Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Wood Warblers Visit

There is some flat leaved parsley and marjoram on the south side of Whitelees. (this is the view from the window) It has gone to seed in a spectacular way this August. If you go and inspect the seed heads, one can see that there are loads of little insects stuck to the seed heads. When the sun is out, the place is alive with bees and butterflies too.

As I was looking out the window this morning, sipping my tea and counting the blackbirds (6) a flutter of activity nearer the window caught my attention. A Wood Warbler! It is such a delicate and beautiful bird. I called The Man of the Place over to the window so he could see too, hoping that my calling him won't frighten the bird away. While we were admiring this little guy, it was joined by a second Wood Warbler! They were hopping around from parsley stem to parsley stem, cleaning the insects off the flower heads. SEE! My gardening slothfulness has been vindicated! If I had tidied up that herb bed like I should have ages ago, the warblers would have had to go elsewhere for an easy meal. As it stands now, I can now be found most mornings tea in hand, camera at the ready waiting for the return of the warblers.

The above photo is courtesy of the BBC website and not one of my own.
I also took a photo of a wren who showed up at the same time but as you can see, the photo was terribly blurred. I'll get the hang of this camera if it kills me! The grass behind the wren is in perfect focus.

It was such a gift to see these birds while having our breakfast.

2 comments:

Peggy said...

Thanks Saz.

Dad is still in. He has an infection in his leg (celulitis) and it is being stubborn and not reponding to ordinary antibiotics. Not life threatening but it is keeping him in the hospital.

Anonymous said...

Great photos! Birds are soooo difficult to photograph. Why do they have to move all the time? ;)
best wishes for your Dad