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Autumn Bird-capades

My garden is a hive of bird activity at the moment. The Starlings are loving the berries on the massive Willow-like Shinus that stands in the front garden and at any given time during the day there seem to be about thirty to forty of them there at a time, eating the red berries and swooping down to my pond for a drink from the bird baths and a swim. They chatter non-stop and we love hearing their continuous chirping as we work. (The Pepper and Pond are directly outside the office).

But it can also be quite distracting. I’ve shown the location of the pond with the bird baths before in this post. If I turn my head 45 degrees to the left I see two of the three baths and the starlings have been taking turns playing and drinking here for the last few days. At any given time there are at least two birds on each bath with a few others on the ledges or darting back up into the tree to grab a few more of the red berries they seem to love.

A short, 35 second video of the Starlings this afternoon:

And a couple of shots of the Starlings …

[one_half]Starling on the Pond ledgeStarlings at the Pond[/one_half]

[one_half_last]At the bird bathAt the bird bath[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The berries they loveThe berries they love[/one_half]

[one_half_last]More fun at the bathsMore fun at the baths[/one_half_last]

[one_half]In the massive Pepper treeIn the massive Pepper tree[/one_half]

[one_half_last]With the favoured red berriesWith the favoured red berries[/one_half_last]

And in other Birdie News …

[one_half]Cape Bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis).Cape Bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis)[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Even the big birds drink hereEven the bigger birds drink here[/one_half_last]

[one_half]My favourite, the SunbirdMy favourite, the Sunbird[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And two little WitoogiesAnd two little Witoogies[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Coming in to land …Coming in to land ...[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cute little witoogie (white-eye)Cute little witoogie (white-eye)[/one_half_last]

Those are my Autum Bird-capades! The Starlings have taken over the front garden and in exchange for their delightful company all day, they leave quite a mess behind!

Birds in other Gardens …

I’ve been enjoying all the birds I’ve been seeing on other gardening blogs lately too. Some of my favourite “Bird” posts include …

Bird Rescue Board from It’s Not Work, It’s Gardening; The Niagra Falls Garden Magazine from Garden Walk, Garden Talk; Brush Piles are for the Birds by The Sage Butterfly; The Malachite Sunbird Babies by Barbie of The Gardening Blog; BlogSpot for the Birds by Elephant’s Eye; Hawkweed for Weavers at Beautiful Wildlife Gardens; Sweet little birds, outside my window by This Grandmothers Garden; Bird Counting by Gardens Eye View; A Bit of Bird Watching by A Rose is A Rose; The Bluejays by Crafty Gardener; Time to count Birds by Pam’s English Cottage Garden; We Have Owls! by The Whimsical Gardener, What a Hoot! by Las Aventuras … and there really are at least a hundred more.

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve shared your birds on your blog and leave a link to your post! Would love to share your birds …

Happy Gardening
xxx

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By Christine

Dominated by large trees on a medium sized property, my garden is very shaded. With no “full sun” areas I have to plant shade and partial shade loving plants. I love shrubs and flowers including camellias and azaleas but Roses and Irises are my favourite and getting these to thrive is a challenge …

22 replies on “Autumn Bird-capades”

The chorus of bird song in your garden sounds wonderful in your video! We’ve been looking at water feature/bird bath ideas recently. We have a lot of birds, but often only hear them, not see them, as they’re hiding in all the trees. My hopes are that some moving water in the garden will help to draw them out.

The bird video is such an AMAZING idea !!! I love this !! Will also give it a try!! 🙂
WOW! You have amazing birds! The Witoogies are my favourite!! 🙂

Thank you, Christine for mentioning one of my bird posts. I very much enjoyed your video. Birds are very popular on garden blogs as they really go hand in hand with gardens, and are so fun to watch.

You know, I think the birds easily bring as much joy as the blooms! I enjoy seeing the variety of birds throughout the world on other blogs…thanks for the list, Christine. Hopefully, we’ll have some baby owls to share in the next month or so…

Looks like the birds really appreciate your garden! Doesn’t that give you such a sense of satisfaction? I love seeing and hearing the birds, but we don’t feed them – with cats around that would be a cruel trick! Loved seeing all the different birds in your garden, though!

Hi Holley – I have a cat too but he is way too lazy now to chase the birds :). He couldn’t reach the bird baths and the bird feeders are all well out of his reach, just in case – and I’m actually more concerned that my dogs might think its fun to chase birds, so all the “birdy things’ are well out of feline and canine reach.

Those certainly arent’ the “Starlings” that we have! 🙂

Everybody with a garden blog should post a video like this: just set up a camera, show a minute or two of “nothing special”, and let us feel like we’re sitting there with you. Hear the birds, the wind, the street traffic (if applicable) — just get a sense of what the space is like.

(It seems like you recorded that through a window, but you get the idea)

I was thinking the same thing … was also thinking it might be fun if someone started a monthly or seasonal “wildlife” meme.

Yes, it was taken through a window because the pond is too close to my desk – they don’t descend on the pond en mass when I have the door open and I wanted to take the little video for the blog. 🙂

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