Summer Birds

Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica


These Swallows not only arrived recently, but I heard a (unknown) number of chicks scream "ME, ME" and "ME, ME!" upon the arrival of the parent to their nest nearby. around the corner from us.
Tese Swallows fly over and through (sometimes very low, later in summer, our garden to the fields behind our garden and at the school next to us.





The Starling too, have been very much evident lately. And although they converge in the Hawthorn behind us, they hardly enter the garden to feed. Are they perhaps 'afraid' of competition with the Rooks, Jackdaws and Hooded Crows, and prefer a more quieter garden with birds of their own size? It is the only reason I can come up with.

Starling, Stumus vulgaris



Sorry if I not post that much here. Summer is spend more on Wildlife on Wheels, where the Wild Flower and Moth/Insect season has started recently.

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.