More Garden Birds

It's Jacob's last week before he goes to school so we have been hanging around the Old Vicarage doing family stuff. Once the local authority have him to start he's conditioning I'll be free to start implementing my birding autumn plan. Bulgaria have red-listed UK and still no change there so not looking good for the September trip and as Holly will be eight months pregnant in October so probably not a good idea for me to be on a mid-Atlantic island. Might be another UK based autumn (which I really enjoyed last year).

So just a bit of garden birding lately (did do Thursday evening at Beddington Farmlands; Barn Owl, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Green Sands, Yellow-legged Gull etc) and some garden mothing and wildlife gardening. The tit flock continue to be outside the office window, no further sign of the Spotted Flycatcher but Blackcap this morning, the odd Yellow Wagtail migrating over, House Martins and Swallows (no Swifts round here but still a few at Beddington).    

Adult Blue Tit 

Juvenile Chiffchaff

Adult Chiffchaff

First-calendar year Willow Warbler 

Adult Green Woodpecker 

Robin 

Common Buzzard in the large boundary Spruce tree

Bordered Beauty- don't get many of these

Centre-barred Sallow- it's official mid autumn is here 

We let the broccoli go over and sacrificed it to Large and Small White Butterflies. Started see strange behaviour from the caterpillars, walking up walls, dying there and then this appearing. Turns out its the tiny wasp Cotesia glomerata, a parasite that body snatches the caterpillars, lays eggs inside them and then the caterpillars dig their way out and pupate next to the corpse.

We have juiced up at least eight litres of apple juice from the apple tree

A few empty beds now, I sowed some onion seeds in the green house which we might be able to put out as sets in the Spring. Rest of the beds are going to sleep for the winter now.