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Tuesday 25 September 2012

Splashy Blue Tit

Blue Tit
© Sharon Whitley

Continuing my plan to paint the birds I see in the garden, here is my loose style, splashy blue tit, he's a bit splashy and messy but still cute I think!  I'm having loads of fun watching the birds and as soon as I get home from work I'm straight to the back window to see what's there. Here's what I found today - lovely goldfinch on the niger seed, great tit and of course my little favourite the coal tit (link here) as well as the usual starlings, sparrows and blue tits.




My 12 year old is enjoying it too - I had a text from her yesterday while she was off school which read 'Mum there are 8 goldfinches on the feeder, 1 greenfinch, 3 starlings and loads of sparrows!!!!'  She's got a great view from her bedroom window.

The starlings are regular visitors, we had these lot in the garden yesterday


As well as the birds I've also got a nice fat froggy in the garden....



Before I rush off to finish the tea, I'll leave you with a couple of photos from our walk in the Lakes the weekend before last. Gary and I went there for his birthday and wild camped on the Friday night - I say wild camped we actually ended up pitching the tent by the car after climbing up to Scales Tarn on Blencathra with very heavy rucksacks only to have to carry them back down again because it was too windy to get the tent up - although we spent half an hour trying! Needless to say we booked a B&B for the second night! - but after the disastrous wild camp attempt we were treated with a gorgeous sunny day on the Saturday so decided to walk up Skiddaw - here's a couple of tasters from the day, if you'd like to see more you can go to Gary's blog HERE





Till next time bloggers!  Comments welcome as always!

24 comments:

  1. beautiful painting! love the photos too!

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  2. Lovely painting Sharon.

    Here on the Kent Coast (near Whitstable) we get a good assortment of bird visitors but have never entertained a Goldfinch. Sunflower heads/seeds get taken by the squirrels so will try Nyjer seeds and peanuts in the most 'squirrel-proof' feeder I can find LOL

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    1. Next door has told me he's seen a squirrel in his garden but I've not seen him in mine (yet!) the niger seeds have definitely worked a treat attracting the goldfinches, good luck with it...

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  3. Love the Blue Tit Sharon. But the Starlings - I have to say - are a bit of a pest in the garden, they hate the sight of one another and squabble all the time, and gobble up all the food giving the smaller birds little chance of a smell in, I hate them....not really but they are a nuisance.

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    1. Lol you're right Pete, I've been watching them squabbling and they sure do make a racket while they're at it but they don't seem to be affecting the other birds so far... it's the cats I find a pest, I do like cats but not when they're staking out my feeders!

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  4. Another little gem. These are becoming a wonderful series.

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    1. thank you Mick glad you like them - thinking of making a set of greetings cards from them - painted a Great Tit tonight so that will be the next post!

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  5. Preciosa la colección de estas pequeñas aves, es inspirador el amor que siente por la naturaleza.
    Un abrazo.

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  6. Très mignonne, ta petite mésange bleue. Tu vas avoir une magnifique collection de petits oiseaux. Bises !

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  7. Beautiful paintings, and bad luck for the time wasted up Skiddaw, shame about the weather.

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    1. Thanks Bob - it was Blencathra we climbed to wild camp - it was certainly an experience and we laughed through it all and made the most of it! The lovely weather on Skiddaw the next day made up for it!

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  8. Our goldfinches must be eating for their trip south - they are surrounding the nyger feeder and I have to fill it up every 3 days! So many of the little things, singing, chirping and sometimes fighting for position on the only feeder!. We have 2 feeders and they are busy this time of year. Thanks for sharing the photos of your walk = gorgeous!!!

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    1. They certainly do love the nyger seeds! Lovely little birds

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  9. Forgot to mention the little bluetit is great! I should do something like this.

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    1. Thanks Rhonda - I hope you do paint one, make sure you post it when you do!

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  10. Sharon, you do have a lovely way with painting birds. And it's wonderful to see them all at your feeder. As for the frog, it looks like an American bullfrog. They are nasty, voracious and very invasive. You might want to call the wild-life people to check on it. We had an infestation here about 8 years ago, and it took 3 years to clear them out.

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    1. Thank you Kathryn - don't worry about the frog it's just a common garden frog we get over here - and not as big as he looks in the photo - he's a little cutie

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  11. Wow Sharon, what a lovely bird! I like your photos too. Ciao.

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    1. thank you Tito - I'm enjoying painting my garden birds!

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  12. Your bird paintings are so beautiful. Very pretty soft colors, they show how much you love the subject you are painting!

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    1. Hi Katherine - oh yes I do love the subjects I'm painting when it comes to birds!

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