🐦⬛ Garden nature diary: June 2025
June 1: Two swifts high above the drive. Pair of goldfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Pair of chaffinches on the lawn. Magpie eating from the fat ball feeder, with six wood pigeons mopping up below. Pair of stock doves on the lawn. Letting the dog out at 10.00 p.m. I heard (but didn’t see) a little owl in the school then on to the land beyond.
June 2: Two swifts passed over the garden while I was having my breakfast, with another one in the distance. Two stock doves beneath the feeding station, again visiting regularly during the day and staying for prolonged periods. Female great spotted woodpecker on sunflower hearts feeder.
June 3: Jay in flight heading towards woodland. Greenfinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. Pair of stock doves on the lawn, chasing and competing for seeds that a male chaffinch was dropping from the sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile birds on the feeding station: several great tits and one blue tit. Three swifts at dusk, visible from the living room. Grey heron in late dusk flight, high over the valley.
June 4: Several juvenile great tits on the feeding station, mostly taking their own food but occasionally being fed by an adult bird. Male and female house sparrow. Juvenile magpie in garden. Coal tit on feeding station, haven’t seen one for a while. Collared dove in garden.
June 5: Great tits, both adults and juveniles, on the feeding station. Adult and juvenile magpie in the garden, the former feeding the latter. Collared dove on bungalow roof below ours. Male and female blackbird on the lawn. Female great spotted woodpecker on fat balls. Male house sparrow. Greenfinch, male and female chaffinch on feeding station. Adults and juvenile blue tits. Nuthatch on sunflower hearts feeder. Carrion crow perched on neighbour’s aerial.
June 6: Pair of goldfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Male and female blackbird on the lawn. Male and female great tit with juvenile birds on the feeding station. Common buzzard soaring high over the valley. Three swifts seen from the living room. Male house sparrow on feeding station. First juvenile greenfinch of the year, arrived on its own and fed on sunflower hearts. Adult greenfinch later on the feeding station, with a single goldfinch. Pair of chaffinches on the lawn.
June 7: Female great spotted woodpecker feeding on suet pellets and nuts. Male house sparrow on seed feeder. Lovely to see the great tits, both adults and juveniles, visiting regularly. Juvenile greenfinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. First juvenile robin of the year in the garden also an adult bird. Juvenile blue tits on the feeding station. Pair of goldfinches and a male chaffinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. Male sparrowhawk caught a juvenile great tit in the garden, which it ate on the lawn.
June 8: Two female house sparrows on seed feeder. Adult (male) and juveniles (at least four) great tits on the feeding station throughout the day. Male and female chaffinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. Male and female blackbirds on the lawn. A pair and a single goldfinch arrived in the garden at the same time, with the former seeing off the latter, before settling on the sunflower hearts feeder. Greenfinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. Six swifts visible from the drive at dusk.
June 9: Four goldfinches on the feeding station, with a fifth bird in the garden. Juvenile robin on the ground. Two juvenile greenfinches arrived together, one feeding beneath the feeding station and the other on the sunflower hearts feeder. Four swifts visible from the garden, in the immediate area.
June 10: Goldfinch on feeding station. Large white passed through the garden. Greenfinch and male chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Common buzzard in flight, visible from the living room. Female blackbird on the lawn. First juvenile stock dove of the year, arrived with two adults.
June 11: Continual visits from adults and juvenile great tits on the feeding station. Male and female blackbird in the garden. Male chaffinch and a goldfinch on the sunflower hearts feeder.
June 12: Great spotted woodpecker briefly on feeding station. Pair of goldfinches, pair of greenfinches, single goldfinch, male and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder at various times during the day. Adults and juveniles great tits on feeding station.
June 13: Two swifts in low flight over the garden. Two goldfinches, male and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Stock dove on the lawn. The great tits continue to visit throughout the day, both adults and juveniles.
June 14: Female and juvenile great spotted woodpecker. The former feeding on the sunflower hearts feeder, but the latter doing lots of flapping, as it wasn’t sure about how to attach itself to the feeders. Male and female chaffinch and four goldfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Two male house sparrows on the feeding station.
