BIRDS and SQUIRRELS.

Hello my dear blog friends. :) After 3 months I'm back, and I really did miss you all, and can hardly wait to get started. Pedro is still here, but wants to stay longer, which is fine by me, as I really enjoy his company but he has a lot of work to do and has some new clients which will keep him occupied whilst I blog. Over these three months we have had loads of fun, and I have taken a few nature photos, but need to sort them out into different posts starting this evening. 

I think that I can hear thunder in the distance, hopefully it will rain, as the temperature  during the day has been 40 degrees in the shade for weeks now, and here in my bedroom where I sit at the computer it is 31 degrees. but an electric fan by the side of my desk keeps me cool.

Due to their successful breeding, the Great-Tit far outnumber the other bird species that visit my balcony.

The infantile Great Tit. This is one of five that followed their parents to my balcony., at first demanding to be fed, and then learning to feed on their own as the parents ignored their insistent cries

I witnessed a juvenile feeding from the plate  but then it asked the parents to be fed, but the adults by this time knew that their job had been done. 

The Greenfinch disappeared for a while, but now they have returned.

They love the Sunflower seeds but have to compete with the squirrels, however if they come early enough  they get their fair share.

The daily visits from the Robin have also become a rare occasion and I miss their morning and their evening serenade.

 

The faithful Crested-Tit comes every day for the peanuts

The Blackbird also bred successfully, and  brought two female birds to my balcony. They perched on the railing but didn't attempt to go to the feeders. They were beauties with russet toned feathers, but I didn't manage to take a photo as they were such timid creatures and flew into a nearby tree after the male Blackbird had filled it's beak, probably waiting to be fed within the safety of the leaf covered tree.

The Blackbird sheltering from the rain in June.

The cheeky Red Squirrels come several times a day and when the Jays fly in to pick up a peanut, the squirrels become confrontational and chase them away, and it's not surprising that the Jays are afraid when you look at the length of the squirrels claws .

I was sitting on my balcony swing when I saw the Wood pigeon alight on top of a tree. I have tried to cox them to my balcony by scattering corn, but they remain indifferent.

One last photo of a squirrel, and my post is finished for this week. I did try to complete it last night, but I had agreed to watch the Olympics with Pedro, and it was very entertaining viewing.

Joining Eileen at Saturday Critters. To check out her fabulous nature blog, and see creatures from all over the globe just click on Eileen's icon on the right hand side of my blog and it will take you there. 

SPRING BLOOMS and GARDEN VISITORS.

It has been very hot here in Portugal, and everything is blooming beautifully in my garden, so I wandered around taking photos of the Azalia flowers and  my Spring flowering plants such as the Telopea speciosissima shrub.  As he always does when he stays with me, my grandson Pedro helped enormously by pruning overgrown  plants, but now our work is done for the time being, except for watering which is essential.

A pretty early morning sky.

Deep pink Azalea.

Bee on Periwinkle  Vinca

Pale pink and darker pink Azalea, and a red one coming into flower in the background. The two types of oranges Azaleas come into bloom in February and have finished, and the white and bright red ones  are only in bud form at the moment. 

Wall Brown. Butterfly.

A neglected part of the garden with my three bunnies. One must be asleep behind the plant pot.:=)

Bee on Lilac Azalea

The Telopea Speciosissima  (Dawn Fire) or (Waratah) meaning comes from the Aboriginal people, meaning beautiful red flowering tree, and the meaning of Telopea is "Seen from afar" and Speciosissima meaning beautiful.

This exotic shrub with it's huge blooms is endemic to New South Wales in Australia

My shrub is two meters high, and about a meter wide, and flowers for 6 weeks in Spring.The Waratah makes fantastic cut flowers as it is long lasting, has a straight stem and of course the large eye catching red blooms.

Dark pink Azalea

Cabbage White Butterfly.

This white flower smells divine, and attracts many bees and butterflies.

It was found by my gardener at the time growing wild, so he dug it up and planted it in my garden where it had flourished and it has grown into a huge shrub.

I saw the squirrel down below as I was having tea on my balcony. I knew it would appear up here.

It had such a happy sweet face that I had to enlarge the photo-

What a cutie.

Colourful Pansies   Viola Tricolor

A large Azalea shrub, almost as large as the bird cage, which is only ever used to display plants, or keep them in the shade

The Coal Tit.

Sweet William. Dianthus babatus

    They always do well on my balcony.

Apple Blossom.

A small corner of my garden.

The Blue Tit.

Spray of  Hawthorn  flowers.

A closer look at the pretty flowers, but beware of the thorns.

I thought that I would close this post with more photos of this Spring flowering shrub which looks so vibrantly healthy that I could not resist sharing more images of the Telopea Speciosissima.. 

It is the floral emblem of New South Wales.

FOURTEEN BIRDS AND A SQUIRREL March 22nd

At last the weather has improved. The cold wind and  rain has ceased  and it is a pleasant 15 degrees outside, warm enough to be able to sit outside and enjoy nature from my balcony whilst having my lunch and enjoying a glass of white wine. Spring is here at last, and buds are appearing on the trees, pretty flowers are blooming, and birds are filling the air with their song, and it's a wonderful feeling when our senses are in tune with nature, and it feels good to be alive. These are a few photos I took this week.

The Blue Tits are regulars

Here, we are looking at each other.

A playful pose, only minutes before the squirrel had been playing with another squirrel, and they were chasing each other up and down the tree.

The buds are getting as big as the Crested Tit.

The Crested Tit is another regular.

It seems that every time I look out of the window, the Robin is there.

The Robin eats from this box but prefers to eat from the tiled floor, so I always scatter some crumbs on the ground just for the Robin.

I never see the female Blackcap, but the male comes every day to eat at this feeder and sometimes from the tiled floor. 

His song is particularly pleasing.

My adorable Coaltits, so small and charming.

The Blackbird is never far away..

This is a Serin, but unfortunately it's out of focus, without detail and a very poor image, but it's here because it's a bird I hardly ever see so I'm also sharing it with you.

The Greenfinch eat copiously of the sunflower seeds.

This Hoopoe was perched on one of the beams of my lookout.

When it moved further along the beam, I got a slightly better shot.

The Great-tit

Starlings.

The Firecrest has become a regular, I was having my lunch outside when I captured these images, and it never noticed I was there, of course I had to move slowly and quietly to get these shots, and I was sitting at the far end of the balcony.

This concludes my post for this week. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed seeing and photographing birds on, and from my balcony. Have a great weekend.