Tags
Barnacle geese, birdsong, Blue Tit, Fieldfares, Firecrest, Garden birds, goslings, greylags, mallards, moorhens, nesting, Redwings, song thrush, Springtime, starlings, Suffolk, Swallows, Tufted Ducks
We have had some warm periods of weather at last, after a long, cold spring. Spring flowers have rushed to bloom and set seed before summer arrives and the trees have clothed themselves in delicate green leaves.
Any warm days we had in early spring were quickly followed by much cooler and wetter weather and the returning birds were confused, I am sure. I saw a couple of vanguard male Swallows (Hirundo rustica) at the beginning of April but the ensuing wet and windy weather must have sent them back south because I didn’t see them again until mid May!
We are pleased to say that the Greylags (Anser anser) did arrive in our garden, a little later than usual and spent a couple of hours a day inspecting the place…..
…..until they were ready to set up home here for the duration. A nest was built on the island and the female began to sit on her eggs at the end of March.
….but often went off elsewhere to eat and meet his friends, though was within calling range.
Eventually, right at the end of April the goslings hatched. There are four of them but I have had great difficulty photographing them.
As the goslings have grown the parents have become a little more relaxed but still beat a hasty retreat if anyone gets too close.
These photos were taken at dusk and with my zoom at full stretch! The goslings are on the move all the time and it is very difficult to get them in focus.
While the goose was still sitting on her nest we had some surprise and unexpected visitors in the garden.
Richard saw them visit a few days later when the Greylag goose decided she didn’t want them there any longer. She called her mate who arrived very quickly and saw them off. These photos were taken from Elinor’s bedroom window again.
The pond has also had many visits from Tufted Ducks (Aythya fuligula). There have often been two pairs of them swimming together.
Once the winter birds had left, Spring decided it ought to do some catching up. Flowers appeared, summer birds arrived despite the cool temperatures and I took this rather shaky video of our pond, mainly to record the birdsong (and the lambs!)
I managed to photograph a Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) in our Rowan tree.
The next photo is a bit sad. Sad in one sense that it shows a dead bird and sad in another that I am strange enough to want to photograph a dead bird! I apologise to anyone who is upset at seeing these photos which were taken to record the presence of the bird in the area. I buried the bird as soon as I had finished looking at it.
I found this poor bird in the flowerbed under one of our windows and I assume it had flown into the glass and killed itself.
Here is a link with information about Firecrests
We get Goldcrests in our garden but this is the first time I have seen a Firecrest here and am sorry that it had died. It proves though, that there are probably other Firecrests about so I must be more observant.
I also made another poor video of this lovely bird singing. I had to balance on one leg while peering round the corner of our house to make the video which is my excuse for the poor quality. The video is dedicated to Richard Sutton of A Listening Heart blog who lamented in a recent post that he hadn’t heard a Song Thrush for a while. Please do visit Richard’s blog. He writes beautifully about the countryside where he lives and about poets and writers too.
Val said:
Lovely. I’ll have to return to watch the video as it’s late right now.
A moorhen visits our garden a couple of times a year and has a pheasant friend: they hang out together. And currently we are getting visits from a pair of red-legged partridges and a very friendly female pheasant who runs over to us to be fed.
Nice to have the geese with their goslings. Oh and I’m hoping we get some swallows again this year… Thanks for a lovely post!
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Clare Pooley said:
My pleasure, and thank you, Val. What a lovely collection of birds in your garden and so friendly too!
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Elizabeth Melton Parsons said:
Shame about the Firecrest. Beautiful little bird. Love all the duck photos. ❤
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Elizabeth. We are always pleased to see ducks in our garden. ❤
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H.J. for avian101 said:
This is great Clare! I love it!…Should I worry about competition? Thank you for your your inspiration on birds. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, HJ! Competition? No, you shouldn’t worry; you are the top bird wrangler! 🙂
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Lisa G. said:
Oh, I loved your videos, Clare! I feel like I’ve actually been to visit you from the first one! Your Song Thrush sounds just like our mockingbird, although the looks are very different. Our robin is a thrush actually, and the silhouette of your bird looks like him.
