Baby Birds & another wildlife story

Told you they were cute didn't I?

I reckon I can count 9 beaks (some underneath the others keeping warm!) click on the pic to see the full sized version you can zoom in on.

The bird box is about 7 or 8 inches wide and I reckon the area of the nest circle filled with the little birdies is about 5-6 inches in diameter. That'll give you an idea of how big or rather how small they really are if 9 of them fit into a 6 inch space!!!

The mum and dad are still going in about 3 times a minute feeding them up and when we checked on Sunday the birds were quite a bit bigger than you can see in the pic. I'd say about half as big again! It's not exactly getting crowded in there yet but they aren't going to fit in for too long if they keep growing at this rate!

Anyway, in new wildlife news we have seen a bat (maybe 2) flying round the house at dusk - 10 pm for the last week or so. Can't work out if there's more than one as they flit past so fast. They're quite big - maybe between the size of a sparrow and a starling - but no idea what type.

Anyway, obviously he had to have a name (remember Cedric the killer spider?) we had a bit of a discussion as to what to call him - I wanted Boris, as I thought it went well with horror movie / vampire conotations, but in the end Dan's corny joke won the day - so hopefully I'll soon be able to get a picture up on the web, and introduce you to...

"Bert Baterach"

(groan)

Fairburn & other birdy news

Just spent a lovely couple of hours having a bit of a wander around the Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve. Didn't wander round the hides or feed the swans as we usually do. Today we took a picnic and a half bottle of champers! Very luxurious. 

It's about 24 degrees here today - just about as hot as I like it, so prepared as ever, I'm smothered in factor 30, and I took a leaf out of the Japanese tourists' handbook - bring a brolly - yes a rain one - it really shelters you from the sun! Great for those of us with translucent skin. (Even though you look a bit of a wally).

Picnic consisted of some fried chickeny bits (Dan's speciality) in pittas, hoummus, cheese & crackers, grapes and champers. Lovely!

In "other bird news" there's a nest of bluetits in the nest box on the fence post at the back of the garden. Only about 4 foot of the ground! When you lift the box up to have a peep in, all you see is about 10 teeny tiny beaks squalking up at you for a worm!! I'm going to try and get a camera in there to show you the size of these little things. Each bird is about an inch high at the moment. They're adorable!

  

  

Jenny Wren

I was upstairs in Conrad&Michelle's house and I could hear Michelle downstairs 'where are you birdie, where did you go?' I came out on the landing just as she was coming up the stairs. She told me that she'd just seen a bird fly in the front door, along the hallway and up the stairs.

We had a bit of a look round the landing - it must be there somewhere as all the bedroom doors were shut - but we couldn't find it. Michelle opened the office door (at the head of the stairs) and opened the window, so that if the bird saw it, it'd be able to get out.

She walked towards her bedroom and started opening in the door. Just as she did so, the bird flew accross the landing, and into the bedroom! We crept in and were both quite surprised to see a tiny wren in the wardrobe! Fortunately it wasn't distressed at its predicament. No 'presents' left for Michelle to clean up!!!!

We opened the bedroom window and stood back. Within about 10 seconds the wren was sitting on the top of the sash, and in another couple, it had flown out.

Awwww it was so tiny! And cute!

No pics tho - it all happened a bit too fast.

Pics from the Scottish weekend

We had a lovely weekend up in Scotland with Conrad & Michelle as we blogged a couple of times already becauuse I'm feeling quite blogtastic at the moment!!!

In the first post I mentioned about the birdies outside the window and as I've just managed to get the photos of the camera, I thought I'd share the nice one I took of the bird peeking out of the nest.....cute or what? It's actually a sparrow in a house martin's nest - an avian squatter!


Next we went for a little walk up the hill behind C&M's house. You get some lovely views of the house, the valley and the Tay estuary beyond....house is in the red circle in the centre of the pic.



Rest of the pictures are here on Picassa web albums

Last chance to see....

....the chickens :-(

It's a sad tale, but the lovely chickens, which are kept in the best chicken run in the world, and which are just around the corner from Conrad & Michelle's house, and about which I have blogged previously, are going. Apparently some sort of disagreement has arisen between the man who keeps them, and the landowners (his landlord).

This weekend was going to be their last. Sob.

They were being picked up early on Saturday morning. There were a few solitary birds left when we went to see them on Saturday lunchtime - barely glimpsed thru the trees in the pic - but even they're destined for the pot.

We are very sad.

