(no subject)

It's Writers' Group tonight, so as usual it's a brief sojourn...

There was quite a hard frost this morning, which just shows that winter hasn't quite lost its grip here.  It couldn't have been better timed - a sick-looking chaffinch was hunched on the ground near the feeder yesterday, and though I tried to catch it, it wasn't quite sick enough to be despatched to Hessilhead for almost-certain euthanasia.  I'm anxious that it may be suffering from finch virus - if so, it's an unusual case.  II've only seen one sick bird so far this year, and that was way back in October.

I don't know what's happened to the ailing chaffinch, so I can't even send its body off for a post mortem.  From past experience, I'd say that this isn't really the right time of year for finch virus to be kicking off.  It usually gets out of hand in damp, mild winters: I'm reliably informed that frost kills the evil little blighters (can't remember if the infection is bacterial or viral) responsible for spreading the malady, so the hard frosts this year should, in theory, have stopped finch virus dead in its tracks.

I suppose there's other things the birds could be suffering from, but I'm still concerned.  The feeders are cleaned regularly, though I worry that even though I rotate the location of the feeders regularly, the density of birds feeding here may be too great.  I shall have to keep a careful eye on things, and see if there are any other signs of illness - in general, the health of the wild bird population seems very good, considering how hard the winter has been.

Since it's going to be a while yet before I embark on the next leg of the Grand Tour, I shall have to think of something else to fill my posts in the meantime.  I think I may introduce you to Douglas Church, since I've just posted an entry on Morton Castle, and the Douglas family have connections with both...

Watch this space!!

(no subject)

It's Writers' Group tonight, so as usual it's a brief sojourn...

There was quite a hard frost this morning, which just shows that winter hasn't quite lost its grip here.  It couldn't have been better timed - a sick-looking chaffinch was hunched on the ground near the feeder yesterday, and though I tried to catch it, it wasn't quite sick enough to be despatched to Hessilhead for almost-certain euthanasia.  I'm anxious that it may be suffering from finch virus - if so, it's an unusual case.  II've only seen one sick bird so far this year, and that was way back in October.

I don't know what's happened to the ailing chaffinch, so I can't even send its body off for a post mortem.  From past experience, I'd say that this isn't really the right time of year for finch virus to be kicking off.  It usually gets out of hand in damp, mild winters: I'm reliably informed that frost kills the evil little blighters (can't remember if the infection is bacterial or viral) responsible for spreading the malady, so the hard frosts this year should, in theory, have stopped finch virus dead in its tracks.

I suppose there's other things the birds could be suffering from, but I'm still concerned.  The feeders are cleaned regularly, though I worry that even though I rotate the location of the feeders regularly, the density of birds feeding here may be too great.  I shall have to keep a careful eye on things, and see if there are any other signs of illness - in general, the health of the wild bird population seems very good, considering how hard the winter has been.

Since it's going to be a while yet before I embark on the next leg of the Grand Tour, I shall have to think of something else to fill my posts in the meantime.  I think I may introduce you to Douglas Church, since I've just posted an entry on Morton Castle, and the Douglas family have connections with both...

Watch this space!!