June 15: Long-tailed tit on the feeding station. Stock dove on the lawn. Male and female chaffinches, pair of goldfinches, male greenfinch, juvenile blue tit on the sunflower hearts feeder. First juvenile goldfinch in the garden. Stock dove on the lawn. Adults and juvenile great tits continue to visit regularly.
June 16: Male chaffinch, greenfinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile great tits and blue tits on feeding station. Small white in the garden. Female sparrowhawk in the garden, chased something around the palm tree and then flew off. Not sure whether it was successful. Male and female chaffinch feeding one juvenile, which stayed in the palm.
June 17: Male and female greenfinch, male and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Large whites in both the front and back gardens.
June 18: Pair of goldfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile blue tits great tits and a chaffinch in the garden. Two large whites. Male sparrowhawk flashed through the garden, a wood pigeon flew and the two collided, but no kill for the predator on this occasion.
June 19: Greenfinch and male chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile blue tits and great tits. Male blackbird feeding in the garden and bathing in the bird bath.
June 20: Jackdaw calling in flight over our home. Male and female house sparrows on seed feeder. Juvenile blue tits and great tits on the feeding station. Male and female chaffinch and goldfinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Cinnabar moth in lunchtime flight across the patio.
June 21: Male and female house sparrow on seed feeder. Juvenile blue tits and great tits on feeding station. Pair of stock doves and a singe bird on the lawn. Greenfinch pair of goldfinches and male chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Female chaffinch in garden. Small white in the garden.
June 22: Along with the ever-present adult wood pigeons, a juvenile in the garden. Three greenfinches, pair of goldfinches, male and female chaffinch on the sunflower hearts feeder. Male and female house sparrows on the seed feeder. Juvenile blue tits and great tits on the feeding station, regular visitors for a while. Male and juvenile blackbird in the garden.
The video below contains footage and photographs of birds so far this month.
June 23: Adult goldfinch with two juveniles on the feeding station. While the former fed on sunflower hearts, the young constantly flapped their wings and opened their mouths. Pair of greenfinches, male and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile blue tits, great tits on feeding station. Stock dove on lawn. Juvenile dunnock feeding on the patio. Fourteen swifts over the eastern ridge, visible from the living room.
June 24: Pair of goldfinches with two juveniles on the feeding station. While the adults fed on sunflower hearts, the young frantically flapped their wings to get attention. Pair of greenfinches and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Stock dove on lawn. Small whites and large whites in garden.
June 25: Greenfinches, goldfinch and female chaffinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Juvenile blue tits and great tits constant visitors to the feeding station. Male blackbird on the lawn. Several large whites in the garden. Stock dove and a pair of birds on the lawn at separate times.
June 26: Goldfinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Adult greenfinch on sunflower hearts feeder with two juveniles flying around the garden, not able to navigate their way on to the feeding station. Female chaffinch on the lawn and sunflower hearts feeder. The usual constant stream of juvenile blue tits and great tits. Male and juvenile blackbird on the lawn.
June 27: Pair of stock doves displaying on roof of bungalow below ours. Juvenile blackbird, robin in the garden. Pair of greenfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Large whites, small whites and a comma in the garden.
June 28: Juvenile blue tits, great tits and wood pigeon in the garden. Pair of chaffinches and a pair of goldfinches on the sunflower hearts feeder. Male blackbird on the lawn.
June 29: Two female chaffinches on lawn, male on the feeding station. Juvenile blackbird, greenfinch, blue tits and great tits in the garden. Pair of goldfinches and greenfinch on feeding station. Swift seen from drive. Wagtail (no id) in flight across school, seen from the drive.
June 30: Stock dove on the lawn. Juvenile blue tits and great tits on the feeding station. Male and female chaffinch, goldfinch and juvenile greenfinch on sunflower hearts feeder. Female great spotted woodpecker briefly on bird bath. Two male house sparrows on seed feeder. Large whites, small whites, speckled woods and a comma in the garden.