At first I thought your Barnacle Goose was a puffin when I saw the black and white face. I have never seen a real swallow. Yet! Were the Greylags so near your house? They’re quite at home on your property. I was sorry to see the little dead bird; a week ago some local cats found a baby robin – we couldn’t locate the nest, so my brother took it to the animal hospital but it died anyway.
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Clare Pooley said:
I am sorry that the baby robin died, Lisa. Thank you very much for your kind comments. Yes, the Greylags take over our garden while the goslings are young. We have to be careful where we go and walk slowly and carefully in case the babies panic. The adults are moulting now and won’t be able to fly until their feather grow back. The mess they make is atrocious! One year we had two adults and seven goslings! They do eat plenty of grass and don’t damage any of our trees and garden plants, unlike other animal and bird visitors!
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Liz said:
Ah, what a treasure of gorgeousness! So lovely to see all the different birds. Your pond is a huge asset for them. How lovely it must be to have all of that life and action going on in your garden. The videos are great too. Such a shame about the firecrest – but wouldn’t it be fabulous if there are more of them about. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Liz. We are certainly lucky to have the pond as it is a magnet for all sorts of creatures. I will have to look carefully for the firecrests once the autumn arrives.
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Ali said:
I loved this post, Clare, and that is even before I have listened to the video (am sitting up in bed in a hotel bedroom and the whole family are still asleep so I’m trying to be quiet!)
I would have been fascinated by the fire crest too – you can really appreciate nature’s miracles when you look closely at a dead animal, even though it is also very sad. Amazing little bird.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Ali. I am very pleased that we may have Firecrests here (as long as the dead one wasn’t the first and last!) Enjoy your half-term break with the family xx
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Lavinia Ross said:
Lovely spring photos, Clare! The goslings are very precious.
We have similar problems here with birds hitting windows and either knocking themselves out or killing themselves. The Firecrest is a beautiful little bird. I am sorry it had passed on, but I am glad you at least showed readers what one looks like.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you so much, Lavinia. We have put silhouettes and other anti-collision stickers on some of our windows to prevent bird-strike but not on the window that probably killed the firecrest! I am sorry you also have this problem.
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Lavinia Ross said:
I hope your summer is beautiful and filled with all good things, Clare! It is hard to believe solstice has passed already and we are headed for autumn.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Lavinia. This year is going so quickly, isn’t it? I have been extra busy with not much time for blogging and am missing it very much. We have had building work done to the house and now we are trying to catch-up with everything else. We have had no proper rain for nearly two months (1% of July’s usual rain so far!) and the garden is bone-dry. We are fine and have recently had a week away staying in a cottage on the Isle of Wight off the south coast or England. I hope you and Rick are well and enjoying your summer too.
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germac4 said:
What an interesting post…. I enjoyed seeing all your birds and hearing some of them sing…always a joy to hear birds. The Greylags have lovely markings, (I am not familiar with them) and the goslings are a delight. Nice to see how healthy they look too. Enjoy summer and I hope you get plenty of warmth and sunshine.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Gerrie. The goslings look very healthy and the parents take great care of them. Greylags are the ancestors of the white farmyard goose but fortunately aren’t quite as aggressive!
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margaret21 said:
Thanks for introducing Richard’s blog. He writes so well, and I so enjoyed your post too. Yes, birds are very late in getting going this spring, but now they have started it’s all activity, isn’t it? Lovely photos as usual.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Margaret. I’m glad you like Richard’s blog too.
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susanpoozan said:
You did well to photograph those goslings, glad the geese returned. Loved the two videos especially the last one.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Susan. We were so pleased to see the geese again though they do make such a mess and prevent us from using part of our garden!
