OSPREYS AND RED KITES!

My school arranged a school trip to Rutland waters to visit the osprey nest they have set up! They have been running a project called 'the osprey project' to encourage them to nest and raise their young at rutland waters. 

We had a talk by one if the volunteers and we were shown the live feed on one of the osprey nests! We were also taken down to a hide where I got some great shots of the ospreys, as well as warblers, gulls, cormorants and a reed bunting!  And to finish of the guide, we also got a view of a red kite! It was a great evening and I got some lovely pictures, especially because the setting sun gave a great light! 

Here is the a picture of the live feed at rutland waters!

I love this shot! The yellow maze is produced by a unfocused buttercup in the foreground.

It may be hard to spot by in the middle of this reed bed there is a warbler! I think it is a sedge warbler.

There was a great view of 5 cormorants in a nearby tree from the hide!

AND HERE ARE THE OSPREY! IT MIGHT NOT BE A CLOSE SHOT BUT YOU CAN SEE FROM HERE JUST HOW LARGE THESE BIRDS ARE!

And here is a gull! There were lots of these at rutland water.

This common hogweed looks so much nicer in a photo!

In the middle of this reed bed their is a .......... reed bunting!

On the way back from the hide we also saw a red kite! I had never seen one before so it was amazing to see them so close.

Just before we left I took this photo. The sun was going down, swifts were gliding above are heads and the singing of birds echoed from every direction! It was a great evening...

A new webcam!

As the peak of the breeding season has ended, I wanted a new webcam to watch and monitor the birds in our garden. 

As I can never get very close to the birds on the bird feeder without disturbing them I thought it would be a good idea to get a webcam up on there! I used a clear tub and some clear film to make a housing for the camera and then I connected it to the monitor and got the camera set up! The quality is a lot better than I thought it would be and I hope to get some close up views of the birds!

This camera view may be temporary, but I want to experiment to get the best footage.

Also, as the chicks had gone and the parents left, I nipped up to the bird box to take a few photos of the nest. I couldn't believe how much material they took into the nest. It took up at least half of the bird box!

Here is the nest!

Keep an eye on my blog for some footage using my nest BIRD FEEDER CAM! 

A NEW CAM AND A NEW NEST!

I have noticed buzzards, kestrels, house martins and swallows all gliding over our house and I really wanted to try and film them unclose. I thought of many ways of doing this but my final idea was to attach a ladder and tripod to the top of my old tree house! I added a cane for the birds to perch on and I also added a block of suet to try and encourage them to land on the cane!

Here is the view from the camera, I am going to call this camera SKY CAM!

You will have to turn your head for this photo, but you can see the camera mounted at the top of the ladder! I hope it gets some good footage because it took a while to put up.

I am going to collect the camera at the end of the week and then I will show you the footage I captured!

Today, I also added a seed catcher (plate) to the bottom of my fat ball feeder to catch any excess seed. I mounted the feeder on a bamboo cane and attached it to the tree. I hope that this will attract some different birds and it will give me a better view of the feeder!

I have also found out that there is a buzzard nest in a woodland very close to our house! I will be finding out more!

THE HEDGEHOG AND THE CAT

The rescued hedgehog is still returning to my feedeing stations/hedgehog box every night! I can tell this because I have placed my ProStalk trail camera filming the box and I have got some great footage of the hedgehog and also a cat!

I used different angles whilst filming the hedgehog to create a more interesting video and I also experimented with food and bedding material. I have been using spikes hedgehog food which I am sure has been working a treat! If you would like to buy some here is the link to their website: http://www.spikesworld.co.uk/wildthings_duck_badger_food.html

I made a video with some music showing the interesting life of the hedgehog. I hope you like it!

Here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxD48RGO-NU

You can also see my homemade hedgehog box in one of my earlier posts! I made it from a dimention sheet I got of the internet.

Keep watching my blog for some more news!

What is WildlifeByBilly?

WildlifeByBilly is my YouTube channel which I have been developing over the last year or so!

I thought it would be a good idea to create a video showing some clips of the best footage I have captured over the last 18 months. I thought that it would be great for new viewers of my blog!

Here is my youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMvjL6taQn4

Also, here are some stills that I didn't include in the video, but I would love to share with you!

I love the picture above because of the ripples and the simplicity of the colours. I took this picture in Derbyshire!

I also love this picture because of the 'v' shaped ripple effect trailing behind the Mallard duck!

Please carry on watching my blog!

It would have been fledge day!

Today, the blue tit chicks would have fledged if their nest wasn't raided on the 30th of May. These chicks were healthy, well fed and growing feathers but this didn't stop their bird box nest being destroyed and it's inhabitants being taken. However, the raider probably was just providing food for its family! It is a shame though! Here are some key dates:

Eggs laid - 3rd May

Eggs hatched - 15th/16th May

Chicks due to fledge - 4th June 

Chicks nest raided - 30th May 

I hope I have better luck next year! I will also add a metal entrance plate and mesh to minimise the chance of something like this happening again!!

Is this the start of SUMMER?

It has been a very hot few days and my greenhouse is coming along brilliantly! 

I have got many different types of tomato, lots of potatoes, some carrots, a pumpkin and lots more! Also, my grape vine is producing little bunches of grapes this year!

Today, I weeded my fruit catch and added some fencing and mesh to my strawberries to add some more protection! Also, my blackcurrant bush is starting to grow berries!

I also added the mesh above my veg patch to protect it from birds! I have potatoes, carrots, courgettes and pumpkins growing in there at the moment!

Inside my greenhouse, my lettuces are growing rapidly and are looking great. I have also got a mini cucumber plant!

I have lots of different varieties of tomatoes too!

My grape vine is looking very good and is now starting to produce grape bunches. I am very excited to see what this vine will provide!

Finally, I have lots of seedling and small lettuces to growing including sweet pepper, little gem, lots of other lettuces and I am even trying to grow corn for my bird feeders!

The warm weather is great for my fruit and veg and I hope it carries on to be this hot!

Brinsley Animal Rescue

For two days this week I went to volunteer at Brinsley Animal Rescue in Nottingham. They help sick and injured animals and wildlife, including pets. It was great to see people helping animals and giving them a second chance! I really enjoyed my time there and I hope to go back to help out in the summer holidays! 

Some of the jobs I helped out with were quite exciting such as feeding the baby chaffinches! And I also   attempted to help out with some of the larger animals too.

Here are the five baby chaffinches that needed feeding every hour or so!

The sick or injured animals were kept in a room to recover and were them let into a outdoor enclosure to adjust to the temperature again before they are released!

 I had a great time there and enjoyed learning about the rescue centre and the animals!

I stayed at my grandparents later on that day and as I was looking round the garden I came across a blackbird nest! I asked my grandparents to keep their eye on it and tell me if anything happens!

Springwatch returns on Monday at 8:00! It has been a great series so far and I love watching the live cameras as well as watching the shows! I just hope the jackdaw chicks will be okay, the mallard ducks will make it safely down to the water and the osprey will successfully hatch their chicks!

HEDGEHOG RELEASE!

For two days this week I volunteered at Brinsley Animal Rescue. It was great to see all their birds, pets, cows and even hedgehogs getting a second chance! I will give you some more information in a later post!

One of the now recovered hedgehogs was due to release. However, Brinsey Animal Rescue couldn't contact the person/people who brought in the hedgehog and they therefore needed another release site. And they chose our garden!

I had made the box, so I then added straw and a bowl for food and water!

Here is the hedgehog! I set up my trail camera and got some great footage of it coming out at night!

Here they are:

In the first video, the hedgehog is exiting the box!

And in this video it is coming back to the box for a nice long sleep!