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Garden visitors....

A Long Tailed Tit wedged in twigs, and munching on a sunflower heart...

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Nice to have the Bullfinches back...

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Spring is on it's way at last; we saw Buzzards mating on Sunday and today the House Sparrows were "at it" in the tree right outside my window at work - shame on them! It is staying light for longer and I've realised I can snatch just under an hour after work if I don't have to go straight to Molly's, and today I didn't. Molly was in day care and I had to collect her at 5.45pm near Porthpean so I decided to have a quick 10 minutes at Porthpean to see what I could ID with the scope. I added a handful to the day list (I just hope my ID'ing skills were positive!)

My day list was 34, including a garden head count on the back doorstep this morning and a quick 10 minutes at lunchtime, namely:-

Black-Throated Diver
Fulmar
Cormorant
Common Scoter
Oystercatcher
Tawny Owl (heard only - Penrice House, Porthpean)
Black-Headed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Pied Wagtail
Goldcrest
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Songthrush
Redwing
Blackbird
Blackcap
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Long-Tailed Tit
Magpie
Jay
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Bullfinch

There were two female Blackcaps in the garden at lunchtime and I managed to get some shots of one of them feeding...


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Visiting Blackcaps... We have two males and one female visiting the garden as far as I know at the moment

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I spent a good couple of hours at the back doorstep watching the garden today on a very needed head count. With the dark mornings and dark nights I don’t get accurate head counts in the winter so today was the ideal opportunity as I HAD to stay in. I was rewarded… My first sight of GS Woodpecker in the garden for months… Redwing in the trees. Bullfinch, Blackcap, Firecrest and Goldcrest all showed themselves!

I took some pictures, but the light was not good, as usual at the moment so I’ve put up the best of a bad bunch!

So, my garden day list today:-

1. Herring Gull
2. Woodpigeon
3. Collared Dove
4. Great Spotted Woodpecker (male)
5. Pied Wagtail
6. Wren (heard)
7. Dunnock
8. Robin
9. Redwing
10. Blackbird
11. Blackcap (M & F)
12. Goldcrest
13. Firecrest
14. Great Tit
15. Blue Tit
16. Coal Tit
17. Long Tailed Tit
18. Magpie
19. Jay
20. Carrion Crow
21. Starling
22. House Sparrow
23. Chaffinch
24. Bullfinch


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Return of the Blackcap

First sighting of Blackcap in the garden since Spring - Fabulous. Trevor saw a female this morning and I saw a male at lunchtime. This is a female from last Spring. I tried to get a shot of the male at lunchtime, but failed!