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Lovely photos, Clare. Each year, I’ve always enjoyed watching the Canadian Geese march up the golf course fairway with their babies behind our house. This year, I never saw one of my fuzzy friends, so thanks for sharing yours. xo
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Clare Pooley said:
How sad not to have had your Canada geese babies this year! I was so sad last year when we had no goslings to admire. Thank you for your kind comments as ever, Jill. xo
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KerryCan said:
Oh, those goslings! How fun to have them right there and to be able to watch them grow. I should pay more attention to our birds–we have different ones and similar ones, and I don’t know the names of most!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you Kerry! It is lovely to be able to watch the goslings grow and to see the great care both parents take of their offspring. You must have any number of birds on Lake Champlain!
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Richard Sutton said:
Such a lovely and well illustrated post Clare. Who needs to go to Minsmere when so much comes to your fine pond ‘sanctuary’ ! It’s good to see the Greylags back again with a successful brood this time. Have you seen swallows numbers 3-10 yet? Thank you so much for the video dedication and for the recommendation. Your Thrush recording is excellent and a delight to hear. Still no thrushes here yet. Do keep us posted about your birds.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Richard. I have heard a few swallows flying overhead but not many. There seem to be more House Martins than Swallows; neither have ever nested under our eaves. My mother didn’t have any thrushes in her garden for some years though there were plenty of blackbirds, which was probably the reason for the lack of thrushes! She now has thrushes again so I hope yours return.
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Richard Sutton said:
Thank you Clare. I’ll let you know when the thrushes come. Meantime I am enjoying your recording. Several migrant birds seem to be late arriving this year. I would expect the Swallows and Martins to enjoy feeding over your pond.
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Jane Sturgeon said:
Ohhh, what lovely pictures Clare and recordings…and the babies ❤ Thank you also, for the link to Richard's site. Feel the ❤ and hugs xxxxx ❤
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Jane xx I am pleased you liked the pictures and Richard’s site. Love and hugs for you, my dear friend. xx ❤ ❤ xx
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Laurie Graves said:
Wonderful post! Those babies! And what a treat to have that pond right in your yard. So much life. So many birds. And, yes, sad when they die, but sadness, along with joy, is part of life. Hope we can see more pictures of your pond’s visitors. Especially those babies. Finally, loved hearing the thrush.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Laurie. I look forward to seeing the goslings each year. We used to get a few ducklings as well but not in recent years, sadly.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
It must be great having a pond. I’m sure it must attract animals as well as birds.
It looks like all that hard work Richard put in on the pond worked if the geese returned and nested. If I remember correctly I think that’s what you were hoping for. Now if that island would just fill itself with wildflowers!
Too bad about the bird hitting the window but it happens here and throughout the world, if I’m to judge from blogs I read.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Allen. Yes, Richard’s hard work paid off and the brood was successful. I am hoping for a few wildflowers on the island; before it got overgrown with bramble there were some flowers each summer. The waterlilies are now flowering!
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
It’s hard to beat waterlilies right in your own yard!
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Clare Pooley said:
Very true!
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quietsolopursuits said:
I love the variety of birds that you’re able to see in your own backyard, and also very jealous as well. Listening to the songs of the birds in the videos was a treat to go with the images of the birds reinforced that, it must be wonderful to step outside and see and hear so many birds all around you.
It was saddening to see the poor firecrest, but I had never seen one before, so I understand why you showed the photo of it, it’s a very attractive bird. I hope that you’re able to see more of them in the future.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Jerry. We are so fortunate to have the pond in our garden and to live away from the town. We sometimes get cross when one of our ‘visitors’ eats our plants and trees but we get over it! The animals need to eat! The firecrest is such an attractive bird and related to your kinglets. I hope we see more of them in the future.
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Luanne said:
Beautiful photos. I am so excited to see the birds outside now, too! My favorite is the hummingbird who has her nest outside my front door with her 2 babies feeding :).
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Luanne. I would love to see a humming bird one day. How lucky to have a nest to watch! 🙂
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Luanne said:
They are the cutest little things!
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Clare Pooley said:
❤
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tootlepedal said:
I am very envious of your pond as ours is only six feet long. I enjoyed your videos for the cheerful sounds.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Tom. We are very lucky to have such a large pond. Sometimes, we wish we had a smaller one.
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Karen's Nature Art said:
How fun to watch the goose family grow! Your pond is beautiful and it must be wonderful to see all the different wildlife it attracts.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Karen. The pond is a constant source of delight – but also a lot of hard work to keep it healthy!
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Karen's Nature Art said:
Yes, I can imagine. We have a very small pond and it is a lot of work, but I love watching all the creatures use it.
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Resa said:
Such a lovely place! I adore the birds, geese & goslings, and I super enjoyed the video of the Thrush singing. Thank you, Claire!
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Clare Pooley said:
My pleasure and thank you for your kind comment, Resa!
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Annika Perry said:
Clare, I’ve just had a wonderful time listening to your thrush … my husband went to the window, looking for the bird! The quality is that good! 😀😀 We have one thrush around but otherwise a lot of starlings! Ahh…that is sad with the poor bird; we found a dead one in our garden today. The goslings are beyond cute and somehow so determined striding across the grass! A lovely post, Clare and thank you for sharing with us. Wishing you a special weeeknd – it seems the erratic weather is set to continue! Xx
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you so much, Annika. I like starlings, though they are noisy and greedy. They are much scarcer than they used to be and we don’t see them hardly at all during the summer.
I hope you have a lovely weekend despite the odd weather. xxxx
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Andrea Stephenson said:
Thank you for sharing your visitors with us Clare, you have some wonderful guests!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Andrea. We have certainly had some unusual ones this spring!
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quercuscommunity said:
We saw Swifts a couple of weeks ago over in Yorkshire then…nothing. It seemed like another false start but they finally made it a couple of days ago. The sadness about Swifts is that they arrive so late that they are a sign of spring and a sign that the year is slipping by. The years go so fast.
Great post – even the dead Firecrest. We’ve seen an upsurge in Song Thrush numbers this year. Not sure why. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Simon. The years do go fast and it’s getting faster 😮 Our swallows, martins and swifts are all here now, but so late! I have noticed that there are more song thrushes about this year too.
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Ste J said:
Nothing like indulging in a bit of Ornithology. Now you have posted this, I have only seen two birds here (although I hear them often), one was a parrot at an art museum and the other was an eagle in the mountains, both were beautiful. These days I see a lot more cats, which may explain why the birds keep away.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Ste J. Yes, the cats might explain the absence of birds! I have only seen an eagle once and that was years and years ago in Scotland. They are enormous!
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bitaboutbritain said:
Lovely post, Clare – dead firecrest notwithstanding (beautiful little bird!) – and great shots. You are very lucky to have all of this on your doorstep. BUT – I have a complaint. Surely, it’s time these creatures had slightly more personal labels than ‘Swallow 1’ or ‘Male Greylag’ etc. So I think you should consider giving them all appropriate names including, of course, the newly arrived goslings…:-)
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Clare Pooley said:
Thanks, Mike! I will consider it … briefly, but will probably decline. 😀 It was difficult enough trying to think of suitable names for my daughters; they were lucky not have been called Girl 1 and Girl 2. 😉
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Ari said:
Such beautiful photos, I never see swallows at rest so that was lovely and so many baby birds. Aww so sad about the firecrest, glad you returned it to the earth following its passing.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Ari. I don’t like to upset people by showing poor dead creatures but that Firecrest was really special and I had to record it. We are very lucky to have so many birds visiting the garden.
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Charlotte Hoather said:
You live in a beautiful place Clare, hope this lovely weather continues for you for a long while.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Charlotte. We had some rain overnight but I think it will brighten up later. I hope you are having a good weekend xx
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Sheila said:
I’m happy the Greylags came back and started a family there! It must be lots of fun to watch them and their goslings. Beautiful video too – thank you for transporting us to such a beautiful, peaceful place.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Sheila. We love watching the geese! The young ones are almost the same size as their parents now and they are growing their adult feathers. The parents are moulting so the garden is covered in feathers! They will all be ready to fly together in a couple of months and will be gone and the garden will be ours again.
