Bull finches

 To my amazement this morning, I noticed two Bull finches feasting on the seeds of the violets...(in Dutch the are named Goldfinches). Male and female.

Such stunning birds...especially the pink breast of the male is so beautiful!

Female flycatcher arrived today

Today I noticed that the female flycatcher arrived!  here is a view of both birds. The black one is the male, the more browner bird is the female.

Such a great miracle that she also found my garden. I'm not sure if they are the same flycatchers as last year.  However to me it is amazing, that they found my garden again...coming all the way from Africa.

Also they both fly alone...not together..as she arrives mostly a week or ten days later. Both are eagerly inspecting all the nest boxes in my garden. The male had done some pre-work. He has been inspecting last week all the time...as well as chasing away all the other birds, like the coal-tits and the blue-tits, who also have an eye on the same nest-boxes. 

They are both very territorial and dominant, it looks like they win from the coals and blues.

Now is the question which nest-box is gone be chosen by the female. I think she makes the decision and then the building can begin.

Ladybird

 So sweet to see this ladybird sleeping in a beech-nut. 

Flycatcher is back!

 Flycatcher is back again from his faraway journey all the way from Africa!

I was expecting him to come, so I had an eye on the birds around.  You never can tell if they come and when. There are so many challenges on their way... its every year a delight to see him back in my garden, inspecting the nest boxes and the territory.

I still don't know if its always the same flycatcher, however every year there is a couple in my garden.

here is a link to all the other arrival times of the Flycatcher, when I saw him the first time.

Blackbird nest

 The blackbirds decided to make a nest in the ivy!

That's a great spot for me to be able to follow their progress.

squirrel

 Squirrel inspecting his favourite spot.

Middle spotted woodpecker

 Middle spotted woodpecker on the peanuts again!

New book 'TIME' and 'TIJD'

 

I  published this week a lovely book about,  'TIME'

Here a peek of the front and the back cover.

You can order it here on Amazon.com or from amazon from your country

It is also available in the dutch translation. 'TIJD'

You can order it here on Amazon.nl

Enjoy time with time!

Blackbird nestmaking

This is what I hoped for, when I made some extra space to my shack.

I would love to have birds come to make a nest in that space.

Yesterday I discovered that Blackbird began with some construction work. Hopefully he continues.

When I posted it this morning I thought to have a quick look at the nest and see if Blackbird has made some progress to his construction. 

What I found is, that the nest was lying on the ground. Maybe the wind had blow it off the shelf.

I put the nest back on the shelf and tacked it with some staples back to the shelf.

Now ...see what happens, if he will be wondering, what happened to his nest, back on the shelf.

Squirrel

This is sooo cute!

Squirrel discovered the peanutbutter-jar. I always wonder how Quick they find it.

He seems to really like it. I love the gymnastic pose he is making in order to get close.
 

New book is out!

 Finally I'm back on the web. For a while I had no internet connection and was not able to post anything.

However I have good news!

My new book of Bluetail and C-Horse is out on Amazon!

Here is the link. on Amazon.

You can order it from all countries in the world,

so that you can also order it from the nearest Amazon from your country where you live....Enjoy!!!!!

Bluetail and C-Horse

to order on Amazon 

Turtle dove

 This morning the turtle dove sat there again. This time a bit higher as he tried to catch the first sun ray's coming from behind the trees.

I can tell by his expression that he loves sitting there, with a great view over my garden.

Turtle in spring

 Turtle is really enjoying springtime. 

He installed himself to take a pause amidst of the crocus, snowdrops and drops.

I think he really loved it and so did I.

Dove bathing in deep waters

Today was a delightful beautiful springday. Birds chirping all over the place and snowdrops blossoming ...

This dove had also spring on his mind...he on purpose let himself drop into the cold icy water of my pond. A few days ago the water was frozen.

It was not an accident he fell in. I saw him do it more than once, so that I was able to quickly grab my camera. and capture the moment.
 

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

This morning I noticed a woodpecker on the peanut container. Which I had not seen them doing before.

Also I thought...hmmm... this one looks much smaller than the ones I mostly see in my garden.

When I grabbed my camera he flew away. Some time later he was there again and was able to make some pics. I was sure it was not the normal woodpecker I always see. This one has a white face (the other woodpeckers have a black stripe and black on the head as well) and this one was smaller and also has a longer red stripe on his head...

So I looked it up...It's a middle spotted woodpecker.(Dendrocoptes medius) Never have seen this one before and he is also more rare.

So I was very happy to have this one in my garden!

Squirrel

 Almost everyday Squirrel comes along to see if there are some nuts for him.

In autumn, I collected a lot of nuts for him and his mates. When I not forget, I give them a portion every day. They really love it and most of the nuts are stored away someplace, somewhere in my garden in the ground or in the plant pots.