More Scottish Activities

After being woken up by the birdy noises yestrerday morning, we went for a wander to the Glendoik Garden Centre, about 2 minutes wander from Conrad & Michelle's. We were looking for "fireplace paraphenalia" - tongs, brush, shovel, poker, coal, peat etc - but nothing doing. It's a lovely place tho, so we did have a nice wander round.
After lunch we decided to go for a bit of a drive....

Ended up being a MEGA one....but really nice! The countryside round here is truly lovely.
We finally foound some fuel at the nearest garage to C&M's house - but no fireplace furniture as yet. That's today's job. After a small surf I've found 2 potential locations....

FIRESURROUND CENTRE (1)

FIRESURROUND CENTRE's(1)Website

1, Melville Street,
Perth,
Perthshire
PH1 5PY

Tel: 01738 624902

• Marble, Stone & Wood
• Marble Sets & Victorian Insert
• Electric & Gas Fires
• All Makes,Traditional & Modern
• Custom Made Mantels
• Bespoke Fireplaces

Burning Question (Perth) (2)

Burning Question (Perth)'s(2)Website

Inveralmond Place,
Inveralmond Industrial Estate,
Perth,
Perthshire
PH1 3TS

Tel: 01738 633113

• Wood Burning Stoves
• Rayburn Range Cookers
• Fireplaces
• Gas & Oil Fired Stoves
• Chimney & Flue Systems
• Expert Advice & Guidance

I reckon one of them will come up with the goods!!!!

In Scotland

After a bit of a harrowing journey last night (5 hours, eeeeeek) during which we encountered rain, sleet, snow and howling gales, we finally reached Glendoik - Conrad & Michelle's lovely home. It was very welcoming as usual - extra special this time as they have got the fire going in the lounge. Dan and Michelle are pyros so it was great fun!

This morning we've woken up to the sparrows scrabbling against the bedroom windows. They have taken over the nests left by the house martins or swallows, from the summer. No idea what they're doing - isn't it a bit late to be having babies? - but anyway, they're as busy as bees, flying in and out of the nest every minute or so.

Also, another strange wildlife creature has appeared in the room....it's the pinker spotted Dan, wearing his Mum's dressing gown. Very scary!!! To be honest I'm surprised he's not wearing a kilt today as he's gone very Scottish on me. Conversation this morning has ranged around the subjects of Grouse, Deer, Birds of Prey, Otters, Lochs, Perthshire Honey and whether there is snow in Aviemore. All in relation to 'what we're going to do today'! Either he's fogotten we're only here for the weekend, or he's thinking of staying!

Best Xmas Prezzie ever - Part 2 - Parrots

Part 2 of the daily routine involved cleaning out the cages of the parrots which were being kept off show. 18 cages, scrubbing, cleaning, feeding, watering and sluicing down! Some of the birds were nervous, some were gregarious, some didn't really like us! All of them needed feeding. Claire was very reassuring - and explained the characters of each bird - like this one - Houdini, who "escaped" every time but as soon as you put the net up to catch him, he flew straight on to it! A few of the birds were nesting, which was exciting, and the girls are all pretty good at the hand rearing. Claire herself was rearing a baby one of these --->
It's difficult to tell what he's going to be when he grows up, as at the moment he looks like a miniature plucked chicken!!!!
You can really see that birds are descended directly from the dinosaurs! And see the next post for a video of him being fed and squawking alot!




Next part of the afternoon's activities, was washing the dishes and chopping all the fruit and veg for tomorrow's feed. It was very much like being back in the Restaurant! At least my years of chopping skills were able to be usefully applied here! We also laid out the bowls for tomorrow, filling them all with the dry feed. The birds have an amazing diet - honestly, every bowl of food I saw, I'd have been happy to eat from myself - seeds, nuts, sprouted pulses - it was like something from Gillian McKieth! Apparently the slightest of fluctuation in the birds' diet can make a difference in whether they will breed or not. A nutritionist works very closely with the keepers and designs the meals very carefully - half a walnut, a scoop of seed, half a carrot - it all makes a difference. And the birds are all healthy!