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Sheila said:
That sounds magical – enjoy your feather garden!
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Clare Pooley said:
🙂
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My Peacock Books & Living said:
Thank you for sharing such lovely photographs and videos. It’s really brightened my day to see so many cute birds. It’s such a shame about the firecrest, it is a danger with some birds though, hitting glass windows, sad but I’m glad you buried it after taking a look (I confess I think I may have looked at the bird quite a bit before burying so don’t think it’s strange as it’s not). I love the geese and how fat the little goslings are, something about water birds just looks so cute 🙂 I also love the video of the song thrush, I don’t know all the different bird songs and not sure we have song thrush here so it was a special treat to listen to one 🙂 ❤
I've been watching springwatch all three weeks as well as their red button so to see your birds is an added treat ❤ ❤ 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you so much, Cat for your lovely comment! I haven’t been able to watch any of the Springwatch programmes I have been so busy! We love having the geese to look at every day even though they are very messy birds to have about the place 🙂 ❤ ❤
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Jacqui Murray said:
What a great neighborhood you live in! I bet it keeps you busy.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Jacqui! It keeps us very busy indeed and we never get half the things done we need to!
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Aquileana said:
A most beautiful post my friend… Those Greylags and goslings are so pretty!… Lucky you to live in such a nice place… All that greenery! 🙂 Enjoy the Spring season, dear Clare. Sending love & best wishes across the miles 😘💫
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, my dear Aquileana! We are very lucky to live here, though it isn’t quite so green now, We need some rain! 🙂 🙂 ❤ 🙂 🙂
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whitefeatherfloating said:
Wow, Clare! These photos sure are fantastic. The videos are fine, too. Love those bird songs and the lambs. Adorable.
You sure are blessed with beautiful property! Thanks for sharing. 😊💖
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you so much, Patsy 🙂 ❤ We haven't had much rain recently so everything is looking yellow and dry now.
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whitefeatherfloating said:
You’re welcome, Clare. We’ll haven’t either. We will get an ocassional summer shower but it is usually hot and dry all summer
.
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Cynthia Reyes said:
What a wonderful post! Those pictures of your pond tell me that you have the perfect place for birds to land or stay a while. And your statement about hiding out to get the video made me laugh, as I pictured you doing so, AND because it reminded me of Hamlin and the doves! “I had to balance on one leg while peering round the corner of our house to make the video which is my excuse for the poor quality.”
Just this morning I saw a bird that was so tiny, I at first thought it was a hummingbird. I wonder if we have Firecrests too? I can understand your sadness at finding a dead bird.
Be well, all of you. I go now to watch and listen to the video.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you so much, my dear friend! Your little bird could well be a relative of the Firecrest as they belong to the Kinglet family and I know there are a couple of tiny kinglets in NorthAmerica. I also keep thinking of Hamlin watching his doves and not daring to move for ages! What pleasures we have!
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navasolanature said:
Lots of lovely birds and you managed to photograph so many. Ours about and lots of swifts but haven’t seen many swallows. Pity about the firecrest. We get them close by but very difficult to spot. Enjoy the sunshine!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Georgina. I hear Goldcrests and Firecrests but like you, I hardly ever see them. We have had Swifts and plenty of House Martins but very few Swallows.
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navasolanature said:
Oh dear, as that seems similar here. I hope there isn’t a drastic decline. Good to hear from you.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thanks, Georgina; I hope so, too.
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Sheryl @ Flowery Prose said:
Reblogged this on Flowery Prose and commented:
I’m spreading a little blog love during the month of July! I’ll be reblogging recent entries from some of my favourite bloggers – I encourage you to click through and check out more of their work. Enjoy! ~Sheryl
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Sheryl!
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derrickjknight said:
Lots of patience paying off
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Derrick.
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Gallivanta said:
Lovely to see and hear what has been happening in your garden, Clare. Are the goslings still around?
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Amanda. No, the goslings have gone now. I think one of them died before the family left the garden altogether, though it could have been a male and might have been driven away by its father, though I doubt that really.
