A Week in the Life of Raffy and Pip - May - and general bits and pieces

[Frida]

I love all your photos Maz. Bird 10 - Starlings are one of my favourite birds. They always make me smile. We had a lot of them where I lived as a child and I used to feed them bits of cheese which they went made for. At Christmas I was even aloud to give them a bit of Christmas pudding and that went down well with the Starlings too.

 

[Jain]

Starlings seem quite rare where I live so I was thrilled to see a flock of them in the garden recently their plumage is like oil on water so beautiful

 

[RainbowBrite]

I loved looking at the photos you too. The first bird looks like a baby to me a bit like a duckling. I live in London and do not think I have ever seen any of these birds so I do not know what they are.

You have a beautiful garden. Such pretty flowers.

 

[Maz]

Thank you Elusive. OH said they were all sparrows as well. Apart from bird 10. I think 10 is the Starling. I was sure bird 5 was something different and wondered if some were tree sparrows rather than house sparrows. Either way - nothing particularly exotic! Although there are wild birds round here but further afield usually.

 

[Maz]

It seems everyone recognised the Starling except me - I had to look it up! Feeding Starlings sounds lovely Frida! So do Starling people think it’s a fully grown Starling? It looked sort of short to me and I wondered if it was a baby.

It wasn’t till the photos were enlarged I could see two or three were probably the same bird. Not very interesting if all Sparrows! I guess the fluffy ones are baby Sparrows then. Still think number 5 looks different somehow. It looks like a mini woodpecker type thing! But it may just be the angle.

And on checking yes they do seem to be house sparrows not tree sparrows. It is very confusing if you Google as umpteen different looking photos come up as house sparrow - I always though they were just brown all over - like bird 5 - but maybe that is just females.

 

[Maz]

Flowers - I like Berberis too. It’s easy and has lovely coloured flowers. It’s not really a beautiful garden Rainbow! It’s hardly a garden at all. But I did grow a couple of shrubs and bulbs and the cowslips. The bluebells have been here a long time and they just spread every year.

 

[Maz]

So it was a gorgeous day yesterday and I enjoyed taking the photos and being out in the sun and ice cream in the garden. However it was slightly spoiled by the fact I fell outside later and have a cracked rib now. A lot of aahs and groans from me last night. So today it is painkillers and ice cream

The painkillers are helping a lot!

 

[elusive]

So sorry to hear you cracked your rib, I’ve done that & know how painful it is, what a shame your lovely day had to end that way, hope you feel better soon.

I meant bird nine not ten, sorry look at the wrong numbers! It’s just a bit hard to tell with the angle on that one.
The starling is definitely an adult, they don’t get that adult plumage for quite a while & it might still be a bit early for baby starlings to have fledged.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a tree sparrow, house sparrows seem to be taking over gardens everywhere.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I am so sorry you fell and hurt yourself. Please try to rest as much as possible. I really hope you feel better soon.

 

[Maz]

So sorry to hear you cracked your rib, I’ve done that & know how painful it is, what a shame your lovely day had to end that way, hope you feel better soon.

I meant bird nine not ten, sorry look at the wrong numbers! It’s just a bit hard to tell with the angle on that one.
The starling is definitely an adult, they don’t get that adult plumage for quite a while & it might still be a bit early for baby starlings to have fledged.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a tree sparrow, house sparrows seem to be taking over gardens everywhere.

Yes I wasn’t sure about bird 9 either but it’s probably a sparrow in the shade . It’s bird 5 that’s bugging me.

 

[Maz]

I am so sorry you fell and hurt yourself. Please try to rest as much as possible. I really hope you feel better soon.

Thank you Rainbow. Apparently it’s the opposite and you need to keep moving. Painkillers really have made a big difference.

 

[Member ID2]

Hope your cracked rib will mend quickly.

Young starlings are a lighter colour than adult ones. We have lots in the garden plus sparrows, bluetits and the odd wren. Sparrows are currently feeding their young under the roof so there's a lot of tweeting going on.

I didn't think that they were all sparrows in your photos though.

 

[elusive]

I’m pretty sure bird five is a female house sparrow.

 

[Maz]

Thank you Elusive . Apparently at least three weeks Beryl but painkillers help a lot

 

[Jain]

So it was a gorgeous day yesterday and I enjoyed taking the photos and being out in the sun and ice cream in the garden. However it was slightly spoiled by the fact I fell outside later and have a cracked rib now. A lot of aahs and groans from me last night. So today it is painkillers and ice cream

The painkillers are helping a lot!

Hope your rib heals quickly no lifting sheep for a while try to rest but don't stiffen up buzz words gentle and gradual

 

[Frida]

A cracked rib sounds painful. I hope you feel better soon. Icecream and pain killers... It would have to be chocolate ice cream for me and I'd drop the pain killers and have a glass or two of dry white wine instead

 

[Maz]

Thank you both. Yes gentle and gradual is good advice and not go chasing around now the pain killers are working. On the other hand I did get back on my bike and photographed the lamb again today - he's just had his splint taken off. And we went out for lunch outside a pub as I didn't feel like cooking. Frida - that sounds good! I've been teetotal for years but can see that would help! Paracetamol is doing the trick though

The leg that had the splint on is now nice and straight and better than the other leg which is slightly deformed since birth.

 

[Frida]

A pub lunch outside sounds lovely. Lamb is so cute. I'm glad his leg is better.

 

[elusive]

Lovely photo of the handsome little lamb, his leg does look really straight compared to the other one now, bet he’s glad to be free of the splint!

A day off from cooking & a nice pub lunch sounds good

 

[Maz]

The pain wasn't too bad at first yesterday because it was shock - but by last night I was in blooming agony! But that's what painkillers are for and they are working well - it just feels like twinges now.

Here are a couple of Mum having her Sunday lunch