Guess who's coming to dinner

[outney bill]

.... and the sap's rising !:)

[SRD]

.... and the sap's rising !:)

Have you been on the little blue pills again? :smilielol5:

[outney bill]

Have you been on the little blue pills again? :smilielol5:

No , not after what happened before !.


see ya !

[jrdavis50]

Saw a couple of Goldfinches on the feeders today and a lizard on the porch rail. Maybe it's safe to start pulling things out of the greenhouse.

[SRD]

I've been studying my books to identify a visitor to the dense shrubbery outside our kitchen window. A dull red 'cap', narrow probing beak, uninteresting grey/brown plumage, somewhat larger than the goldcrests that often visit there. The nearest I can get is a female blackcap but I think it was a bit too small and anyway it's a bit early for them to be visiting.

[Fudged]

I've been studying my books to identify a visitor to the dense shrubbery outside our kitchen window. A dull red 'cap', narrow probing beak, uninteresting grey/brown plumage, somewhat larger than the goldcrests that often visit there. The nearest I can get is a female blackcap but I think it was a bit too small and anyway it's a bit early for them to be visiting.

I've read about several visitors, including blackcap, taking up residence in the south. The RSPB estimate numbers at 3,000. Still a summer visitor up here though. Any distinctive song? There's been a fair amount of discussion in recent years about how the increase in garden feeding is starting to change the bird population.

[SRD]

I've read about several visitors, including blackcap, taking up residence in the south. The RSPB estimate numbers at 3,000. Still a summer visitor up here though. Any distinctive song? There's been a fair amount of discussion in recent years about how the increase in garden feeding is starting to change the bird population.

I haven't noticed a song, although the books say it's pretty distinctive. I must dig out my birdsong CD and see if the blackcap is on it.
We don't actually feed the birds but there is quite a variety of 'natural' feeds in the garden and my lack of husbandry means there are plenty of dense, shrubby areas for birds to forage.

[jools]

It could be a more than usually russety spadger(a dunnock), I suppose. They are always underneath things.

[SRD]

It could be a more than usually russety spadger(a dunnock), I suppose. They are always underneath things.

No, we do have dunnocks and this has a much more obvious 'cap', as Fudged said that they are now over-wintering here I suspect it is a blackcap, we already have little egrets over-wintering locally so it wouldn't be that odd to find blackcaps as well.

[basketbob]

No, we do have dunnocks and this has a much more obvious 'cap', as Fudged said that they are now over-wintering here I suspect it is a blackcap, we already have little egrets over-wintering locally so it wouldn't be that odd to find blackcaps as well.

We saw something similar when we were out a week or so ago SRD, and the only thing we could find anywhere near it in the book and on the RSPB Site was a dunnock, but it didn't look like our usual ones, of which we have lots. The dunnocks we have at home are very strongly striped, whereas this one was much paler.