Sparrowhawk

While we were doing the changeover at the cottage yesterday we noticed this magnificent sparrowhawk sitting in the aspen tree outside the lounge window. He was watching the bird feeders along the fence with anticipation but all the birds had seen him coming and were well away. He stayed for a while and dried himself off by fluffing out his tail feathers. The male sparrowhawk is quite smaller than the female of the species which is rather unusual in animal life.
While we were at the cottage we had arranged for two new bathroom blinds and a new vertical blind to be fitted in the main bedroom. As we were taking down the old fittings in the master bedroom a red squirrel ran along the fence during an interval in the showers and munched away at the peanut feeders. Unfortunately the fitter drew up in his van and this noise was enough to scare away Cyril the squirrel...but at least they are still about.

Where have all the sunflowers gone ?

Every morning lately we are greeted with the high pitched squeaking noise of a swarm of siskin finches waiting for the sunflower heart feeders to be topped up. They wait noisily in the nearby trees until I replenish the feeders and then they attach themselves for dear life to the roundabout nearly biting my hand off in the process. The rather scraggy speckled youngsters make the highest pitched noise. We've had to buy another feeder as our regular popular visitor is Cyril the squirrel who scares the birds away by his sheer size and acrobatic skills. We have a stream of squirrels visit during the day but they all go by the name of Cyril. As you can see the red squirrels shed their lovely long ear tufts once a year in early Summer. In late Autumn they grow a thicker darker Winter coat and grow their characteristic long ear tufts to help keep the warmth in. The squirrels are very impatient and will try the nut feeders as well as the bird table for anything else to eat until the catering service is open for business.
Fascinating red squirrel facts

Greenfinch.

Just when we thought that Spring was around the corner the weather this week has been alternating between rain and snow. At the moment you cannot see across to the other side of Loch Ness as the blizzard is almost horizontal with the strong winds. It is about 3C but the good news is that double figures are forecast for Wednesday so we might be able to escape for a day out then. We had a pre-arranged appointment with a person from VisitScotland last week and after a lengthy look everywhere in the cottage we were told that we merited a top 4 star award. We also had a visit from a greenfinch on the nut feeders which was a bit more exciting and much more relaxing. The chaffinch seemed a little bit intimidated by him and that menacing powerful beak. In this weather the birds and squirrels need feeding more than ever as their natural food source has not hatched yet. Purchased a 25kg sack of peanuts which should keep the wildlife going for a while.