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Gallivanta said:
Oh that’s sad but a 3/4 survival rate is excellent parenting.
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Clare Pooley said:
It is!
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Mabel Kwong said:
Your backyard looks like a very popular place for the birds to hangout. So many birds. Seems to be party central right there in the midst of warmer weather. Amazing captures and loved reading your narration as the birds waddled around. The Greylags did look like they were on a mission to inspect their digs and nest…and perhaps they will stay for a long time to come. The little goslings seem to be very much at home, eating away there at the grass 🙂 Poor Firecrest. Maybe his friends will come by
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much for commenting, Mabel. We are very lucky to have so much wildlife in our garden.
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bitaboutbritain said:
Hope all is well…
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Mike. Yes, all is well but life has been difficult and extremely busy lately. I was trying to catch up with other people’s posts but that has also fallen by the wayside! How kind of you to remember me. 😊 I will be back….eventually!
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Nidhi said:
A very beautiful place for birds💖
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Nidhi!
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Richard Sutton said:
Yes, I too have missed you Clare. I hope your garden and wildlife has not suffered too much in the heatwave.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Richard; how very thoughtful of you to say so. I hope to get back to regular blogging eventually. The garden became very dry indeed and we have lost a few plants. I am sure the wildlife suffered from lack of food and water. I have found dead and/or dying unfledged birds that have been ejected from nests quite regularly. We have had some rain and the garden is beginning to turn green again. I hope your garden hasn’t suffered too much, either.
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Anita said:
I really do appreciate your effort. It is very useful and valuable blog for me. Such a wonderful collection of picture and give us information everybody. The attractive picture with your blogs singing at dusk, beautifully about the countryside where he lives and about poets and writers too. Gander on the lookout, Love all the duck photos. I really impressed with your blogs,
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Anita!
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Tanvi said:
Amazing collection of your picture these photos sure are fantastic. Love those birds songs and duck. Gander on the lovely places .enjoying the video.thanks for sharing this information.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Tanvi!
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kevin cooper said:
I always feel saddened when I see a dead bird or other animals in my garden. Not too long ago I found a dead hedgehog. It was only a small one… Makes one wonder what happened.
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Clare Pooley said:
How sad! I hate finding dead birds and animals in our garden. They all get buried carefully. We have had fewer bird casualties since we put stickers on all our large windows.
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kevin cooper said:
Stickers? That’s a creative solution. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Yes! Special ones either black bird silhouettes or see-through ones that reflect UV sunlight.
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kevin cooper said:
Ah, makes more sense. No Mr Men then. 😀
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Clare Pooley said:
Haha! No! 😀
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wholelottarosie said:
Oh Claire, the goose family is so cute!
Not far from us there is a beautiful lake in the forest that is under nature protection. Everyone who wants to go to the lake has to park the car in a parking lot and then walk a few kilometers to the lake. There are many ducks, mallards with green head, bog ducks, swans and wild geese that breed there and now show their little chicks the area. This is so, so cute!
Greetings from the drizzle ♥️
…Rosie
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Clare Pooley said:
Your forest lake sounds wonderful!
The geese nested on our pond again this year and had six goslings. Sadly, we had a bad storm with high winds and heavy rain and five of the goslings went missing overnight.
❤ ❤
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wholelottarosie said:
🙁Oh … that’s so sad. Did the goslings fall off? Did you find the goslings?🙁
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Clare Pooley said:
We do not know what happened during the night. We saw all six goslings on the Monday evening before it got dark but when we looked the next morning only one was left. The night had been very stormy with torrential rain and gale-force winds. The goslings were only seven days old and were not big or strong. They could have been blown away by the wind or drowned. A predator could have taken them if the parents were distracted by the bad weather. We never found the goslings 😦
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wholelottarosie said:
😦
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cindy knoke said:
Beautiful and such variety. The Firecrest is new to me and so lovely. It is so distressing when birds fly into windows. Poor little beauty.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Cindy. It is so sad to find these little birds destroyed by our windows.
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