One of the main things which made us buy our house on Rutland Road 19 years ago, was having the canal at the bottom of our garden, and the variety of birds which live on and around it.  Over the years we have seen countless broods of coots, moorhens, ducklings, moorhens, cygnets and moorhens hatch, and leave the nest. (Moorhens do have a lot of broods.)

We also get a variety of birds in the garden, and my husband has persuaded me that people might be interested to hear about them!

Last summer we had several nests in and around the garden - wrens, robins, bluetits and a very territorial blackbird.  This spring we seem to be attracting more chaffinches and greenfinches, and I think we have spotted the same over protective blackbird that regularly dive bombed us last year.  We also have a song thrush who's been singing every morning and evening from various vantage points around, which we're hoping will nest nearby.  This bird is actually ringed, and as I don't know anything about this, maybe someone could tell me why this would have been done, and possibly by who?

We also get a pair of blackcap warblers who visit us each winter (I first noticed them five years ago).  They arrive in December, and are always seen in the same bushes in the garden.  I last saw the male in the front garden around two weeks ago, which is the latest I've ever noticed him stay - maybe because of the late Spring?

Last Spring we saw flocks of waxwings in the lime trees on Rutland Road, which was quite amazing.

We recently had cause to phone the RSPCA about the female swan nesting near our garden.  She appeared to be quite unwell for a number of days, and it took several phone calls before anything happened.  She has now 'disappeared' and we're presuming the RSPCA have taken her away for treatment (we don't seem able to get any information from them).  Anyway, the male is still here alone, so hopefully she'll be returned to him soon.

This weekend we saw lots of swallows down at Holme Pierrepont, although we don't get them overhead at home anymore - they stopped coming about three years ago - although we will still get swifts in a couple of weeks time, and I look forward to that.

If you are interested in birds and their doings the web is teeming with info, and this is a good place to start http://www.rspb.org.uk  .

 

 

 

Till the next time, The Rutland Road Bird Blogger