Foraging for live food

Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus.


I noticed that I have seen a lot of empty snail shells recently. This is due to the severe weather we've had this winter. how? We saw a lot of Trushes, Blackbirds, and Song Thrushes. All loving seeing these slimy creatures as a highly priced delicacy. So it would be lovely to keep those Trushes, right? Not so easy though. There are many more gardens with lawns about me, and usually birds like these would feed on worms in lawns. Cocking their head when listening for any movement below the grass.

Also, I spotted that at least one of my Blue Tits has started foraging for live food in the undergrowth, and on the ground of the garden. It could mean that it is one of a breeding pair, or it just wanted somethiong different than what I provide it with.

As usual it is also searching for the food scattered among the Fennel's stalks. And hiding from me in the meantime. Or would it be camera shy?


Great Tit, Parus major


One of my little Coal Tits, Parus ater


One of the snail-eating Trushes: the female Blackbird, Turdus merula


Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba

I believe this is a male with the full neck & chin bib.

One of the two Collared Doves, Streptopelia decaocto,

What my Rooks are up to.

The cold winter might have slowed down the Rooks a bit; at the Rookery next to the Church of Ireland and its rectory, there was a lot of activity at rebuilding or just repairing of the nest, while some females sat on eggs already. Usually, Rooks start to breed in February, however it seems that the harsh winter has slowed them down a little. For the next nine months, the parents will take care of their brood.





I will not see much of the Rooks over summer. Instead they will forage on the mudflats of the estuary, which is situated right next to the Church and the Rookery. Here they can find Crusatations, ana a large variety of Invertebrates.
To feed themselves, the parents will drop by here to get a quick bite. And the quick bite, consist of filling the beak and crop as much as possible. It looks more like a gobbling machine though!

Could featherloss be stress related?

Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus.
To make it clear to me that the suet 'shells are empty, one of my Blue Tits started scraping all the last bitds out.
Or would she be thinking of sailing? I am just hoping that the "worn" feathers above her right eye are not a sign of feather loss.

We have seen several birds go through a stage where they would start loosing feathers around the eye and then receding to the forehead. In the Jackdaws it was part of a disease which is restricted to that specie.
In 2008 however, I had a Robin which was starting to go bald. Again, it was early spring. At a certain moment, once the head had lost most of the feathers, it just disappeared.
It could very well be that it got the feathers back after an early moult. Not wanting to wait to autumn when most birds take time of after a stressful breeding time, and then just appeared as 'normal' Robin again.
And I can best well understand a bird as small as a Blue Tit, being stressed out after the harsh winter they've just had.
On the other hand, it could be more serious than stress. I will keep an eye on my Blue Tit. Problem is, I keep taking photos of the Blue Tits in my garden, but I can't seem to find it in my photos.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the Robin. It appeared on 8 March 2008:




Back to the garden in March 2010:

A cosy meeting between male and female, pity it is not the same specie.

male Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
female House Sparrow. Passer domesticus



The Great, Parus major, and Blue Tit, P. caeruleus, also take time out to feed instead of fight.


And yes, my Collared Doves,Streptopelia decaocto, are reunited again! And as you can see, one of them is even giving us a "wink", telling us that it is OK again between them. I'm really happy about this because these are the only Doves around here. As far as I know.




Rook, Corvus frugilegus


And last but not least as it has an enormous voice!
Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba.

My garden visitors today.

Robin, Erithacus rubecula


Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus
My Blue Tit was searching for minerals again on the wall.
My Chafflady didn't really want to pose and hit from the camera.


Coal Tit, Parus ater.



My two Collared Doves, Streptopelia decaocto, have become one. The one Dove has come on his/her own lately, cooing loudly from the fence, I fear the worst. And this pair being the first and only Doves of any kind which I saw around the village in 27 years, it doesn't bear well for a new mate. The only other specie I have seen in Bantry was a Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus, in the garden of Rehabcare.
Blending into the background

Female Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs

Female Blackbird, Turdus merula

My Song Thrush, Turdus pholomelos. Had 2 of these yesterday and today. A sign of cold weather!

It wasn't easy to get hold of one of my Great Tits, Parus major, but eventually it worked.


Dunnock, Prunella modularis

This Blackbird male, Turdus merula, is caled a 1st winter bird. Born last summer, he still bears the brown edges on his wings.

As is the case with this Jackdaw, Corvus monedula. again, note the brown feathers in its wings.

Rook, Corvus frugeliga


Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba