• RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2023

    Birds in the Garden As I sit here, writing at my computer, my feeders are once again attracting wild birds but, so far, not in the same numbers that I saw them last year, when they could be spotted waiting their turn in the bushes and trees in the garden. Right through the winter, so far, I have seen far fewer birds than last year and more singletons that don’t seem to be paired up yet. In fact, I have rarely needed to replenish the feeders. I am wondering if this is another symptom of the decline in our garden birds, or is it because, last summer, I stopped putting…

  • Christmas Garden Birds

    Oh my, have we had some bad weather up here! We’ve had such a lot of dark midwinter weather, rain, wind and precious few days with any bright light to speak of. Consequently, my bird photography has been very hit and miss for a few weeks…in fact, all the birds disappeared from the garden for about three weeks in November…and I can only suppose that there were berries enough and to spare on the many hawthorn and holly bushes around here and possibly lots of seeds in the fields next to our house. Then suddenly they all returned and with hearty appetites too…so, we’re back in business. Then, two weeks…

  • Summer Birds

    My lock-down diary continues...with galleries of adult and juvenile birds in the garden, summer 2020, in the 5th and 6th months of isolation. I am not sure if it's the reduced air pollution or how I'm feeding them that is bringing so many birds to the garden this year.

  • Birds May 2016 Pikelow Farm

    Nature photography is becoming addictive. This could be my last visit to the hide at Pikelow for a while…as there should be plenty of insects around in the next few weeks to occupy my lens and my time…while many of the birds will undergo their summer moult. I’ve had a look through the shots that I took last week and chosen a few favourites…when I get a chance, I’ll do a better processing on some of them and print a few of the best ones.

  • Spring Birds

    I was able to spend a few hours in a bird hide at Pikelow recently. This is a great way to observe bird behaviour and get away from it all for a few hours. We had a fine day with short spells of sunlight, making for some pleasing light on the birds at times. The owner, David, has now built two more hides and put in some pools at Cow Lane and the Summer Hide. Whilst the birds were not as plentiful as we had hoped, blue tits were in abundance. I find blue tits quite difficult to photograph as they seem to fly briefly to a perch before swooping…

error: © Christine Widdall - Kirklees Cousins