Black bird trying to eat seeds from bird feeder

Recently I posted a clip on a smart black bird doing great acrobatics to reach the seeds on my bird feeder.
As they usually are ground feeder, manufacturers do not bother making bird feeders for them. Being much larger birds than the finch or robin type, their bodies just don't fit on the little perches.
Anyway, in the clip below, you will see a black bird desperately trying to copy his smart mate…. unsuccessfully... You can see him getting frustrated, flapping his wings and tapping his right food. Although the clip does not show it, the bird failed his attempts. He did jump but could not stay on the feeder like his friend can and just flew away without any of these sunflower seeds.
Enjoy!

Coots in Hertfordshire

We went for a walk on Sunday along public footpaths near Hemel Hemsptead. We saw 3 coot hens all had chicks of different ages.
The first one was spotted by chance as she was nesting very quietly among the vegetation.
The second one was swimming next to her six newly hatched chicks. Unfortunately, she had made her nest very close to a large crow rookery.....
And this probably explains why our third coot only had one chick with her as she too was not very far from the crow rookery.
Hope you enjoy the small clip.

Nesting Crows #3

It has been hard keeping an eye on the crows this week since work was particularly busy. Still, hopefully I will be able to work out exactly what's happening with my crow family over the week-end. I have seen them fly around but have not been able to work out what they are doing. So, I will try and post something tomorrow. A few pictures or a small clip.

Nesting Crows #2

The couple of crows that have nested at the back of my neighbour's garden are still showing extreme dedication in looking after their nest. It seems with the cold weather, they have been taking turn at keeping the eggs warm. When it is not so cold outside, I can see them both out and about but still very close.

If you click to enlarge, you will see the parent's head at the centre of the picture

Mum and Dad protecting the nest

Pigeons courting

In the following pictures, I got more than I bargained for. I witnessed a very strange behaviour from the female pigeon (on the right). She cuddled up to the male and got him to open his beak so she could pick up something. Whether she was trying to eat it, I don't know. Have you go any idea? Their courtship was quickly interrupted anyway.

She manages to push her beak inside his mouth.

Nesting crows

I have been very surprised by the behaviour of a couple of crows who have nested on top of my neighbour's conifer tree.
I have not had time to study them much unfortunately but managed to get a regular glances during coffee and lunch breaks.

Nest Building

I have seen them collect small sticks from a tree and bring them to the nest (unfortunately, the nest is hidden by a branch), stand at the top of a nearby tree for hours on end protecting the nest against any unwelcome guests, scare away birds perched on "their" tree, swap shift when laying the eggs.

For sure, they are very dedicated birds and I have really warmed to them. Have you had any experience with bird nesting yourself?
In the clip below, you can see the crow gathering nest materials:



In the next one, watch out for the pigeon flying way on the right hand side of the screen.

Birds in an English back garden - Oiseaux dans les jardins anglais

Here are allthe different types of wild birds I see in my back garden (I will add to the list as and when I get a picture of them). With the equivalent in French.

(Singing!) Robin - Rouge Gorge

Blue Tit - Mésange bleue

Greenfinch - Verdier d'Europe

Wood Pigeon - Pigeon ramier

Song Thrush - Grive musicienne

Goldfinches - Chardonnerets élégants - The little white dots in the picture are actually seeds! What messy eaters!

Chaffinch - Pinson des arbres

Crow- Corbeau

Black Bird - Merle

Dunnock - Accenteur mouchet

Dove - Tourterelle

Magpie - Pie voleuse

Crow - Corbeau

Common starling - Etourneau sansonnet