Tuesday 5 May 2009

Close Encounters of a Bird (and Bloom) Kind


Louis relaxing in the garden while we worked!

I was hoping to get a posting out before now but have only had an intermittent broadband connection over the last few days. I have also been desperately trying to catch up with some much needed gardening and unfortunately when HLH mowed the lawn a few days ago the mower finally succumbed to old age and died and as it would have been silly to buy a new one and store it in the wood pile, which was previously a shack but started out as a garden shed, it became apparent it was finally time to do something about it! So this weekend saw us clearing everything out and dismantling it. What a lovely way to spend a Bank holiday weekend! Anyway due to all that I haven't had much time for watching the birds or taking photos. So most of the pictures on this post were taken within the last three weeks.



While enjoying one of our regular dog walks a couple of weeks ago I stopped to look at the Canada Geese on the local fishing lake.



I took a couple of photos but as it was late and the light was going I switched the camera off and put it in the bag. As soon as I did and started to move away I became aware of a huge kerfuffle going on and hurriedly got the camera out again. Someone was clearly not happy!


Indeed, getting quite stroppy!


Time to up the ante!


and get a little more forceful!


Mission accomplished!


Just after that encounter as the light was getting even dimmer I saw these Wood Pigeons enjoying an encounter of a different kind, but which seemed to deteriorate slightly!


How about a little kiss and cuddle.


Just a little peck!


Oh go on then.


Just one more please?


What do you mean this is boring.


Don't you dare walk away when I'm talking to you!


That's it then I'm not speaking to you!

Wood Pigeons always seem very comical birds to me, I photographed these in the garden.






This Blackbird looked me in the eye.


Down to business, it's lunchtime.



The Speckled Wood butterfly below flatly refused to spread its wings for me!


All of the photos below were taken over the last couple of weeks by HLH while giving the dog his lunchtime stroll.


White Bluebells


Cherry Blossom


Red Campion


Dandelion Clock


Gorse

34 comments:

  1. What a lovely post Jan. Your garden shed removal sounds such a familiar situation - one thing happens and several episodes later an entirely different job is undertaken to enable everything else in the chain to happen! Good luck with finding a new lawn mower.

    Great pictures by you and HLH and yes, the Canada Geese are so aggressive at this time of the year.

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  2. Two lovely sequence sets there Jan. Plus all the other good photos. The cherry blossom has been really beautiful this year.
    Louis isn't relaxing, he is very busy checking to see what you have to do next.
    Your mower saga reminds me I have to replace the starter cord on mine before it snaps again.

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  3. Tricia, thank you for the lovely comments.

    The new shed is long overdue and we needed something to spur us into action so probably it was a good thing that the mower died, we had had it for some years so it owed us nothing.

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  4. John, thanks for the very generous comments. I think the cherry blossom and indeed all the tree blossom has been extra good this year.

    If I remember correctly Louis was hoping to find pieces of the birds' fatball which was hanging above him, he had already tried climbing up the trunk!!

    I assume from your comment you have a petrol mower, I think we may go that way after years of electric ones.

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  5. What beautiful photos!! Love all of them!!

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  6. Ginny, thanks, you are very kind.

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  7. Lovely pics shy songbird, especially the ones of the blackbirds, i just love them! karen x

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  8. More beautiful photographs,love the blackie with the worm.
    Sheila

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  9. Yes Jan, a petrol mower. I gave up lugging cables around a few years ago.

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  10. What a delightful post Jan.....

    You did make me laugh re shed removal. It took me back to when we moved here and took one down in the middle of January during a gale. It was great fun, not....

    The wood pigeons are funny....we have had lots of cooing here. Love your commentary, reminded me of my Mum and Dad actually, especially the last line......

    You have some lovely photographs, and I enjoyed viewing everyone of them....thank you....


    Have a good week.......

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  11. Great set of pictures there ShySongbird, and have to agree about the Wood Pigeons. Very comical; they always remind me of a football when they amble round the garden.

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  12. Lovely photos Jan, removing the shed sounds very familiar to me too, I plan on getting rid of ours some day as it is horrible but as always there are other priorities to see to first.

    I love the BB eating, we've been finding some huge worms recently and I also discovered they have wonderful colours when the sun shines on them! Green, Blue etc - no really!! :)

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  13. Hi Jan.
    I like you storytelling that you put with your photo's. Although Jan, it's quite possible that the Pigeons were talking about, or having a joke at the expense of the pretty lady with the camera. what do you think?
    I would normally go for your bird photo's but in this instance I think I prefer your flora pictures. For me to pick them over birds is quite something.
    Nice blog.

