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Springwatch with Hellsbells

Messing about with my phone today and I realised it has a 100x lens. I knew it had a 3x and 10x but I discovered it also has a 30x and 100x which I had no idea about. So I'm focusing on stuff in the garden through the camera phone lens when a Robin lands on the plastic Herons head. It only sat for about 4 seconds but I managed a quick snap shot of it at 30x.



Not exactly the clearest photo but I only had seconds to react and it was through the patio windows.
Enter that into the comp
 

Messing about with my phone today and I realised it has a 100x lens. I knew it had a 3x and 10x but I discovered it also has a 30x and 100x which I had no idea about. So I'm focusing on stuff in the garden through the camera phone lens when a Robin lands on the plastic Herons head. It only sat for about 4 seconds but I managed a quick snap shot of it at 30x.



Not exactly the clearest photo but I only had seconds to react and it was through the patio windows.
The scarey Heron works then😅
 
Last couple of weeks I have seen what I take to be a bird of prey chasing birds over the river next to the stadium of light.

It is gingery Brown, with a fan shaped tail, seems to terrify other birds and can't half shift. Once it was sitting on a fence post and watched me cycle past giving me a look of complete indifference, which was fair enough.

Any ideas?
 
Last couple of weeks I have seen what I take to be a bird of prey chasing birds over the river next to the stadium of light.

It is gingery Brown, with a fan shaped tail, seems to terrify other birds and can't half shift. Once it was sitting on a fence post and watched me cycle past giving me a look of complete indifference, which was fair enough.

Any ideas?

Kestrel
 
Mr and Mrs Robin had a hectic day yesterday. About 7pm a Sparrow Hawk flew straight across the garden just inches above the fences. For the next 30 minutes there wasn't a bird in sight, the young Robins aren't being fed and I'm thinking has the Sparrow Hawk had the Robins, have they fledged? So I went and checked the nest and the young were in there sitting tight. 15 minutes later I see one of the Robins, it's looking a bit shifty and making no attempt to feed the young. The Robin flies over and lands on a fence near to the house then all hell breaks loose. Another Robin dive bombs it and they both hit the ground locked together, for the next 20 minutes they are rolling around on the ground, 30 seconds of fighting followed by 3 or 4 minutes of them being completely still and repeat. I was convinced it was a fight to the death so took some photos (with my newly discovered 30x zoom). A third Robin joined the fight which instantly broke up as one Robin fled with another chasing it. Mr and Mrs Robin are back feeding their young this morning so I guess they won the argument.




 
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Mr and Mrs Robin had a hectic day yesterday. About 7pm a Sparrow Hawk flew straight across the garden just inches above the fences. For the next 30 minutes there wasn't a bird in sight, the young Robins aren't being fed and I'm thinking has the Sparrow Hawk had the Robins, have they fledged? So I went and checked the nest and the young were in there sitting tight. 15 minutes later I see one of the Robins, it's looking a bit shifty and making no attempt to feed the young. The Robin flies over and lands on a fence near to the house then all hell breaks loose. Another Robin dive bombs it and they both hit the ground locked together, for the next 20 minutes they are rolling around on the ground, 30 seconds of fighting followed by 3 or 4 minutes of them being completely still and repeat. I was convinced it was a fight to the death so took some photos (with my newly discovered 30x zoom). A third Robin joined the fight which instantly broke up as one Robin fled with another chasing it. Mr and Mrs Robin are back feeding their young this morning so I guess they won the argument.




Never had Robins down as brawlers.

We've got a crows nest opposite ours, was watching last week and there was a crow attacking Mrs crow on the nest. Then Mr Crow appears and the 2 fly off whilst scrapping. Took a few hours until Mr Crow reappeared
 
Mr and Mrs Robin had a hectic day yesterday. About 7pm a Sparrow Hawk flew straight across the garden just inches above the fences. For the next 30 minutes there wasn't a bird in sight, the young Robins aren't being fed and I'm thinking has the Sparrow Hawk had the Robins, have they fledged? So I went and checked the nest and the young were in there sitting tight. 15 minutes later I see one of the Robins, it's looking a bit shifty and making no attempt to feed the young. The Robin flies over and lands on a fence near to the house then all hell breaks loose. Another Robin dive bombs it and they both hit the ground locked together, for the next 20 minutes they are rolling around on the ground, 30 seconds of fighting followed by 3 or 4 minutes of them being completely still and repeat. I was convinced it was a fight to the death so took some photos (with my newly discovered 30x zoom). A third Robin joined the fight which instantly broke up as one Robin fled with another chasing it. Mr and Mrs Robin are back feeding their young this morning so I guess they won the argument.





Most territorial garden bird.
Become even more aggressive if food supply is stretched.

If you feed birds constantly they become far more tolerant of their neighbours.

We must have at least 4 pairs around us, they chase each other off but as soon as I throw a handful of suet pellets on the lawn you can count up to 5 within a short period of time.

Lovely birds and song.
 
Most territorial garden bird.
Become even more aggressive if food supply is stretched.

If you feed birds constantly they become far more tolerant of their neighbours.

We must have at least 4 pairs around us, they chase each other off but as soon as I throw a handful of suet pellets on the lawn you can count up to 5 within a short period of time.

Lovely birds and song.
They will actually fight to the death though.
Plentiful food in our garden, so they share the nuts and fatballs with all the Blue Tits and others we get quite happily.
They gang up on Magpies though, and the Magpies always give up and fuck off.🤣
 
Kingfishers are the same marra, over territory. They will literally drown each other.
That makes sense, they'd need to defend their food source to survive. I know a bloke who'll use a caged magpie to lure other magpies close so he can shoot them. The caged magpie often dies from stress when a mischief of magpies (always wanted to use that in a sentence) turns up to defend their territory.
 
Last couple of weeks I have seen what I take to be a bird of prey chasing birds over the river next to the stadium of light.

It is gingery Brown, with a fan shaped tail, seems to terrify other birds and can't half shift. Once it was sitting on a fence post and watched me cycle past giving me a look of complete indifference, which was fair enough.

Any ideas?

Seem to remember someone posting a picture of a peregrine falcon nesting in the SoL could be a possibility
 
Loads of goldfinches in our garden this year,never had them before.One pair are nesting in the tree by the bifolds.

I’ve been putting sunflower seeds out constantly without the shells on,I think that’s the magic that’s brought them here.
They are becoming common here too. One of the few birdcalls I know, if you listen out for it. Somewhere between a chirp and a warble. It always reminds me of those daft whistles you could get as a kid that you put water in.
 
Disaster this morning, got up and all is quiet in the garden, just about to go to work and I see the Robins flying backwards and forwards across the garden. When I looked out there's a fox chewing on something next to the Robins nest so I rush outside and the fox bolts. The fox had dropped a chewed up baby Robin and the nest was empty. Pictures to follow when I get home from work.
 
Disaster this morning, got up and all is quiet in the garden, just about to go to work and I see the Robins flying backwards and forwards across the garden. When I looked out there's a fox chewing on something next to the Robins nest so I rush outside and the fox bolts. The fox had dropped a chewed up baby Robin and the nest was empty. Pictures to follow when I get home from work.
No pictures needed marra.
Very sad news mate.😔
 
Gutted, only 3 or 4 days away from fledging. Hopefully some jumped the nest and hid in the undergrowth.
 
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