Dunnock,Prunella modularis

There are so many Dunnock's  of different ages in the garden  now.

Latin name

Prunella modularis

Family

Accentors (Prunellidae)

Overview

A small brown and grey bird. Quiet and unobtrusive, it is often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving with a rather nervous, shuffling gait, often flicking its wings as it goes. When two rival males come together they become animated with lots of wing-flicking and loud calling.

The sexes are very alike, though the female is a little drabber.

Juveniles lack the grey on head and chest, instead they have brown streaks.

Where to see them

Inhabits any well vegetated areas with scrub, brambles and hedges. Look in deciduous woodland, farmland edges, parks and gardens. Keeps largely on the ground and often close to cover.

When to see them

All year round.

What they eat

Insects, spiders, worms and seeds.

Estimated numbers

Europe	UK breeding*	UK wintering*	UK passage*
-	2,163,000 territories	-	-

Packing

pots and pans

 The packaging for 9 pots and pans, all from the same company and all arrived the same time

my wife was not very happy as there was a screw missing from the  large pan.  you may think like I did thats easily solved, "just send a screw" , but oh no! can't have things that easy we have to send the pan back in its original package. maybe the screw had come loose and is in the package.  makes me wonder if these people think that I have a screw come loose. its almost a week now but the pan with both screws still has not arrived.
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A question on our kittens  Answered  
http://wildaboutwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/oriental-longhair.html

Mute swans

Mute swans & signets 

The male is  a Cob,  the female is a Pen,and the young are  Cygnets.

May 7th 2012.  The Cygnets are four days old this family are on the stretch of the Montgomery canal known as Dolfor lock they use the canal as far as Aberbechan lock .

The cob is the swan still in the water quite recognisable with the larger black knob on the base of the beak, he is also more protective of his family than the pen..

The cob showing its id tag,

Only six in this years hatch they had nine last year with only 3 surviving the first 8months  all were killed by the foxes who are also a protected species. problem around here is the area is a favourite dumping ground of the urban foxes from places like Birmingham Etc ,and as the do gooders say the poor mites have to eat???

The parents uproot what looks like fools parsley that grows along the banks of the canal.

The family with the barn swallows skimming the water for insects

Turned out nice again

For the ducks anyway.

 What was wrong with our kitchen as it was is anyones guess!  but as Pam said I put this kitchen in when we moved here 22 years ago. doesn't time fly?  I need a new one:

 Our old kitchen all loaded on the skip  waiting for the rest of the packaging that will come with the new units. I was just about to go out on my bike looking for some bits and bobs too finish the kitchen all the units have been built  all I need now are some clamps for the work top a kitchen sink with taps a bit of patience with my dear wife who has taken it upon herself to do the designing all very well  looking at designs on web adverts but the sweat and  fixing is my responsibility and of course errors in the ordering is also my problem, but its coming along just fine I have plenty of time as the sink is not coming for another week so I can only complete three quarters of the Job.

The weather forecast was for showers and if this is just a shower god help us when it does rain.

 wiring is almost complete.

OK thats out with the old  at this point we did not know whether to put in A new sink?

Sparkle is quite enjoying the upheaval everything new has a close inspection.

Ok thats the oven in

decision made and now we have a weeks wait

Bell the eldest of the siamese sisters is well put out  and waits on the stairs for us to go to the safe room (the bedroom we happen to share with the cats)  the older ones are used to upheaval and just stay out of the way just call when its feed time ,

saphy our tontines is always happy in the sun.

Always time for a play even for the the old boy Sylvester

Great tits

Parus Major ;Great tit

The largest UK tit - green and yellow with a striking glossy black head with white cheeks and a distinctive two-syllable song. It is a woodland bird which has readily adapted to man-made habitats to become a familiar garden visitor. It can be quite aggressive at a birdtable, fighting off smaller tits. In winter it joins with blue tits and others to form roaming flocks which scour gardens and countryside for food.
 in the UK we have seven varieties of tits starting with the most common , blue.great,coal,long-tailed, marsh,bearded and crested ,the latter two  I have not seen as yet. 

 The Great tit feeding with the Juvenile Blue tit.

Hugs

When did you last give your pet a hug.

28th July 2012  was a sad day in my middle sons house. >>the dog got run over>> The youngest boy was so upset  because he never got to say goodbye (properly) . then the daughter  phoned she insisted they have a proper burial. . but would not be home for two days. so the corpse was kept in the freezer save the smell of a rotting  corpse in the house, why they could not put the poor thing in a plastic sealed bag in the shed . but ours is not to" reason why" Then My son came over today  as he takes us in the car shopping on a sunday. not a word was said   not even from his girlfriend  mother of the two children. so the suspense was killing me  OK I said when is the funeral. tomorrow!  we worked all evening preparing the dog . what do you mean "I asked'  well we have super glued him together so he looks better  for the burial tomorrow . now my mind was really boggled. did you unfreeze it first,  never mind I said. as long as it still looks like a dog. I suppose the kids will be grateful to give it a send off .  no  that is not the reason we super glued it. we did not want our daughter to have that memory of a mangled body for the rest of her life.

Last nights moon.   and the burial saga continues,

 I am putting in a new kitchen and I needed a few pieces like worktop clamps etc   so my son promised he would be here by 9.30 so I could get on with my days work. he turns up at 11.00 my day is already F***** up,   by mid day my back plays up the diabetes does not help,   its now 14.10 and I have managed to get the tiles and the latest update on the dog. while getting the clamps for the worktop my son said he wanted a bag of lime, I knew I did not need lime so the first thought was the dog.  ,  but one never knows with my lot could have been he was doing some brick or stonework on his house  and need the lime for the mortar mix. So Mike busy on the house are you, I asked"  no its for the burial,    ok good idea i thought. but why?  well the kids will want to take the dog with them if we ever move,   hmm,   did not have the heart to tell him in two years time there will be nothing left of the dog not even the bones.  not like my kids are youngsters my eldest is 49 and youngest is 40,  surely they know lime is not a preserver. almost told him to get a plastic container and pickle the dog if he wants to move it about   but then I would most like been told  that would  undo the superglue,   say no more I thought, ,but it did make me laugh

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Wood pigeon

Wood pigeon(Columba palumbus)

This one is getting a bit too tame It just sits around all day waiting for the smaller birds to drop seeds from the feeder,
The UK's largest and commonest pigeon, it is largely grey with a white neck patch and white wing patches, clearly visible in flight. Although shy in the countryside it can be tame and approachable in towns and cities. Its cooing call is a familiar sound in woodlands as is the loud clatter of its wings when it flies away.

Juvenile robin

 Juvenile Robin 

In search of some seeds with the Blackbird and  Dunnock.

Perched with another one of the juveniles the Great tit.

Nuthatch( Sitta europaea)

Nuthatch

28th July 2012,
First time I have had the pleasure of seeing and shooting the Nuthatch in my front garden,
The nuthatch is a plump bird about the size of a great tit that resembles a small woodpecker. It is blue-grey above and whitish below, with chestnut on its sides and under its tail. It has a black stripe on its head, a long black pointed bill, and short legs. It breeds in central and southern England and in Wales, and is resident, with birds seldom travelling far from the woods where they hatch.