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  14. Dear Jan,
    I enjoyed seeing all your birds and blooms. I also have many gardening projects going on. I almost need a rainy day so I can catch up inside!
    Good luck with the shed removal.
    Lots of work but you will be pleased once all is tidy again.
    It is a joy to see your butterflies.
    Thank you for all your photographs.
    Namaste,
    Sherry

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  15. Hi again ShySongbird:-)I agree with many of the comments above, as you know I enjoy the odd bit of commentary myself ;-) Loved yours with the photo sequences, the Wood pigeons reminded me of a couple of Jackdaws I caught on video last year. I think you got their chat spot on ;-)

    Please tell HLH I especially liked his red campion shot too. Ours are nowhere near having flowering stems at the moment. I loved your Canada geese shots especially as I have only noticed one with a large group of greylag up here. This was a treat to see :-D

    Ah… the familiar shed saga. Hope you find one you like. We searched for ages and also put of buying a new one year after year. Thanks, you’ve just reminded me we need to give ours another coat of protective treatment :-o

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  16. Karen, thank you very much for your kind comments. I always think a UK garden just wouldn't be a garden without Blackbirds.

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  17. Sheila, thank you, the Blackbird was thoroughly enjoying its lunch but I don't think the poor old worm was quite so happy!

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  18. John, after HLH recently cut through the cord of the hedge trimmer it's rather put us off electric tools!

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  19. Cheryl, thank you so much for your lovely comments. It is a relief to have got rid of what was left of the shed, it had become totally unfit for purpose and was an eyesore, although luckily was hidden behind a bush!

    You made me smile with your comment about your Mum and Dad. :-D

    I hope you have a lovely week too.

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  20. Keith, thank you very much. Your analogy of the football is a good one and they certainly do amble!

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  21. Liz, thank you. We had put it off far too long. Hopefully the next one will last a goodly while.

    I shall have to take a closer look at the worm colours, apparently as a small child I was very fond of carrying them into the house for my parents inspection!! That doesn't seem quite so appealing now. ;-D

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  22. Ken, thank you for the very kind comments, the pigeons certainly did seem to be keeping a close eye on me in some of the photos, what a shame I can't understand pigeon language! Then again I might not have liked what I heard!

    HLH is very pleased about your comments on the flower pics as he took those.

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  23. What a lovely collection of photos...enjoyed the stories told through the pictures! Hope your lawnmower problem gets resolved...I'm
    afraid ours might not start for it is very old. D hasn't mowed yet this year so we'll see....

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  24. Sherry, Namaste. Thank you so much for visiting again and for your lovely comments. You are so right, when the new shed is up it will have been worth the work, as someone not keen on upheaval and disruption that is a thought worth keeping in mind.

    It is lovely to have the butterflies back again there seem to be quite a lot about this time which is lovely as the last two years they suffered here in the UK due to adverse weather conditions.

    Good luck with your garden projects.

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  25. Shirl, Thank you so much for your generous comments. I'm so glad you liked the post as it was rather hastily put together and I hadn't many photos available.

    I shall be glad when we get the new shed now as all the tools are piled in the garden and covered with plastic sheets, luckily we haven't had too much rain but the strong winds keep moving the sheets.

    We have quite a lot of Canada Geese in this area but where those particular ones were photographed there has been a rather worrying development, which I may mention in a future post.

    HLH says thank you very much for the comment on his photo, our Campions in England must be further advanced than yours, even though I believe you have had some pretty good weather up your way.

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  26. Nan, thank you so much for visiting again and for your kind comments.

    We will definitely have to replace the lawnmower before too long as the grass will soon need cutting again. I do hope your mower cooperates for D when it is time for the first cut.

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  27. Sounds like you had a lot of Bank Holiday fun, I'm sure all the hard work will be worth it.
    Wonderful photographs. We sometimes have a wood pigeon land on out bird table and it never fails to startle me as to how big they actually are.

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  28. Re, thank you. I think when the new shed is up and everything in place it will feel quite satisfying.

    The Wood Pigeons really are big and eat such a lot too! I have a metal pole feeding station in addition to the bird table and when they land on it the drinking water goes everywhere!

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  29. Well done HLH on the flora shots. I'm sure the improved blossom we have & are seeing this spring is directly related to all that wet weather last year.
    Lovely dialogue as usual Jan.
    Lol FAB

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  30. Frank, thank you and from HLH too. I think you could be right about all the rain, there really has been a wonderful abundance of blossom this time.

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  31. I do love to see pictures of the gorgeous Louis! :0)
    Your pictures are as beautiful as ever!
    I hope the robin did survive; I hate to see animals suffering too.
    I am so glad it’s not just me that knows what animals are saying too each over, the wood pigeons looked so cute.
    Love Lou xxx

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  32. Lou, thanks for the lovely comments. I do hope your Robin survived but I'm not sure I would have dared ask either and at least you and your Mum know you did all you could for it.
    The Wood Pigeons did look sweet and it did seem like it all ended in some sort of tiff! Louis says thank you very much for calling him gorgeous!
    Lots of love and XXXX to you and Poppy.

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  33. ...funny story line covering the Wood Pigeons! They remind me of our Mourning Doves. And...gorgeous flowers!

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  34. Kelly, thanks so much for your very kind comments. The Wood Pigeons are very comical birds I always think, especially when they waddle around the garden and start arguing with each other!

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