Best Xmas Prezzie ever - Part 1 - Pengies

Wednesday morning at 8am, instead of being at home, getting ready for work, I was in fact here, at the staff entrance of Chester Zoo! Why, you may well ask! Well I was just about to embark on a very special day out being a 'Keeper for the Day'.
As I wandered round to the Parrot & Penguin section office, I wondered what my day had in store. I was kind of excited and nervous all at the same time. I needn't have worried. The P&P team were really nice. Alan, the team leader, Karen and Claire, the keepers, and Sian, the vet student. When I arrived they were putting all the feed into metal bowls. I know now that they put all the dry feed out in the bowls the night before, and also chop all the fruit and veg ready for the morning (but they keep it in the fridge) so that's what they were doing - adding the fruit and veg to the bowls of seeds, ready to hand out to all the lovely birds.
So first things first - I got changed into my 'work gear', and then Alan asked me the important question - Parrots or Penguins? Penguins I said - but I love all the birds! SO first detail of the morning was feeding the Pengies. Off we went to the penguin enclosure and into the fish store area - there were a load of fishies in the sink -boxes which were taken out of the freezer yesterday and left to defrost. We had to sort out the odd looking ones (they're mostly sprats but the occasional different one creeps in) and then choose 20 sprats to add a vitamin pill to - for all the nesting females. Out we went into the back of the penguin enclosure, and straight into the main area. Sian fed the female pengies and Karen showed me one of the baby penguins which had had some problems and they were weighing it every day. As you can see it was very cute - and was the right weight! After that I was allowed to chuck the fish into the pool for the penguins swimming there. They flew SO fast through the water it was quite impressive.
After the feeding, Sian and I had the task of washing all the windows around the penguin enclosure - it was quite an interesting feat trying to clean the INSIDE of them, especially with inquisitive pengies following the broom's every move.
Next post will be about the Parrot part to this lovely day out!

The Birds (Part 2.2)

After having brought the 1st birds back to the centre and had our cup of tea, we wandered back down to the field to meet the final 3 birds.
First out was this beauty - now I can't remember the breed exactly - but I do recall that in the US they called it a hawk, and in the UK a buzzard. Anyway this one had an amazing feat of circling very very high up on the thermals, and the at a point, just tucking its wings in and coming in like a bullet! The 1st time it happened, we all took a step back! I'm sure I heard that "bomb-whine" sound effect in the background! As you can see, she had the most beautiful colouring. Snowy white chest feathers and then tawny highlights on back, legs and wings.

Next on the list was one of my favourites, the harris hawk. Super intelligent birds - they hunt in packs (the only bids to do so). Not only intelligent but absolutely beautiful; the dark brown colouring and little white tips to the tail - they're incredibly elegant in flight - the big tail allows great manoeverability - she was weaving in and out of the group of us as we were standing round waiting for our turn. The falconry centre offer an afternoon session after our morning 'meet the birds' (we didn't do it but I'd love to) and that's when you take out a pack of harris hawks and see if they can bring you home a rabbit for your stew pot!

So, finally, last on the list was the Centre's piece-de-resistance - an eagle! Not many places fly eagles to glove - I think it's something to do with the fact that they'd crush all the bones in your wrist with one squeeze of a talon, but they have a few that have been hand reared and therefore are in that 'thinking they're human' mode! Last time I was there, we flew the big sea eagle - it's a bit like having an alsatian flying towards you! Most impressive! This time we got the Bataleur Eagle - which was like having Professor Yaffle coming at ya....but scarier! This bird was a full stone - weighed loads compared with even the bigger hawk/buzzards (remember them who chase labradors!) and we had to have the chainmail glove, to protect from the talons, and we only got one go with him as he was a BIG bird and they find it hard to fly alot (unlike the harris hawk and the eagle owl who just kept bombing back and forth from their perch for the food). As you can see from the pic, he kept wandering around on the ground and walked like a little old man. He did have the most amazing colouring. Looked like someone had painted him in big blocks of brown, white and black. His main prey are snakes, so he's well-hard!

Anyway, that was our bidy experience - we had a really superb day - we both adore the birds, they're gorgeous - and we took far more piccies than have been shown here so if you want to see the rest then head on over to Picassa using this link, and peruse all the rest of em!

Walking back to the Centre

As we got ready to go back up to the centre for a coffee to thaw us out (it was sleeting by this time) and to get the next set of birds, the keeper (who had been picking on Dan a bit - all funny banter) said 'As you've been my whipping boy, you can carry Buzz back up to his cage!
Well Mum and I were GREEN with envy; I've done the 'meet the birds' twice, and Mum, 3 times, and we've NEVER seen them do that before!
So here is a pic of Dan and Buz, and below I'm attaching a little video of him sauntering up with a buzzard on his arm - like as though he does that sort of thing every day!

Doesn't he look at home??? I'm just waiting for him to say he's looking forward to hearing the patter of tiny feet - a baby buzzard!

