What's outside

@henddraig, fat balls certainly are not the most popular, but for some species peanuts and seeds just are not really suitable. So i’m very pleased indeed to have a few long tailed tits turn up making the fat balls worth putting out.

Now a very poor photo.


Titw Tomos Las gyda lliwau anaferol. Blue tit with unusual colours.
I have been aware of this individual for a couple of months, but it is distant and nervous, probably coming to the food when i leave. It’s interesting as i guess a DNA fault has led to it having patches (darn) of mis-colouration on it’s head. I’m sure the local bird club would be interested if only it will come closer and stop moving.

Pila gwyrdd - Siskin (on someone else’s feeder).

Ffesant ceiliog - cock pheasant.

Cheers J.P.

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yep they can survive, they have to be hand reared and live in cloth bags. The are fed formula (like baby formula) and are kept warm by heat packs or being held (cuddled) in the bag. this one was a boy and he will do fine fingers crossed

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Our siskins aren’t back yet for the summer. Well, it is only February!!!
We put out fat candles with seeds or insects in them as well as nuts and seeds and little bite-sized fat with seed or insect ‘treats’. We have or had a resident vole who pops/popped out for dinner along with the chaffinches on the ground under the table where the ‘treats’ are!!
At one time I used to put out bacon rind for ‘my’ hoodie!! (The one who could fly up and perch on the edge of the bird table and reach in to grab stuff!
To @Leighton It is lovely to know lost Joeys can be rescued and will survive!! Can they go back to the wild or does the lack of Mam make that hard? Is it harder for a female who has not lived in Mama’s pouch to raise a baban of her own?

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Mae’r titw tomos las gyda lliwiau plu anarferol ar ei ben, daeth ychydig yn agosach.
The blue tit with unusual feather/plumage colours on it’s head, came a little closer.

Coch y berllan - Bullfinch

Cheers J.P.

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Hi henddraig, They will survive fine in the wild if reared correctly however in South Australia you are not allowed to release into the wild so they have to go into sanctuaries. in other states you can.
they can raise baban even though they have not been in mothers pouch. It is ofter easier if they have been orphaned prior to getting out as then they don’t know who mam was and therefore often suffer less shock.

Dw i’n gobeithio ma fe’n happis gyda newdd mam, acos dw i’n dim yn moyn ma fe’n tumlo’n unig!

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Diolch, Leighton, diddorol iawn!!!

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Dim problem!

When my kids were in school in Albany, Western Australia, one of their teachers was looking after an orphaned joey. Usually it was at home with other family, but occasionally she brought it to school in a cloth bag and hung it on the door for the day. It was quite happy sitting there looking out and the kids worked very quietly so as not to disturb it - a great ploy by the teacher I thought.

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Dim llun, ond… Mae hi’n oer iawn iawn yma heddiw. Pan wnes i godi, wnaeth hi ddeg gradd o dan dim (Fahrenheit). A, mae hi’n wyntog, felly wnaeth hi deimlo fel tri deg pump gradd o dan dim! Sa i’n mynd i unman heddiw!!! Bydd hi’n well yfory, diolch byth!

I have no idea if the words/grammar/mutations are correct for “degrees below zero”, but I gave it a shot :slight_smile: Corrections welcome.

(It translates to -23/-37 Celsius :anguished: )

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Titw tomos las gyda ben anaferol lliwau.

So today i got a reasonable photo of the odd coloured blue tit, i have sent a copy to someone who should know more than me about birds, i am aware of a disease that is causing a lot of trouble to chaffinches but as i have been seeing this bird for a couple of months and it seems to be living quite lively (fywiog) and happily i find it hard to think it is ill.

Cheers J.P.

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Goodness! Where are you? Alaska?

Nope, record-breaking cold in the Northeastern United States! This is unusual, thank goodness!

Ours fluff up and look fat when sick. Yours doesn’t have that ‘over fat’ look, but seems very ruffled, as if he/she’s been in the wars? Ideas: tussle with inexperienced cat, near miss by buzzard or other bird of prey, met a Cavalier like my Tish was and managed to get free somehow??? (I suspect Tish would never have let a blue tit escape. She truly had to be physically restrained from chasing swans!!!

