of birds and bees

I have finally processed some of the photos of Redwings in Margravine Cemetery I took on a sunny 17th January.









After 2 months 1/2, nearly 3 now, of their presence, I shall miss the little fellows when they leave. It's been difficult to find them the past 2 days. I would initially find a few up in a tree, sometime singing, then a few more, and then they would finally end up on the ground looking for worms. That part they prefer, between Barons Court and Queens Club, will seem empty.



I felt very much under the weather today, but it looked so nice that I went and spent an hour in Margravine Cemetery. Primarily to check on the Redwings, then on the Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I haven't found yet if and where they've decided to nest this year, but they gave me fantastic views today. I even had them both in the same tree for a few minutes. First the male:


Then the female. First in a fairly classic pose:

Then a more unusual angle:


Then, I think I have been spotted:

That didn't distract her from finding food:

Even trying her best Blue Tit impression:


Lastly, the sunshine on the crocuses, now in full bloom:


And on one of those crocuses, a bumblebee, covered in pollen! I actually saw 2 today.

What did I do in May? (Part 2)

I did spend some time trying to find the great spotted woodpeckers'nest. I had been looking for their new nest for a while, but without result. As it happens, I was looking in the wrong place...
On 13th May, I was awaken shortly before 6 by a call I had not heard in the back gardens for a long time. I quickly got up and checked: yes, a woodpecker was on the suet cake feeder on the balcony. Considering last year they had only visited when feeding their chicks, I think it is fair to assume that their chick(s) had hatched, which means that they should fledge about now.
After that first visit, at least the male became a daily visitor, initially only to the fat feeder, but then it discovered there were mealworms on offer... It initially couldn't figure out the feeder, but would take some from the dishes I also leave for them, one under the feeder and one on our bathroom window sill. The following 2 photos were taken on 27th May (through the window) and as you can see the hard work has been taking its toll, it was looking rather bedraggled (though still quite handsome imo):



(I have seen it take up to 10 at once)

Then a few days ago, it finally figured out how to get mealworms out of the feeder. Initially, only from the left hand side, but then also from the right hand side like on the photo below:


It is quite comical at times watching it as it often drops a few on a window sill below, to the delights of the tits who pick them up while their access to the feeder is blocked! [though I have seen one at least lose patience and get in on the other side]


Now, the nest. Since we could hear the chicks from a fair distance away last year I thought that I'd find it by listening carefully. I looked in the most remote parts, where I had seen them calling, getting insects (at one point I spotted the male pecking at the ground, which looked odd until I looked more closely once it had gone: it was an old tree stump), drumming... Nothing. Then, on 24th, a neighbour mentioned that she'd heard a strange call, repetitive, sounding like the woodpecker chicks last year while passing in the cemetery. In a spot I had not really checked as it is in a rather busy area. But almost as soon as I got there, the male arrived with food and 'directed' me the nest. No wonder I had not found it by sound, I had to be right in line with it to hear anything, and the hole being quite high, and probably the chicks quite low down, the sound was, albeit unmistakable, quite faint.

As of this lunchtime, the chick(s) was/were still in the nest; I managed to catch one just as Dad arrived with food: