natureoncam bird visitors

We are bordered by trees and fields in a very quiet rural location and have
a great variety of birdlife around us.
Our regular visitors include chaffinches, goldfinches, robins, blue tits, great
tits, and a greater spotted woodpecker plus a sparrowhawk who has this
location marked for regular visits!
We have also seen a pair of jays, treecreepers etc.
In the garden we have a nest box with camera which will be going live on
the website nearer the nesting season. An assortment of feeders including a
nijer seed feeder very popular with the goldfinches and a fat ball feeder
plus seed feeders both hanging and ground based. Most of the feeders are
covered by cameras and will be streaming live when possible to the
website.

Regular visitors
Chaffinch: Easily recognisable by its white shoulder patches and a white stripe in its wing.
Generally regarded as a ground feeding bird, ours seem quite happy perching on the bar of a
seed feeder as well as picking up from the ground under the feeders.

Goldfinch: Smaller and slimmer than a Chaffinch with black wings and a broad yellow stripe.
Both male and female have a red face though less so on the female. the juvenile has no red on
the face at all. A very sociable bird often seen in families or larger groups and feeds alongside
other finches. A nijer seed feeder is very popular with these birds, they often sit on the feeder
bar for 2 or 3 minutes at a time.

Greenfinch: Solid looking bird with a large head and a short tail. The male is basically various
shades of olive green with yellow patches in the tail and wings whilst the female is a dull
version of the male, the juvenile is similar to the female but browner in colour. they feed on the
ground and from hanging feeders and can be quite dominant, driving other birds including
finches away from the feeder whilst they feed.

Great Tit: As the name suggests the largest of the Tit family, easily spotted by its black cap,
collar and throat, it has a yellow breast. We are hoping for nesting Great Tits this year, the box
has already been checked out a few times so hopefully we shall be lucky and be able to film
them live inside the box.

Blue Tit: Quite a bit smaller the Great Tit, has a blue cap, wings and tail, yellow underparts. The
juvenile has more of a green cap but otherwise very similar to the adults.

Robin: Easily recognised, the face, neck and breast being orange red, while the back and
wings are brown. the eye is large and obvious. It tends to hunt from a vantage point looking
for movement from spiders, beetles, sawflies etc. Also eats berries from bramble and rowan.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker: The male is easy to spot due to the crimson patch on the back
of its head. both male and female have crimson feathers in their tails. we have regular visits
from a male bird who loves to eat the peanuts and the fat balls. He is very wary and flies off at
the slightest noise or movement. You can hear him in the trees making a click click sound as he
waits for you to leave the garden so he can feed.
We had nesting birds in a nestbox last year and he could be seen trying to enlarge the hole so
as to get at the chicks, the marks he made in the metal hole protector are there for all to see!!

Sparrowhawk: It is obvious when the Sparrowhawk has visited our garden, we either have a
few scattered feathers remaining or a complete absence of birds on our feeders for a few
days. He can be seen on occasion sitting on a hedgerow whether that is after he has struck or
while he is waiting it is hard to say.
They are known to remember good hunting grounds so we can expect more visits to follow,
nature taking its course, I suppose.