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Cangerw rhedeg (neu neidio) bant.

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This is where he went.

We did call him Malu, which is the work for Kangeroo in one of the local languages (antikirinya or maybe pitjantjara I think) word for kangaroo. I am not sure if they kept the name or not.

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I guess that’s the Aus equivalent to the various hedgehog rescues in the UK!!!

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Dreanen ddu - Blackthorn.

Mae’r ddraenen ddu wedi dechrau blodeuo ac yn darparu dechrau lliwgar i’r flwyddyn.
Gall coed aeddfed fod dros 7m o uchder, mae’r rhisgl yn eithaf llyfn a brown tywyll - du.
Mae’r brigau yn ffurfio egin ochr syth sy’n datblygu i fod drain.
Ar yr adeg hon o’r flwyddyn, mae’r blodau yn ffynhonnell wych o faeth ar gyfer unrhyw wenyn cynnar a phryfed eraill sy’n ymddangos ar yr ychydig brynhawniau cynnes heulog efallai y byddwn yn ei gael ym mis Chwefror.
Mae’r blodau yn ddeurywiad , mae cael y ddwy ran atgenhedlu gwryw a benyw ym mhob blodyn. Unwaith y bydd y peillio blodau yn datblygu i ffrwythau glas-du drwy’r haf, aeddfedu yn yr hydref.
Yn y gwanwyn, bydd y dail blackthorns ddod i’r amlwg, hirgrwn gyda blaen pigfain a ymyl danheddog. Mae’r rhain yn darparu bwyd ar gyfer llawer o rywogaethau o wyfynod a ieir bach yr haf, y dail pigog trwchus hefyd yn boblogaidd ar gyfer nythu adar, gan gynnig amddiffyniad rhag ysglyfaethwyr a thywydd gwael.
Mae’r adar yn bwydo ar y gwyfyn a glöyn byw lindys a chasglu nhw i fwydo eu ifanc sydd bob amser yn llwglyd, sy’n tyfu’n gyflym yn ystod eu cyfnod byr yn y nyth.
Felly, unwaith eto rydym yn gweld coeden yn gymuned.

The blackthorn have started flowering and provide a colourful start to the year.
Mature trees can be over 7m tall, the bark is quite smooth and dark brown – black.
The twigs form straight side shoots that develop into thorns.
At this time of year the flowers are a great source of nourishement for any early bees and other insects that appear on the few sunny warm afternoons we may get in february.
The flowers are hermaphrodite, having both male and female reproductive parts in each flower. Once pollinated the flowers will develop into blue-black fruits through the summer, maturing in the Autumn.

In the spring, the blackthorns leaves will emerge, oval with a pointed tip and toothed margin. These provide food for many species of moth and butterflies, the dense spiny foliage is also popular for nesting birds, offering protection from predators and bad weather.
The birds feed on the moth and butterfly caterpillars and collect them to feed their young which are always hungry, growing fast during their short time in the nest.
So once again we see a tree is a community.

I’m using google translate to help with my writing and spelling, i try to translate the piece to Welsh and back again in an attempt to get it reasonably coherent (it’s still going to be some time improving).

Ysglyfaethwyr - Predator, has to be word of the day for me (now as usual all i need to do is use and remember it).

Cheers J.P.

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I put that into Gweiadur, to see if it had a pronunciation (since it’s a bit of a mouthful), but it didn’t.
(It did have the interesting secondary meaning of “scavenger” though).

It did have the related word “ysglyfaethus”
http://www.gweiadur.com/en/Pawb/ysglyfaethus
“predatory”, “carnivorous”, “rapacious”
(complete with pronunciation).

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Excellent @mikeellwood
Y Geiriadur mawr has.
Ysglyfaeth - plunder, spoil, prey.
Aderyn ysglyfaethus - Bird of prey.

Cheers J.P.

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Galwad cynnar for today.

I’m still not clear if people outside the UK can access these links.
It is available as a podcast which if i download it means getting the program without the music content.

Not seeing much exciting at the moment.

Dipyn syndod i dal gweld Celynnen gyda aeron.


Celynnen - Holly.

a Briallu dechrau ymddangos.


Briallu - Primrose.

Cheers J.P.

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