Birds in Our Garden - Uccelli nel Nostro Giardino

Common Cuckoo

Nightingale

Golden Oriole

House Sparrow

European Magpie

I had been hoping to get some more photos of the birds that frequent our garden before writing this post, but it is not going to happen so I decided to go ahead anyway. I can always post more photos at a later date if I get lucky, which somehow I doubt they never stay still long enough or they hide from us.


Our Garden is frequented by many different species of birds, which we mainly appreciate, except for the far too many sparrows that seem to think our roof is the best local hotel! They seem to be with us all year but the first of our annual visitors is the maybe not so welcome Cuckoo. I do not like the way they prey on the nests of other birds but I do like to hear him every Spring. For one thing it means Spring is here and for the other a superstitious saying that I learnt from an elderly gentleman in the uk many years ago, is that you must hear a cuckoo to ensure you will live to see another Spring! 


The chorus especially earlier in the summer often started with the Nightingale in the middle of the night, no surprise how this little bird got his name! We have never managed to see either the Nightingale or the Golden Oriole but we know they are present as they have distinctive songs. The Golden Oriole we have caught flashes of colour as he flies through the walnut tree.


Another visitor that we do actually see around the garden fairly frequently is the Green Woodpecker, I have not got any good photos of him this year, the photo included was taken last year. 

Green Woodpecker  - Our Garden Spring 2011

Our Swallow Family - July 2011

The Swallows are annual visitors as they have a nest they return to in our cantina every year, it is always lovely to see them.


The Hoopoe ( Upupa Epops) is I think my favourite visitor of the season, maybe because I get to see him fairly often in the garden. Although rarely does he give me the chance to capture a photo as good as this one!

Taken June 27th 2012

The idea for this post came from blogging friends in France who write Chez Charnizay when they posted about the birds visiting their garden here.


The little photos at the beginning of the post are courtesy of Wikipedia but the others are my own.


If you are interested in checking out the bird songs this is an excellent place to do so. Bird Songs From Europe.


I know the title of this post is Birds In Our Garden but I could not resist sharing these photos of a man who lives in Marta with his pet crow! I took these on June 28th 2012, he rescued this bird and is taming it.