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Happy gardening!

Monday 30 August 2010

A table for 1...

Unaware of a personal booking for this little surprise visitor at the bird table yesterday late afternoon I was very fortunate that this little Woodmouse hung around long enough for a few photos!!  I've never seen one on the bird table let alone during daylight hours - I thought these were traditionally nocturnal creatures!?

Living in the Brittany countryside in France is never short of surprises!

This was another surprise that I was lucky enough to spot with my camera at hand - this Heron was perched in the massively tall Poplar tree at the bottom of the woodland next to the stream.
Another bit of excitement that I had recently, was to see the return of the Nuthatches (after not seeing them here for nearly 1.5 years) - 3 in total were spotted but on the whole there appears to be a pair regularly visiting the nutfeeders.  They're fantastic little birds and very entertaining - typically feeding upside down on the feeders unlike most other birds.

And finally to complete this story - one that could have been disastrous for this poor little fellow who I discovered in our woodburner in the sitting room - I could hear a weird nose from the kitchen so went to investigate only to discover he or she had fallen down the flue of our stove and there it was madly tapping the glass of the door of the stove with its beak - so glad I was around to help!  Anyway - I opened the doors to the garden and opened up the stove door and the little bird only flew straight towards the window and knocked itself out cold.  I was v. concerned to say the least - picked it up and it lay in my hand and decided to walk outside and it started to come back to life.  I reckoned the safest place to let him recover was within the confines of the bird table and there he sat on the railing watching all the other birds coming and going - he was very young and probably not quite ready to leave the nest but having gone away to make a cup of tea, I returned to find his perch empty and he was no where to be seen so can only believe that he was off and away and off to start his life somewhere...

Do hope you're all having a good week and are enjoying more of the sunny warm weather that has returned this last 2 days...

15 comments:

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Charming visitors, the picture of the heron is amazing. The little bird was so lucky to be rescued, I hope he doesn't make the same mistake again!

Midmarsh John said...

Great photos of your mouse visitor. I have only ever seen them visit the feeding area at night. It must have been hungry.
Lovely photos also of the nuthatches. A bird I have not seen yet.
Great the little bird had a happy ending. Well rescued.

The Wessex Reiver said...

Hi Miranda, a lovely set of photos. Nuthatch on feeders are a treat I'll not have - not enough cover around my garden sadly. Hope the little chap survived his ordeal down the chimney. Andrew

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

I am so glad you were able to rescue that little fledging. I've never seen or even heard of a huthatch before. That little wood mouse looks so cute. I loved looking through all your wonderful photos today Miranda and the weather has improved here too only the first frost arrived on Sunday night aswell.

FAB said...

I have occasionally seen our resident Mouse clambering on one of the feeders..intrepid little fellows. How exciting to see the Nuthatches back. Thank goodness the Blue Tit knew how to tap out 'morse code' and now hopefully safely restored to its own world.

A nice run of sunshine but the daylight hours are shortening so change is on its way. FAB.

Helen Lewis said...

Great photography! The mouse on the birdfeeder is my favorite!

What a timely rescue for the little bird in the flue. It's good that it's not the mouse that went in there. :)

Miranda Bell said...

Dear all - Saturday morning catch up on my blog - thank you all so much for your comments - especially appreciated seeing as I've not been a very active blogger recently!

Rebecca - thanks so much - I hope he doesn't make the same mistake - we did infact rescue another which had done the same thing earlier this year so will need to keep an ear open for the tapping!

Midmarsh John - it's great having the nuthatches back again - it's very odd as they seem to do one year on, one year off as far as visiting this garden - they do like plenty of tree cover which they certainly get here... hope that you manage to see one - they're great little birds - a bit like Rambo when it comes to the bird table as most other birds seem to keep their distance!

Andrew - many thanks - we're so lucky having the nuthatch - hopefully they'll stay and nest again next year... time will tell.

Leavesn'bloom - thanks too for your lovely comments - I'm surprised that you don't get nuthatches up in your neck of the woods and also that you've had a frost already... bit early even for Scotland?

Early Birder - glad you enjoyed the pics - never a dull day when you live in the countryside is there! As you say the evenings are definitely drawing in - can't leave doing my watering as late as I have... never mind - weather still very warm (27degrees) and dry at the moment - have a good weekend.

Helen Lewis - I think this is your first posting on my blog - a warm welcome and so pleased you liked the pics - do visit again!

Hope you all have a FAB weekend and will visit soon - promise Mx

ShySongbird said...

Hi Miranda, so nice to be able to catch up with you and all the goings on in your lovely garden :)

The little mouse is so sweet and I am very envious of the Nuthatch, I have never seen one in my garden :(

Am I right in thinking this is not the first time you have had a little bird fall down the flue of your woodburner? I am so glad it appeared to have a happy outcome :)

debsgarden said...

Hi Miranda! I am glad the little bird was able to be saved from your stove. We once had a nest of baby squirrels fall down our chimney into the fireplace, which fortunately was unlit. It was a challenge getting them reunited with Mom!

I have spent a few minutes catching up on your last few postings. Your garden was very beautiful this summer. I hope you enjoyed it as much as all the delightful feathered friends and the cute little mouse. I am glad that September has arrived. Our weather has been perfect the last few days. The scorching heat and humidity have lifted!

Miranda Bell said...

Shysongbird - so sorry to take so long in replying to your message - thanks so much. You are right - this is the second little blue tit that I've rescued from here this year - maybe there was a nest further up the chimney? Do hope you're having a good summer yourself - am going away tomorrow for the week to help out on a garden tour in Northern Brittany which should be fun so hopefully I'll be back blogging on my return. - Have a good week - Miranda x

Miranda Bell said...

Hi Debsgarden - thanks so much for your lovely comments - I'm sorry I've been rather slow in replying - work has taken over this week and am away all this next week helping on garden tour. Hopefully on my return as the autumn/winter approaches I'll get a bit more time to Blog! Have a good week and enjoy the cooler weather - Mirandax

Chrissie said...

Really sweet photo of the mouse :-)

Sandra E Chubb said...

More brilliant photos, Miranda. I love the mouse and the silhouette of the heron in your tree.

Thanks so much for your help this afternoon with getting me posting again. Good to have my own personal blogging guru!

Sandra

Miranda Bell said...

Dear Chris - thank you for leaving a comment - this was a case of being in the right place at the right time! Do hope all's well with you - pouring with rain here as I type - much needed :-) Mx

Miranda Bell said...

Dear Sandra - really good to catch up the other day and glad to be of help... at last the rain has arrived :-) and glad you liked the pics too! Take care Miranda