More from Mums' garden

I spent a bit more time in Mums' garden today, the light the last couple of days has been pretty good for photography even if the mornings have had a hard sharp frost. 

Great Tit

 The Goldcrest visited a couple more times, and again let me creep quite close....

Both male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been visiting the bird feeders for several weeks. It is coming up to the start of their breeding season and hormones are in the air. Every time the male chases the female off but then starts 'pecking' against a tree branch or trunk, a sign that he is trying to attract a female to his territory. On one day last week Mum and I saw four Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the garden at the same time, but the resident male soon saw off the other three. Today a pair were chasing each other around the next door neighbours birch tree, and this was the only photo I managed to grab....

There are at least two Robins frequenting the back garden. The other one has a leg ring which I've not yet managed to read...

A nice pleasant surprise was finding this Honey Bee warming up in the sun....

Red Kites in this area are a common sight, and we often see several over the back garden and swooping low over the field at the end of the garden. I watched one calling for a while and followed it as it landed in one of the tall trees that seperate the back of the field from the canal.

 There was another Kite already in the tree, and it immediately adopted the 'mating' position where the front is bowed down low. I missed that photo opportunity, but had my camera ready should they mate. They didn't and I did wonder if it is a bit early for mating, but the displays I was watching tells me it wont be long. The first bird eventually flew off and settled at the top of another tall tree, and both birds continued to call that wonderful eerie 'mew' 

Because of the vicinity of the back garden, backing onto a field that runs alongside the Grand Union Canal, we do see a good variety of birds. Today the pair of Stock Doves visited again, along with a pair of Collared Doves.

I really like Stock Doves. They're very attractive with their grey bodies and flashy green patch and beady black eyes. At home I only ever see these birds in Cranford Park Woods so it was lovely to observe them, even if it was through glass...

All three photos below were taken from a very odd angle through the glass patio doors....

A Reed Bunting also briefly visited but I wasn't fast enough to catch a photo. 

Below are a few photos that I forgot to post from the 27th December, also of the back garden. This was when the winter flowering daphne had just started to really bloom and I was testing some of my camera settings.....