Birds

One of the first things I did when moving here was to put up a bird box (made by my Dad, many years ago). Within days, the box was being visited by Blue Tits, and over the weeks we were delighted to see frenetic activity as the parents fed their brood, all of which subsequently fledged. There was just one unhatched egg left behind.

Now, we have a couple of feeders dangling in the tree outside the front door, and we have a constant stream of feathered visitors to the peanuts and fat balls, and also on the ground for the little bits that drop.

Being retired means I can spend time watching them....

Most birds are easy to identify - Cuckoos are common all around the area (and were "singing" constantly from about 4.00am a few weeks ago....) we have a robin and her babies, with their speckled brown fronts, plus blackbirds and chaffinches which are in the garden much of the time....

...Great Tits are frequent visitors, as well as Coal Tits, though we haven't seen much of our Blue Tit family since they left the nestbox.

Now we start getting to birds which we are less familiar with... Youngsters still wearing their baby feathers can make things confusing. We think these are greenfinches...


And this is certainly a Greenfinch with a baby which the adult was feeding (sorry - my photography is not up to Springwatch standards..)


We reckon this one is a Siskin - it just would not turn round...


But - who is this...???...and here he is again...

...and again...


Any suggestions welcome!

Now, this is just the birds in the garden... When we go for walks, there are many other birds seen which we do not recognise. There are many warblers, but what variety? Apparently, there are Blackcaps, though I'm not sure we've seen one. Buzzards soar overhead and sometimes perch on nearby fenceposts, Swallows swoop up and down our road, and we see an occasional Tawny Owl.

As for Eagles - we are told there are both Golden Eagles and Sea Eagles in this part of Skye, but we must keep looking in the wrong direction - we haven't spotted one yet!

Then there's all the waders and sea birds...