Tag Archives: Redpoll

Redpolls on nettle

As I’ve written before on this blog, nettles (Urtica spp.) are important food plants for birds, both due to insects and their larvae feeding on them in summer and the nutrient rich seed in winter. Today there was a small flock of redpolls (gråsisik) feeding on the seed on a small patch of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) that I’ve been encouraging just below the house and in good view of the living room.

Redpolls everywhere

The pitter patter of birch seeds

The pitter patter of birch seed bracts (or scales) as you can hear at the beginning of the video can only mean one thing here, a large flock of siskins / grønnsisik (or sometimes redpolls / gråsisik) at the top of this birch tree creating a shower of debris from the bird’s feeding! However, they ARE silent when dining!

Robin and redpoll on the bird feeder and eagles on Malvikodden

Birds in the garden 13th February 2018

1. Nuthatch and Great spotted woodpecker atop a spruce tree

2. My handsome grey red squirrel disappears up the tree with a grunt

3. I had a  rodent visitor in the night on the balcony on the second floor outside my bedroom…it had climbed up through the Clematis

4. Redpolls with several others

5. Long-tailed tits

6. Bully Robin!

 

Birds in the garden 7th February 2018

My new “job” and office: a dream come true!!

I always dreamed of working in a botanical garden and somehow my wish has come true only 7 months after retiring from job as an ocean wave climatologist!
Even better, I can come and go as I wish (more or less)…I now have an office where I will be able to document and tend (in summer) my onion garden, as visiting researcher :)
WOW!
…and the staff are lovely people too :)
090118: Wren foraging and joined by a second bird120118:  It’s quite a few years I’ve seen two-barred crossbill (båndkorsnebb), but then I’ve never deliberately sought them out at Ringve Botanical Garden in Trondheim which, because of its collection of conifers, is one of the best places to see this species, the less common of the 3 crossbills here…only one female with a single common or parrot crossbill…
 090118: Wrens (gjerdesmett):