Bird-box Stories & DofE

Many of you would have known that my blue tits have fledged, annoyingly when I was away in London! 

However, I have got just enough footage to put together a short youtube video including footage from my bird box camera, the bird feeders and the exterior of the bird box.

Here is the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh3bexoIoRs

Please leave any comments or suggestions!

I have been walking in the Peak District on Bronze DofE this weekend which was nice. I took a small handheld camera to get some shots. The views from the top of the peaks (such as Mount Ore) were amazing and I got some photos of the various valleys and other mountains. As the peak district has many different habitats for wildlife, such as farmland, moorland, woodland and parks & gardens, it hosts a massive range of birds and mammals. I spotted a bird of prey ( I think it was a hobby), deer, rabbits, a buzzard, a grey heron, a cuckoo (on the practise expedition a while ago), loads of insects and lots of farm animals! Here are a few of my photos which I managed to take along the way:

This fly mimics the colours of a wasp to put of any threatening predators.

Wildflower Meadow

Blurred Version

A common blue butterfly 

 

It was very misty as we were climbing the peaks!

The wildflower meadows were wonderful!

Just sorting out my fox footage which was captured on my trail camera the other night!

The chicks have fledged!

I'm delighted to say that the chicks have now fledged and are fluttering round the garden getting used to their new surroundings! 

The bad news is that I was in London at the weekend when they fledged so didn't get ANY footage of that event which is a shame. I've been making a video to document their little lives and will upload it as soon as I have some more footage of the chicks…

Here are the chicks about 5 or 6 days before they fledged:

Nest box success!

So, the chicks have hatched (6 in total, i think) and are being lovingly looked after and fed by their two parents. 

My two cameras are allowing me to document their new lives and I will hopefully be able to see them fledge, unlike last year. Some other great news is that another nest box in my garden has great tits in, and their young have hatched too! I don't have a camera in this one, but they have both been back and forth delivering food to the chicks all day! Keep an eye on my blog over the next week or so to find out more...

Here are a few stills from my footage! This footage was captured with my bird box camera, hence the bad quality.

Garden Improvements

On Sunday, I managed to fit in enough time to tidy up my greenhouse and prepare for the coming spring/summer. 

I went to the garden centre to buy plants and bird feed! I also bought some larger, more substantial pots, a hanging basket and some seeds. I cleared up my veg patch and planted some flowers in my wildlife garden. Another exciting project is that me and my dad are converting our tree house into a bird watching platform! 

Here is my new and improved bird feeding station! I am feeding the birds niger seed, mixed bird seed, peanuts, fat balls, suet blocks and mealworms! This huge range of feed attracts a similarly huge selection of birds including goldfinches, great spotted woodpecker, long-tailed tits and dunnocks!

I planted two strawberry plants in my new hanging basket positioned in my greenhouse.

I bought two green troughs from the garden centre. These sturdy pots will hopefully last a lot longer than the cheap plastic pots I normally buy.

Two sweet chillies

A selection of peppers, and red lettuce.

Two tomatoes I bought from the garden centre.

Two tomatoes I bought from a village fair.

In these four containers I am growing herbs such as basil and parsley.

I took a slab up from the greenhouse floor to plant my grapevine. 

 I planted some flowers in my wildlife garden which will start to grow over the next few weeks. 

'There's a Heron in the garden!'

On Sunday, I was doing my art homework when my nannie screamed 'Billy! There's a heron in the garden!' I ran to get my camera from my bedroom, inserted a random memory card and sprinted to the kitchen window. I managed to get a few shots before it angelically flew away.

 I have seen them in my patch before, but never actually in my garden. My garden is defiantly becoming more biologically diverse, which I partly thank the pond for! 

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The heron returned today (Tuesday) which is great news!

He/She (guessing he) will hopefully be a regular visitor, and if he is I will make sure to get a camera set up down there!

Grey Heron enjoying the sun and taking a stroll around my wildlife garden!

Their wing span is HUGE, nearly 2 metres!

Heres another heron which was bathing in one of london's parks! It's great to see wildlife thriving in urban places.

Update:

The blue tit couple have now got 7 eggs in the nest, and the female has started to incubate with the male regularly popping in feeder her insects! 

5 eggs on the nest - taken a couple of days ago.

Here is an aerial view of this years bird box set up!

As you can see I have made sure to place the external bird box camera along the flight path of the birds, on their way to the bird feeders (which they visit loads!)

The bird box is in a great place, with water very nearby and food close by too. I hope the birds appreciate it!

Aerial view of this years bird box set-up!

B&W Experiments at Chatsworth House!

Today I went to Chatsworth House with my friend (yes, i have friends) to take photos of the grounds and the wildlife there! We both got some great shots and they proved really successful in black and white! Hence why each photo is displayed below in colour, followed by a B&W copy!

The ducks there were extremely tame, so it allowed us to get unclose and capture some great photographs. All of the ducks had real personalities and were pestering us for food!

Here are some of my favourites:

Original Image

B&W copy

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B&W copy

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B&W copy

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B&W copy

We also saw two amazing species of bird! The grey wagtail and the dipper!

If you look closely you can see the grey wagtail below:

I'd never seen a Dipper 'in the flesh' before so it was great to capture them on camera!

Sorry they're blurry, but it was on the other side of the river!

 Spring is really here! 

Lambs playing in the fields!