birds not in the garden

[Scally]

Here are a couple more pictures from that trip: a domestic duck of some kind, probably a Muscovy duck: and the familiar egrets. I dont know if these are the smaller cattle egrets or the larger kind, they didn't let me get close enough:

[Sajehar]

Cheers, Scally. Cute mallard duck; it looks like it's doing 'The Lambeth Walk.'

[Scally]

I think that duck lives so close to the famous Fort Augustus Canalside Fish & Chip shop that it has become habituated to the smell of vinegar, to be honest.

[Sajehar]

Shame David C's pheasants didn't. But I'm sure he'll sort that out.

David C, get you're thinking cap on. We want to see these pheasants. You can do it! We know you can.

[Scally]

The head gardener of the country park across the road from me tells me that there is a green woodpecker in the woods. Now that's a real challenge to photograph, getting close will be difficult, but at least you can hear the little pecker a mile off.

[Scally]

Heard the green 'pecker in the woods today: it's out there all right. No idea how to get closer to it. Only a few hundred yards from my garden, who knows, maybe it will pay a call?

In the meantime, here's a crop of that rather handsome wheatear taken on Cader Idris.

[bowlingbun]

Green woodpeckers have lived in the oak trees at the bottom of the garden for at least 40 years. They don't often come into the garden, but at a certain time of the year they like pecking at the lawn - I think it's an ants nest. We can see where there's a pecked bit of lawn after he's gone, and we often hear him. He can't always see us watching him, because we have a conservatory which has some of this special heat reflective glass, which acts as a mirror in certain light. (They never mentioned that in the advertising leaflet!) Next time he's around, I'll try and catch him on camera. We also have a family of blue tits live in the garden, they are so used to my DIL that she can walk only a few feet away from her and they don't fly away.

[Scally]

Maybe after leatherjackets? Our magpies love them: they have some sort of radar and can detect them underground when they are nearly ready to become Daddy Long Legs.

[crocus]

Quite possibly scally, I know starlings do that.

When I went away for a week-end recently the place where I was staying had a pair of green woodpeckers pecking on the lawn in the mornings just outside my rooms window. If only I had a camera I could have taken the most amazing photos as they were there for quite a while, completely unconcerned

[Scally]

Does anyone understand the motivation of egg hunters? They are very odd. http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/361826-uk-i ... collectors