Friday 17 January 2014

Barely a bird but

The Safari has been at home all day recuperating from yesterday's operation. So far so good, it seems to have been a (painful) success.
Anyway nothing much was happening in the garden, well nothing at all really when we got a call from Wifey to say she was bringing in some quality pies for lunch. Don't know about you but we seem to have got into the annoying habit of wandering around aimlessly when on the phone, sure it was better in the old days when the phone was on a table in the hall and had a cord so you couldn't go anywhere; for no reason whatsoever we wandered into the kitchen and stared out of the window, with the phone jammed in the crick of our neck we filled the kettle one handed then nearly dropped the phone! What was that greyish bird that flitted away from the Blue Tit that had mysteriously been beamed in? Looked too grey for a Great Tit...and then it showed itself towards the top of the Bird Cherry tree - holy wow a male Blackcap! (83; Garden #17)
Checking the records this is the first 'proper' winter Blackcap we've had in the garden we usually get a spring or an autumn migrant moving through. Sadly it didn't stay long enough for a photo opportunity and the garden went back to its usual birdless desert self.
You can tell how birdless we are at the moment by the slice of bread that a gull has dropped and got stuck in the Crab Apple tree, it's within very easy reach of any passing Woodpigeons, Collared Doves, Robins, Starlings or House Sparrows, if there were any of the latter two...it's been there a week!
In the afternoon a small flock of Long Tailed Tits bobbed by with a couple of the local Blue Tits, not quite as rare as the Blackcap but a scarce visitor none-the-less.

Not the best pic through the dirty window down the end of the gloomy garden. and so it became birdless again.
Where to next? No idea, more surprises from the birdless desert? Should be our Winter Thrushes survey this weekend but we're not fit enough just yet.
In the meantime let us know who put in an early appearance in your outback.


3 comments:

Findlay Wilde said...

I have never had a Black Cap in the garden. What a great bird even if it didn't stay for long. I hope you are feeling better soon. From Findlay

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

Already on the mend thanks Finn. Slowly slowly though

Cheers

D

Warren Baker said...

Nice one Davyman, Blackcap in the garden, a good one to get :-)