The Birds (Part 2.1)

It's been a very Avian weekend, what with the little hens up in Scotland and then this, the main bird event: a 'Meet the Birds' experience from the Cheshire Falconry Centre.
We arrived over in Northwich the night before and stayed at the travel lodge just up the road from the falconry centre. It was a good idea, mainly because we thought the idea of getting round the M60 on a Maunday Thursday morning (to arrive by 9am) was going to be a bit hassley. This way, we were already there!!!! So off we trotted to the bird place, met up with Mum and Dad who had come along to watch, and then in we went.
First of all we were led to the enclosure where they put the birds out on display sitting on low perches - this is so you can get an idea of the birds you're about to meet! The guide gives you a (full on) explanation about each bird, flying styles, hunting styles and falconry in general.
You then are taken down to the flying field, to meet the first 4 birds.

Bungle, the Bengal eagle owl. So beautiful! Look at the toffee coloured plumage and the colour of his eyes - orange eyes means he's a diurnal hunter.




Next was Buzz the Buzzard! He was Dan's special friend (as you'll see shortly from some of the later pictures!!!) He was very quick and friendly - stayed on everyone's glove for ages to take pictures - clearly a character.





After Buz came a nice bird - a Ferruginous hawk called Nemesis! This one had a tendency to go after small mammals and had had more than a few incidents with dragging dogs around the car park. Dogs have been banned from the centre now, not because they scare the birds, it's because Nemesis likes them....a little too much!
NB Ferruginous means 'rusty coloured' as you can see from the fabulous red tips to the chest feathers and in fact his back and wings are all a lovely rusty brown.

Finally for the first session came the grogeous little kestrel called (damn can't remember) So small compared with the other birds, and quick as a flash. However this one was feeling a bit lazy by the time it came to Dan's go - in the end, after 10 minutes of cajoling, he just wasn't going to fly over to the glove, and the keeper went to get him. As the keeper approached him, he started squauking really loudly - He thinks I'm his mum - said the keeper! Awwwww! So, he picks up the kestrel and walks towards Dan, doing 'take off' motions. The bird was having none of it.
Finally, their 2 gloves were about 6 inches apart and the bird just reached over and nicked the chicken out of Dan's glove!!! Clever little thing.

The Birds (Part 1)

We've been up in Glendoik (Perthshire) at Dan's parents' for the weekend. The'yve recently moved from Errol (about 4 miles away) and this was the first time we'd been to see them in the new place. It's a lovely old farmhouse - a bit draughty, but loads of character, with an aga, a creamery, 4000 cubic feet of cupboard space (well if Michelle is to be believed anyway!!!) but lovely big bright rooms (many of them have dual aspect) and 4 bedrooms. It's much more of a "house" - their last place was a cottage. A cosy cottage, but definitely cottagy. This is completely different. It's lovely. Big, spacious, roomy, and they've made it really homley already since they've moved in which was only just before Christmas.
On Saturday morning, we were sitting down for brekkie and Michelle said would I like a boiled egg - oooh definitely - I thought. I love a nice boiled egg. She then went into one of the many cavernous cupboards and came out with a large egg box. She opened it with a flourish (I'm sure a heard a 'taaaa daaaa' in the background!) They were all shapes and sizes, brown, blue, white and creamy coloured. They looked like someone had already been at them for the Easter parade. But no, in fact, they were all 'natural' and had just come from all sorts of different hens. It turns out that Conrad and Michelle have a neighbour who keeps a small flock of chickens, and he provides them with a dozen or so mixed eggs every Friday! How lovely - you don't get much more farm fresh than that! And talking about 'carbon miles' the neighbour walks accross the field on a Friday to deliver them!
That afternoon, we went for a wander to have a look at these generous birds. We got to the 'run' only to discover that it was more of a forest than a run, and these birds must have about 150 or so square foot EACH to roam around in. It's a nice chunk of land for a dozen chooks! There are about 10 hens and 2 cockrels - I think there are a couple of the breeds had 2 birds, but mostly they were singles - all different. Fabulous colours. So for example I was able to identify the hen who laid my breakkie small blue egg (the Araucana) and the larger dark brown egg (Rhode Island Red). So a first for me - meeting the ACTUAL bird who laid my brekkie egg!!!!

Hey little hen, when when when will you lay me an egg for my tea....?

So there you have it - we had a lovely relaxing break up there and took a few piccies on our stroll which are all up HERE on Picassa for you to look at. Check out the cockrell with the golden ruff - he's just like Foghorn Leghorn!

Nice animal at the Zoo!

Awwww how cute! Went to the Zoo 2 weeks ago and found this little animal!