Wee birds, Whiffwhaff and Wren

Downpour after downpour did not make for fine birdwatching behind the window in the kitchen, and definitely a bad day for bird photography. Still, I am the lucky one, I guess; my poor birds are fighting a lot more than a wet and speckled window, if they want to feed any more calories than those, spent on keeping warm and flying straight from A to B in these strong Winds. Even Junior is having trouble in staying warm, these days. At first I thought he had a painful foot, but then after observing how he retracts his foot immediately after putting it on the wall. For a second, his foot touches the cold brick of the wall, and you can see him think behind those enormous and piercing eyes of him, Will I put weight on this, or am I too heavy? The leg disappears soon after, back into the warmth of the moulting plumage. I think the poor bird needs little socks or shoes, to keep him going through winter, later.

My Coal Tits, as ever are being chased by the Blue Tits, as usual. It is a habit of the Blues which they’ve kept up ever since they first started feeding in my garden. It is a waste of spilt energy on evading manouvres by our Coal Tits, and often before they’ve even had a chance to get any food inside them. It is not as if there won’t be enough food for the two species.
After breeding and moulting my male Chaffinches are also starting to return without having to fight each other for females or housing permission. I have no idea if any of the other Finches in the neighbourhood, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Siskins, which used to arrive here in October en masse, until the past 2 years. Last year we were in the predicament where we had to wave off any new visitor but the Tits.. After my Sparrows had introduced Trichomoniasis into my garden.

And how many Sparrows will we have left over after adults sent the young ones packing? My mind is drawing a complete blank whenever I’m even starting to think about this. We still have to take into consideration the new predator in the garden, a new cat.

This morning I needed to wash my window again, and only the Coal Tits and Great Tit weren’t fooled by my waving motion of my arm. They just kept coming to the planter, looking for food; as usual, the Coal Tit held the left side of the planter and Fennel with the Greats sticking to the right.
I promised myself a few minutes at the window with a cuppa as soon as I was done and asked the Coal Tit to return for a few photos. It was not the Coal Tits which caught my attion when I was almost done. With my camera already at hand, I was praying for a few notes of this tiny bird’s call or song, so I’d be able to ID it properly. The tiny Warbler sat feeding in the top of my Fennel, stretching out its neck as far it could master to bring the tip of its beak as close to the tiny Insects as possible. Perhaps it is that Autumn Omen which brought my first, and most likely my last,, Wiffwaff of this summer, into my garden. Was it trying to fatten up before that long trek south? Where had it been breeding? Or was it a youngster perhaps, grown up in record speed, and practicing flight as soon as it left the nest earlier this summer, However, not a sound popped into the atmosphere between us, neither a Chiff…. Chaff, nor the pretty song of the Willow Warbler. Due to its position on the Fennel, where it sat vertically at the top, just underneath the yellow flowerhead. I was stunned by the colouring; it was much more green and yellow than I remembered them being. And although the Coal Tits had been visiting during this interval, as they had promised, it was my Wren, which has been visiting almost daily lately. It loves all the wood in this garden, the shelving, its supports, with the little bars, which seem to house a lot of Insects if my Wren’s feeding is anything to go by. Most of the time it disappears into the (over)growth on and around the shelf. After following it with my camera, al along the shelf, it landed onto the edge of the planter in the end. First onto the right side, before creeping along the back of the Fennel stalks, before sticking the head into the peanut cake tub.
The Wren left after feeding around the planter too, picking up bits here and there. It left via the shelf again, but kept coming back a few times. Francis was surprised to hear me say, that my arm was getting tired in keeping the camera aloft, while the shutter kept clicking. The Wren pictures turned out better than I’d expected; the Wiffwaff’s however, are a little disappointing. Also due to its vertical position, I think. The Wren is a youngster, I think; it has a little yellow gape left around the corners and the supercilium is not very distinct either. While washing the window, another dead Moth twirled down to the sill. A Small Carpet of some sort, I think. I forget to post my photos onto the Yahoo Moth Group site. I will try to do so this week. My Robins are moulting and do need a few easy days without having to burn extra energy by needing to keep warm and dry. They too have a lot of competition for the peanut cake and one solved this issue by calling at around 17.00, waiting for the Sparrow families to leave the garden first. I might be disappointed with my Whiffwhaff's photos, I think that at least it did the job of helping me with ID; the eyering alone makes me think that it was a Chiffchaff, although the yellowish colouring does not help me in this.

I hope the wing shows its real colour,Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler?
My Wren, a juvenile, I think,Blue Tit,Coal Tits, one perhaps a youngstersJunior,A Great Tit grabs a bite,Robin, moulting