feeders and it helped with the squirrel problem. They seem to find it easier to just clean up the feed that falls to the ground.

eileeninmd said...

Great shots, the robin is one of my favorites. I have a problem with the squirrels, they eat more bird seed than my birds.

Stewart M said...

Hi there - very nice set of garden birds - I may do a similar post soon just to look at the differences.

Squirrels are good value to watch - but just like the possums here, they do tend to push the friendship a bit.

Thanks for helping to get the ball rolling on Wild Bird Wednesday.

Stewart M.

Gillena Cox said...

enjoyed your sharing

much love...

Arija said...

I'm so envious of your song thrushes Andrew. It is more than 40 years since we had them nesting in our apple tree in Melbourne. Nice shot of your magpie and darling little robin.
Hugs . . . Arija

Pat said...

Lovely captures of the birds in your garden. That is an exceptionally fine shot of the Magpie.