Colin and Clarissa

For the avoidance of doubt, all cock pheasants are called Colin, and all female pheasants are called Clarissa. It’s just the way things are.

Lost more birdsong, and the appearance of a mirror that is destined for a Tip Run. In the meantime, Colin has issues. I won’t deny it, I feel a bit bad about that. But it’s outweighed by the amusement factor.

And there’s a new cat. An unknown unknown. There’s our three, then a few locals we recognise … and a new floof.

There’s a hoolit loose, aboot this hoose

We often hear them, but rarely see them. Apart from this footage from the trailcam from the recent snowy weather. I find it slightly alarming to look at, but knowing the owl is where the water is, (or an unfortunate rodent looking for same water), I’m assuming everything is ok.

Redwings in the snow

It was in March 2018 when I saw my first redwing. The Beast from the East brought a blast of snow to Durham and suddenly there were strange birds in the garden. We had fieldfares too, and peering at the photos I realise I struggle to distinguish a fieldfare from a redwing from a song thrush. But I’m pretty sure they were all at the party.

And now three years on I have a trailcam and I’m browsing through the video clips. It’s snowing again, and the redwings are back again. And blackbirds. Lots and lots and lots of blackbirds. And a hoolit. Out of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Everyone needs a drink of water it seems.

Business as usual on the trailcam

19 Nov 2020 to 01 Dec 2020

A new spot for the trailcam. I decided to see how much it would see on the bird feeders. It took a few attempts as it’s quite hard to find a decent mount point, that’s stable and doesn’t blow around in the wind. It’s been an interesting diversion but on the whole not as interesting as I thought. Focus is problematic as the camera often wants to focus on the distance as the birds are two small. Squirrels seem ok!

Another complication was noticeable if the camera was tilted up a little. I think condensation or water is more likely to cover the lens when it’s angled upwards and this messes up the picture quality.

That aside, not a lot of surprises. Nice if you like squirrels. Grey ones. The occasional magpie, woodpecker and sometimes a nice flurry of tree sparrows. But on the whole no drama.