The pictures below show some of the wildlife in the garden. The oystercatcher picture was
taken by Alex Hohan - Well Done!
The 3 chicks are swallows taken 2 days before they fledged.
The nest was in the rafters of our barn and the parents would fly around our heads as they
fed their offspring.
The third picture is definitely someone we want to encourage to keep down the
slugs.
8/6/11
A dunnock has built a nest at the back of the garden and four
chicks were hatched in May.
An Oystercatcher has laid three eggs in
the woodchip beside the road (pictured above after a lot of patience!) and another oystercatcher egg laid in a bed
disappeared mysteriously.
Previously a wren had built a nest with four
eggs in the horsebox but it was overturned and the eggs went cold.
Nobody knew there were birds nesting in there but perhaps an animal
overturned the nest.
Now there is a sign asking people not to
disturb nesting birds in the horsebox.
A blackbird is sitting on eggs
in there and there is another nest which appears to be empty at the
moment.
4/2/11
On Saturday January 29th. a survey was done in the garden as part of the Big Garden Birdwatch. This was done by recording the species and numbers of each over a one hour period. The following table shows the species and numbers observed.
Starlings
15
Chaffiinches
9 (2 males)
Backbirds
2
Greenfinches
4
Goldfinch
5
Thrush
2
Robins
2
Wren
1
Dunnock
2
Redwings
3
Magpies
2
Bluetit
2
Collared Dove
2
Waxwings
4
Pied Wagtail
1
Sparrow
1
13/1/11
During the winter the birds in the garden have been fed everyday with seeds scattered on the
ground and via bird feeders.
This winter was a wonderful time for looking at birds at the garden. There is a stunning array of birds
who are thriving on the insects, seeds, berries, compost and food in the birdfeeders.
There is a feeder on a tree at the back of the garden filled with niger seeds and flocks of beautiful
goldfinches have been seen feeding from it. As well as that we have blue tits, coal tits, great tits,
greenfinches, chaffinches, blackbirds, robins, wrens, thrushes, collared doves, crows and pied wagtails.
The seabirds that come into the garden are oystercatchers, ringed plovers,
eiders, mergansors, redshanks and sandlings.
Again this year we have seen pigeons on the beach looking
for food..
A redwing was spotted feeding in a bed. It is slightly smaller than a thrush but has a spotted breast
like a thrush. It is different in that it has a bold white stripe above the eye and a smaller one below
the cheek. It also has a reddish colour under the wing.
It eats insects and mostly berries in the winter. The redwings in Scotland come from Iceland in the winter.
They are a nomadic bird that travels over long distances in search of food.T
There was also a pair of waxwings at the garden. They come from Scandinavia in the winter and go to the
east coast of England but every two years or so come to Scotland. They are a beautiful bird that was
seen feeding on berries.
They are a about the size of a starling with a pinkish breast and a distinctive crest on their head
with a black throat and mask around the eyes. The wings are a greyish blue and with black and white
stripes and when they fly you can see two yellow stripes on each side of the wing and the yellow tip
at the bottom of the wing which are quite stunning.
There have been deer in the garden again judging by their footprints in the snow.
They seem to have had a good look around and eaten some of the vegetables
in the beds by the road. The fence around the garden is quite high and we suspect
that they are coming along the beach where they were seen last year.
