Sunday, 3 November 2024

Pigeon in the Pyracantha

 

Pigeon in the Pyracantha

We have a Reolink camera that looks out over our front drive. If we’re waiting for visitors or a delivery, we can see immediately if they’ve arrived.

Yesterday, I noticed some people outside. There were two men and women and a boy, and they were obviously looking for something, in that, ‘I’m looking for something, but I really don’t want to trespass’ way.

When Barry went to find out what was going on, they told him that their little Jack Russell rescue from Romania had run onto our drive. She must have slipped her collar. We couldn’t find her anywhere – she wasn’t hiding under the cars, and couldn’t have squeezed under our rather substantial garden gate, so must have gone through the hedge into next-door’s garden. They left their contact details in case we found her. I hope the little dog found her way home – she hadn’t been living there for very long. We would like to ring to find out, but if she hasn’t returned home, it would upset them, so we just cross our fingers and hope.

The Reolink camera is situated just above a large pyracantha bush, which flowers magnificently in spring, attracting bees and hoverflies and other pollinators.

                                Photograph taken through glass

The flowers in turn produce scarlet berries, which are much loved by birds. This morning, a large wood pigeon flew onto the bush and balanced in an ungainly fashion, tipping forwards and sideways. It remained on the shrub for about twenty minutes, and though I haven’t looked, I imagine there are very few berries left. There are two more pyracantha bushes, one with orange berries, and one with yellow, and a further two in the back garden, so there should be enough to go round.

I took some photographs, but the bird wouldn’t show its head, and one view of tail feathers is pretty much like any other, so I haven’t uploaded any of them.

Instead, here is an outcrop of a photograph taken through glass a few years ago on the pyracantha in the back garden. The bird in the foreground is a juvenile. It hasn’t yet developed its white neck patches, and the colour is generally paler than an adult’s. The bird behind is an adult, and although it’s somewhat out of focus, the white patches on either side of the neck are just discernible.

        This is a mature wood pigeon, photograph taken a few years ago.

37 comments:

  1. I like berry time when the birds all come to feed.

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    1. Busy building up their reserves for winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

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  2. The size of your wood pigeons astonished me when I visited. Those things are HUGE, compared to any pigeon here.

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    1. They make a lot of noise when they fly, too.

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  3. The old photo is very good. I think pyracantha are just one more pest imported species to Australia, with birds doing what they do and spreading seeds far and wide. Actually pigeons are too. We have a native pigeon. It's all the fault of the English!!!

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  4. Gorgeous berries and the birds do love them.
    PS I am very interested in your Reolink camera. May I ask where you bought it and if you have had any issues with it?

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    1. It's a wired version, wired to a recorder. We bought it from Amazon about three years ago and haven't had any issues with it (so far!)

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  5. The wood pigeon has that old film look somewhat. I like that tone and film grain

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  6. We have a red berry one I am growing along our back fence, our neighbour has a yellow berry one in his back corner, they look good together. As well as feeding the birds at this time of year, the blooms in spring are always full of buzzing bee's.

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    1. The flowers last quite a long time, too, which is good.

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  7. That is a very beautiful bird. And so were the berries on your plant. Years ago I had a pyrocantha that had the light orange berries and little birds love to eat them.

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    1. They swallow them so quickly - it's amazing.

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  8. I'm looking forward to sorting out the garden when we move! Any advice welcome but I am just watching for a year to see what is already planted. I now there are quite a few roses so I'll need to swat up!

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    1. It's exciting to have a new garden - and a new house, too, of course.

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  9. How do you know that final wood pigeon was mature? Does it prefer news programmes and does it put its spare money in NS&I bonds? I think that Pyracantha would be a great name for a girl. Better than Chardonnay or Lilibeth.

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    1. I agree, that pigeon just *looks* mature.
      Pyracantha would suit a spiky girl.

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  10. Your photos are stunning especially the blackbird with the red berries. Very striking.

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    1. Thank you. I'll pass your compliments to the photographer.

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  11. I am reminded that in all of our 19 winters here we can see cat tracks coming up (or down) our driveway and walking along the edge of the house. We see it in winter because of the snow, but on occasion, it see the actual cat in other seasons. I wonder how many generations of cats it has been in all of these years?

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    Replies
    1. Passing the information on from generation to generation . . .

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  12. First I've heard of Reolink so I had to check it out. Your pictures, however you took them, are so vibrant. It's interesting seeing your European birds vs. our New World birds.

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    1. Our birds are not as striking as many of yours.

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  13. I once lived in a high-rise apartment building in a large city and on the opposite side of the street was a building with a flat top that was a major gathering place for the city's pigeons. I loved watching them go about their pigeon business. Such interesting birds!

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    1. I know they're common or garden birds, but they do amuse me, and I love their voices.

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  14. Hopefully they found their dog. Lovely pictures.

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    1. I hope so, too. A lost dog is such a sad sight.

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  15. Love the new blog header ...
    Gorgeous photos too! Wood pigeons are quite greedy creatures, they always manage to eat most of our white currants ... xxx

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    1. Hello, Ann. How nice to see you.
      I hope all is well . . . x

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  16. Pigeons can be a bit of a nuisance in the garden when they destroy crops but we do have three here that have kept us highly entertained with their antics. Much better than watching TV soaps :-)
    I hope the rest of the birds enjoy the berries on your other Pyracanthas.

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  17. The berries are such a wonderful vibrant red, the birds do like them.
    I enjoyed seeing the photographs here.

    All the best Jan

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    1. It's nice to see the birds feeding on them.

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  18. Pyracantha isn't a common plant in my area, but one year I had a flock of robins swoop in and de-berry a holly bush in less than 15 minutes.

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    1. It's a shock to realise how quickly they swallow the berries.

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  19. Hi Janice - amazing photos ... and yes the Pyracanthas are flowering fully at the moment. Great to see ... cheers Hilary

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  20. They're full of berries, or they were, before the pigeons got to them.

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