I've had 2 friends visiting for the last 3 days, but I was still keeping an eye on the wildlife around my patch. On Monday, I found a small hatchling on the driveway under the "Leylandii" conifers. It was still alive but I didnt fancy its chances of survival. I got the ladders out and dug around for its nest but there are many nests dotted around this hedgerow and I couldnt find an occupied one. The chick was so underdeveloped that we couldnt even ID it. Dunnocks, robins, greenfinches, chaffinch, song thrush, blackbirds and collared doves have all nested in this thick tree over the years.
We kept the chick warm and fed it tiny worms for 24 hours. Then I got out the bigger ladders and started looking again. As soon as I got up about 9 feet up, a greenfinch flew straight at me. I found a shallow-cupped nest with 4 or 5 other similar sized chicks. I dropped our chick in with them and watched as the adult returned. She seemed to accept it, so I hope its ok. It must be the first greenfinch to spent 24 hours indoors, eating worms instead of seeds!
On Tuesday I saw a Juv/female redstart in the back field. A patch first (my patch covers the garden and most of Barrow) for me and I even thought it was a black redstart at first, as I only managed fleeting views. The owls refused to show themselves to Ricky and Marjorie (my visitors), but we did find that our female mallard now has 7 chicks. Shes been walking around, with them following, and has covered quite a distance. She started up in "owl corner", then 300m down the brook to the front pond and even in the back pond and patio.
Here they are -
(Click photos to enlarge)
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