redstart

raisingirl

I've been seeing a bird out of the corner of my eye darting in and out of a hole in the house wall (there are lots, we never seem to quite get around to it). My hindbrain was telling me I don't recognise this new neighbour but I never quite saw him. So today I sat for a while and watched to get a better look at him (them, actually), and sure enough, I'd never seen one before. Looked him up on the RSPB site and we have a pair of redstarts 
It says they are summer visitors to Exmoor, so close enough not to be too unlikely but apparently rare for them to come into a garden (mind you, I do go in for the 'wild' look, so they probably didn't realise it's a garden, to be fair).
I'm hoping for babies because there is a pair and they are very busy bringing lots of food in. We already have at least 2 nests of swallows, one fledged one not quite yet, a mother duck and four babies in the 'pond' (yes, ok, its a big ditch that filled up with all the recent rain. Picky picky), a blackbird nest long since fledged (one baby), bluetits in the wall on the other side of the house, one pied wagtail nest by the back door (3 babies fledged and gone) and at least two nests of wrens in the sheds. No house sparrows this year though. And the martins started a nest but seem to have moved on.

All in all its been a good year for bird babies around here 

Busy-Lizzie

I have black redstarts in my garden in France. They nest in the garage. Not very musical birds and quite noisy warning me off when the babies are learning to fly!

Bijdezee

I had one passing through in the winter he spent the day in and out of our old shed which lacked a door. 
You are lucky having a pair nesting. Very nice. 
 

Dovefromabove

I’m very jealous ... I’ve never seen redstarts although I’ve kept my eyes peeled when I’ve been in the right areas. Lucky you 😎 

Obelixx

We had them in our garden in central, rural Belgium and we have them here and this year, one pair has nested in our "cave" instead of in the ruin like the others.  We have been shouted at a lot.   Entertaining birds.

raisingirl

Busy-Lizzie said:

I have black redstarts in my garden in France. They nest in the garage. Not very musical birds and quite noisy warning me off when the babies are learning to fly!

These are common redstarts, not the black ones. They seem extremely timid so far, no shouting yet but perhaps that will change if they do raise a brood

wild edges

I've only ever seen a few briefly around here but mid and North Wales have loads of them. We've got the right habitat here so they must be around but they don't seem to tolerate people from what I've seen. The only times I've been able to get close were when they were busy with chicks. I've always hoped they will use one of my nest boxes one year but nothing so far. Hopefully you'll get some good views if they stick around.

floralies

We have both down here, the black are more common, we have them nesting every year. They are probably the least timid of all the birds in the garden, love to see them feeding their young when they have fledged.

Fairygirl

That's a lovely addition @raisingirl. Great when something 'new' appears isn't it? 

I've seen swifts returning to nest in what used to be an old farm building, but - as is often the case round here- it had been turned into houses, so no nests left. 
They've found a corner below the eaves at one of the houses, and have been very industrious constructing a new home. Lovely to see them. My sister told me they had some returning after years of being absent too. 

raisingirl

@Dovefromabove I don't have a very good camera and I had to take this from inside my kitchen because they stay away if I go outside, so this is the best I could do. But I thought you might like to see them  

Mr

Bit closer

Mrs

And this is where they are nesting, I think

mikeymustard

What a fantastic thing to find in your garden, I'm v.jealous!
I think I've heard them around here (Cheltenham) but never seen one, but I saw a pair in west wales once, gorgeous things