We have baby birds in our English Garden!
japra | May 18, 2009 | Comments 31
Remember this pot in my back garden?
This year it is home to these sweet babies!
Here's Mum. Or maybe Dad. Anyone know what kind of bird this is?
Here’s a short video I took of the nest when the babies were about two days old.
Other weekend excitement: Roxi went on her 8th grade “Adventure Trip” to Charterhouse in Mendip Hills on Friday and Saturday. She went rock climbing, abseiling (oh my gosh!), caving (very intense), hiking, and did a bit of archery (until it started to hail). She had a fun time, but came home really tired, bruised, and sore.
Sunday was Roxi’s band and choral concerts. This was the first time Mr. DJ has been able to attend these programs since we moved to England–he’s missed more than two years worth of concerts!! So you know, we were glad these were scheduled on a Sunday instead of the usual weekday evening. With her band, Roxi played (on keyboard): “James Bond Theme”, “The Pink Panther”, and “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”. With her choir, she sang: “Let’s Dance” (Irving Berlin medley), “Once Upon a December”, and “Phantom of the Opera” medley (almost 7 minutes long!).
Filed Under: Blog • Expat Life • Featured • Parenting
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
It sounds like you guys had a very full end of the week. So glad Mr DJ got to make it to the choral events. I bet that meant a lot to Roxi.
Kat, yes it’s been so busy here lately. I will be glad when school is over and we are done with our move.
Every once in a rare while, we get some neat looking birds here in the winter. I bet there are loads of interesting birds there.
I’m completely jealous of Roxi’s field trip (again). My son would have loved that!
Julia, I’ve never been much of a bird person, but the song birds really are lovely here. I love it when they sing really early. We sleep with our windows open here (no AC!) and it’s just so nice.
It’s nice that Roxi can do so many nice field trips here. Wish I could have gone too :-)
Okay, have to know about the A/C…can’t imagine life without it…has it been so hot that you can’t bear it? Can you imagine living (and being a productive person) in the South without A/C? A friend of mine from NYC said loads of people there don’t have it – I’ve been there in August, it’s as bad as Louisiana – CRAZY!
Julia, I had a hard time imagining living in a place where there wasn’t central air/heat, but here I am! The first summer we were here, it rained and was cold. I think there were two days out of the whole summer that I was hot enough to wear shorts. Last summer, it was a bit rainy and a little warm, but still very nice with maybe four days of “really hot” weather, meaning I wished for a/c. This Spring has been warm and sunny… very nice. It’s not like Texas (or Louisiana or Florida). The humidity is much lower, which is good for the hair, but not so good for the skin ;-)
So glad you guys have settled in and that Roxi had her dad at the concerts. They grow so fast, you just don’t want to miss anything if you can help it!
The birds are adorable; maybe of the finch variety?
Jane, one of my friends suggested chickadee, and I am inclined to agree (after looking it up, lol!).
they are black-capped chickadees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee I have a chart in my kitchen! First I’ve heard the term abseiling, interesting. These kids do so much nowadays, lucky Roxi (except for the bruises)
Very good, Christine! And I see that the chickadee is a song bird. Those babies are very noisy, but their voices have already changed just in these last few days.
And my gosh, I am so glad I wasn’t there to watch the abseiling. Sometimes it is better when the parents aren’t around for these trips ;-)
Aw how sweet, I hope you’ll get more shots of the chicks as they grow. :)
Akelamalu, I hope so too! I was surprised to see how BIG their eyes seem. I hope they all grow up strong and healthy :-)
That is too cute! I’ve been overrun with cuteness myself lately as there are two bunnies that are constantly playing in the back garden here in Belgium.
Xoan Wahn–The Bunnies! I love them here too. I know they are pests and many don’t like them, but they are so cute. Hope you’re having a ball in Belgium :-)
What a great photo of that hungry little bird! Roxi sounds like one very busy kid. I’m enjoying your blog a lot.
Tricia, thank you! Moving to England has slowed me down enough to appreciate things like birds and flowers. It might have to do with more walking and less driving ;-)
What a lovely surprise! Spring has truly arrived in your garden now. Many thanks. as to whether it’s Mum or Dad, I think it’s the latter, he is ‘frowning’ :-).
Greetings from London.
A Cuban in London–hee hee! You are funny. Mum or Dad is having quite a time finding food. Those babies are hungry ALL the time! I wonder how long before they fly the nest?
An interesting place for a nest…and what a cute little bird.
I had to look up abseiling….ah, rappelling! Yes that would make a mother’s heart skip a beat or two!
Hi Sara, we’re in a little rental here in England and when we moved in last year, I did wonder why they left the pot hanging there. Now I know :-) It was a nice surprise to hear all of those baby birds. I’ve not had a next in my garden before.
As for abseiling, Roxi assures me that it is not something she would really like to try again. Whew!
JaPRA, it’s always so fun catching up with you. I’m going along with you on that next cave trip! Thank you for the video.
Back to do more reading…
Hi Chris, I thought the caving sounded fun (for the most part). Apparently there were quite a few place the kids had to squeeze through, but I think those were optional…
Hi Japra,
Think they are Bluetits How inventive of them to use the pot. We have a bluetit nest box and it is used every year, This time there are ten eggs in it but no babies yet. Perhaps it’s a bit colder up here They seem to be able to time hatching to coincide with the emergence of a certain type of bug so there is plenty of baby food available. Clever little things !
Hi Again,
R who fancies his chances as an ornithologist says it’s a coal tit. Have looked up chickadee and it seems to be the same -or at least it belongs to the same family Hope the babes are flourishing
Dearest Barbara and R, well done! I think that they are coal tits :-) I will post another photo of the babies this week. They have grown SO much–lots of feathers and grown up looking eyes. And they are chattering away… probably asking mum *and* dad for food!
Lucky you having nesting chickadees in your yard! Their song is quite cute–the mountain chickadee’s in particular: “cheeseburger!”
Rock climbing and rappelling/abseiling are great fun. I’m glad Roxi got to do some! Getting going on rappel scares the living daylights out of me, especially from an overhanging ledge, but once you get going it’s pretty cool. And yes, it’s probably best that parents not watch these things. :)
Anne, Roxi was explaining abseiling to me and it was at that point that I decided it was best that they didn’t ask parents to chaperone that trip! Good grief!!
NO! not a chickadee!!! Where in the world is Christine, I guess not England! However, it is in the same bird “family”.
Barbara is close in saying Blue Tit – they are in fact Great Tits (latin name: Parus major). Very common Enlgish garden bird, also found in Europe. The most obvious difference from a blue tit is the black cap. Great tits are also slightly larger. See the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds website here:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greattit/index.asp
Hi Dot, thanks for the clarification! Christine is in Canada, so at least she got the right family ;-)
I can’t believe how fast the babies grew up. We’ve an empty nest now…
Sound like you are definitely making the most of the rest of your time in England!
Birdies are very cute! (We have some too, unfortunately they are in the chimney!)
Thanks for your visit, I love this post and am a total bird fan so this really touched me. It’s lucky you were able to be so close!