Monthly Archives: January 2025

Blackcap!

7 Replies

Blue Tit feeding on suet pellets

In our old garden we once had a winter visit from a Blackcap, though it was actually a female, so it had a reddish-brown cap. It is one of a number of species that is changing it’s behaviour and is expanding its range. They used to breed in UK then migrate to southern Europe. They still do, but birds from western Europe now migrate to the UK for winter as it is easier than their traditional migration into Africa, and because there is a ready supply of food to be had in our garden feeders.

I had been hoping to see one at our new feeders, particularly as my sister has a friend who gets them in her garden, which is only a few streets away. Today, Julia asked me about the identity of a bird she had seen on the feeder. It sounded like a Blackcap, but it also sounded like it could be a Coal Tit (which we have had before). Anyway, when I went through there was nothing to be seen. Eventually a small grey bird showed up and flitted about at the feeders – Coal Tit. From many positions the white nape is highly visible. This one, of course, did its best to keep the white flash hidden. They can be very annoying.

Great Tit on Garden Feeder

However, another black-headed grey bird appeared. It fluttered more than the tits and when it eventually showed itself properly, was definitely a male Blackcap. Normally the Great Tits bully other birds off the feeders, but they were content to perch and wait for the Blackcap, which has a reputation for being robust in defending its feeding space. It also fed extensively from all the feeders, trying fat balls, sunflower seeds and scraps from the ground feeder, where the tits tend to grab a seed, or beakful of fat and make for cover.

Of course, now that this has happened I don’t really have much to aim for. Have we, I wonder, peaked too soon?

Magpie foraging on mossy roof

These are a few of the new bird shots – the blurring of the Magpie (taken yesterday) is from the vertical blinds, which tend to get in the way.

 

 

Trousers, Typing and Tongue Twisters

6 Replies

I slept well last night and woke just before nine. It’s not exactly industrious, but it will do for me. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, so 9.00 is as good a time as any. I managed to dress without industry and decided I could dispense with trousers today as I was not intending to go out. Slipper socks and a good long flannel shirt will do to preserve my modesty, though I will be keeping the blinds partially drawn after yesterday’s events. It wouldn’t do for the neighbours to know too much about the informality of my dress habits.

The lack of trousers means there was no trouble with trapping my foot in a twisted leg, or tripping whilst hopping around muttering things about tricky trouser designs.  If only I had tartan trews that last line would have  had potential as a tongue twister. The world needs a tricky tongue-twister about tripping with two trapped feet in your twisted tartan trews. Well, my world does . . .

I thought I’d make a quick start on the typing today, before the pain in my wrist catches up with me. Rest, a hot water bottle and patience have seen the pain disappear from my right arm, shoulders and left elbow. Only the pain in my left wrist remains, and that is where I had trouble with carpal tunnel before. I have ordered a wrist splint and set myself a target of resting and being patient for the next few weeks. With luck it will go without further intervention. In the meantime I will alter my typing position to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

My previous typing set-up may have looked chaotic, with things set at different levels using boxes and books, but it worked well and I had no problems from aches and pains (or RSI and carpal tunnel to give them their modern names).

We had vegetables for tea last night. With a bigger oven I feel that my roasted veg should be better, but I’m not sure they are. This is slightly disappointing, but I will get over it. I even pre-heated the oven and the roasting tins last night, even though my prudent side is much perturbed by the idea of heating an empty oven.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We had cauliflower with mustard cheese sauce, with potato wedges, carrots, leeks and brussels. I read a recipe that says if you leave the cut brussels face down for the complete cooking time it traps the steam inside and gives you sweet, tender brussels. It seems to work, though buying decent brussels also helps. I will have to buy some tough monster brussels to really see if it works. We seem to have been eating better since we moved and altered our routines.

Ah well, 10am now and time to prod my sleeping wife into action with a cup of tea and a suggestion that it is her turn to make breakfast. If you don’t hear from me again you can take it that the suggestion went down badly.

Old photos again. I really must do better.

So far it has been . . .

 

 

A Corvid Sort of Day – I Said Corvid . . .

12 Replies

Today I spent a lot of time staring out of the window of my office. It’s really just a spare bedroom with a table and computer, but “office” sounds better. I don’t know how builders get away with calling these rooms bedrooms – I don’t even need to extend my arms fully to touch both sides. It’s a single monastic cell of a room, somewhere to put an unwelcome visitor who will be happy to leave after a couple of nights of claustrophobia.

It looks out onto a cheerless narrow strip of garden, with a fence that needs painting. The neighbour was nailing new roof felt onto a small garden store he has crammed between his garage and the fence. It was alarming to see a head pop up over the fence,a nd socially awkward. We haven’t introduced ourselves yet and we both avoided looking at each other.  I doubt it will happen again, but may adjust my blind to make myself less visible.

Magpie

Anyway, before that happened, I had ten minutes watching a magpie on his garage roof. It appeared to be sorting through moss looking for food. I must look it up and see if anyone else has seen this. I’m surprised there is anything in the moss, to be honest. I’m also a little offended that we have plenty fo bird food and it wasn’t even making an attempt to eat it. They don’t even seem to want to explore the possibilities of the floor feeder, which has included old scone, apple cores, seeds and suet over the last few days.

The squirrel, meanwhile, has been up to all sorts of trick to raid the seeds. It has eaten from the floor feeder, making us hope it will leave the seeds alone, but it always seems to try for the seeds again.

Julia saw a Jay in nearby trees yesterday. I like Jays. Before Mum and Dad moved to this bungalow they had a house a couple of miles away and had as many as three Jays feeding in the garden at one time. We actually turned up to do the RSPB Bird Count one weekend and found three Jays in the garden. (We used to do the count in their garden as they got better birds than we did. We nearly had a sparrowhawk one year, but it perched next door and refused to come to our garden so Julia wouldn’t let me count it.

My bird photography still needs work, so these are pictures I have used before.

A mischief of Magpies

 

Standing by the Sink

17 Replies

Today I have been going through a plastic box containing odds and ends of spices. You know the sort of thing – the ones you used once for a specific recipe, or the ones you bought because you forgot that you already had some in the plastic box of spices you hardly ever think about. That’s why I have two lots of juniper berries and a jar of star anise.

I’m now in a quandary. Do I use them, even though they may have lost their flavour, to spice up a stew, or do I just cut my losses and throw them out? What I have done in the past is to find a recipe that uses some of them and then buy extra spices because the recipe needs them. At least I have learned to avoid that trap. That’s why recipes demanding nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger end up with mixed spice and black pepper. It’s not, I admit, the same, but it’s an attempt.

Squirrel in MENCAP gardens, Wilford

The good news is that I now have a number of useful jars to put things in.  Unfortunately I lack a selection of things to put in jars. Given time, I’m sure I can find some.

This is, of course, a well-known marketing trick. Mr Colman, of Colman’s Mustard used to say that he made his money from the mustard that people left on the side of their plate.

While I was washing up I was able to see a number of birds on the feeder, though a lot of time was taken up with the Big Squirrel. He struts round like he owns the place, but I have plans for him. Some of them involve the mixture of spices I have found in the bottom of the various jars I mentioned above. They may not be strong enough, or reliable enough,  for cookery, but I’m sure they are still pungent enough to disturb an animal with an acute sense of smell.

Squirrel in MENCAP gardens, Wilford

New Year and I’m Already a Day Behind

20 Replies

Yesterday I avoided the internet as I had pains in my shoulders. I still haven’t set up my workstation as I would like and shoulder pain is often a sign of this. During the day it spread into my arms, forearms, wrists and hands. With rest and a hot water bottle it had receded by bedtime and with a night’s rest I have pain in my left wrist so am attempting some typing. Of course, it may all be down to old age or arthritis, you never know. Maybe it was just my day for pains in the joints and the location was a red-herring.

Feeding tits at Budby Flash

I dismantled a bird feeder yesterday. It was empty and we have made a commitment to good feeder hygiene. Two screws to remove the bottom plate was fine, though I did feel they could have been more substantial.  Four perches to twist off – no problem. Getting the collars round the feeding holes was more tricky. Each pair is held together by a small screw. They aren’t good quality screws and I managed to mess one of the heads up, so it no longer works. I could drill out the broken one and replace it, but the metal is poor, accessibility is poor and my ability to carry out simple tasks has always been poor. Any tale I may tell of my adventures with tools often hinges round my lack of dexterity and leads on to a succession of misadventures.

I will find a way of cleaning without dismantling. It will be better in the long run. Meanwhile, the moral is clear – don’t buy medium-priced bird feeders. Anything that is medium-priced is simply a trap for the unwary. It looks like you are buying something good but you aren’t. You are just buying better paintwork at a higher price. The durability and efficiency stay the same.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We always used to buy cheap feeders, and they worked. This time, as we want the garden to look nice, I went for better looking feeders, with the consequence of paying a higher price. Unfortunately, higher price translates to better looking rather than better quality. I really need to put some thought into future purchases.

The plan is to feed birds in an efficient and healthy manner. If the feeder can’t be cleaned properly, or falls apart, the plan has failed. It’s not quite as profound as Ruskin, but it’s still  lesson in life, even if it is delivered by bird feeders rather than a man with a serious Victorian beard.

Great Tit