In Quezon City the University of Philippines campus is one of the best birdwatching sites near the capital. The tree tops were full of small green birds called Lowland WhiteEyes. They filled thr niche taken by Blue Tits in Europe. Wondered of they were related to your Silver Eye?
There are no distinguishing feathers on this chick but I think it is probably a baby Robin. I hope you out him back.
We would have done, but no nest to be found, tried to feed by hand this morning but sadly didn’t work
My olive tree is getting loads of olives this year! It is about 10 ft tall and only had it 2 years and it is already giving olives! I bought it at about 5 foot so it has really grown.
That's interesting No7, when will they be ready? Do Olives ripen well in the UK in a normal summer? Don't forget to spread those nets out. Our small back garden is almost all taken up by fruit and veg, with varying degrees of success. After a few years of trying, I've come to the conclusion that I don't have green fingers. My approach is to sow so many seeds that the failures are not so noticeable and gives my wife the impression that I know what I'm doing. If by sheer luck we get a glut of something then it goes in the freezer. Doesn't happen happen very often. A couple of years ago I bought some fruit trees. Cherry, Plum, Fig and Peach. The Cherry and Peach fruited for the first time this year, although there was only a handful of Cherries, the Peach had loads. I counted about 20, which for a relatively small tree was pretty good. They started to get bigger and I wondered why you don't hear anything about British Peaches. Then they stopped growing and the winds of a few weeks ago blew most of them off the tree ( the Jackdaws might have had something to do with it too). I now have 2 left and they are still the same size as they were in May. I have all the fruit trees in pots to restrict their height but they may need to be bigger.
I am not sure if they ever ripen properly in the UK. Last year we had 4 olives lol that didn’t really grow that big. I have read up on it and apparently it can take 4-5 years for them to properly come out in the summer, but the promising thing is that in year 2 we have nearly a full tree. I’m going to leave them for another month and then try to take a few off to taste, but I think they will be bitter.
It seems to be a good year for fruit. I had a bumper harvest of blackcurrants and my plums, pear and apple trees are loaded. I usually make cider from apples on October, tens to be quite a potent brew. I did try a nectarine tree about 15 years ago, but no joy, it lasted about 2years before dying, a bit frustrating. Keep going, as very rewarding picking your own fruit and veg
Just been going through some video clips that were done years ago but hope you might find interesting. The Puffins are from a trip to the lovely Skomer Island off Pembroke. Wind noise and a couple of blokes having a chat behind me is a bit of a nuisance but doesn't spoil it too much. A young Bluetit having a look at the outside world. I think it was the next day they left the nest. This Robin gradually became confident enough to be fed by hand. This one was always more trusting than the others that kept their distance and would only come to the window when it was closed.
Same where I am, about 10kg of blackcurrants from just one well established bush in my garden and I have a thicket of brambles next to one fence that's been providing plenty. Loads of sloes about too, and wild plums next to the same fence. I tried nectarines a few years ago too, a Hungarian variety that was supposed to be frost hardy and resistant to peach leaf curl. It wasn't, and it wasn't. Apples look good though
I have already be eyeing the sloes. Hardly any last year, but looks a good crop. I tend to make a load of sloe gin, then use the gin soaked fruit and cover with brandy. The Sloe brandy, is really good, not so deep in colour but makes the brandy really smooth, a bit of sugar helps
