Having posted a couple of photos of jays outside our front door Wrinkly Steve commented on how lucky we were to have jays in our front garden, well in truth we haven't got one! Whilst we haven't got a garden of sorts we are certainly lucky with what we do have and this has made me think about posting a blog to share what we see outside our front door.

I have taken this shot to literally show you a view from inside the front door of our house. 

The photo below shows that far from having a garden we have a lane. It is not too bad though because Cwmrheidol where we live is a single lane along a valley with no through road, so is really quite peaceful.

You can see the feeding station opposite the front door and the perspective of the distance I am shooting from. With the nuthatches, tits, robins and the like I set my tripod up by the hedge. The jays and woodpeckers are taken from the first window. A hint of what lies beyond can be seen past my van (a must with four dogs).

This is our front garden! The Rheidol river runs the length of the valley and runs past our front door. You can see the house just left of centre mainly hidden by the woodland. To the right of centre are Rheidol Falls which provide the wonderful spectacle of leaping salmon in autumn. There is in fact a fish ladder which circumnavigates the high falls but not all of them realise there is help at hand! Not being selfish we do allow the farmer to put sheep in the fields from time to time and the odd tourist ventures across the footbridge to sample the tranquillity and views. 

 The Vale of Rheidol Railway also runs along the valley and the above photo was taken from our front door. The trains run from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge from Easter to October and provides another thing of interest. 

But back to the view immediately outside our front door. In my previous blog a couple of members suggested I add some branches near to the feed station to provide a place for the birds to stop momentarily before eating and to take more natural photos (thank you Ziggyrach and Sue P.). I took the idea and this year tied a tall thin branch to the left and the thick piece of bark to the right. Not very appealing to the eye until you zoom the lens in.

The branches are certainly better than the feeder. The blue tits are so easy to photograph because no sooner is the food replenished and they appear. 

The nuthatch is never far behind, all be it a little more curious at his surroundings. This little chap certainly looks a cheeky bruiser!

This photo demonstrates the disadvantage of pre-setting the camera because he just wouldn't get in the centre of the shot. Well they do say never work with children and animals, I think I should add birds to that saying! 

I have clearer photos of a robin but I was determined not to include one on the feeder itself so included this one. 

Okay, I have to admit defeat on the woodpecker! I haven't got one close enough in a natural pose, but I am working on it so hopefully you will soon see a post with a suitable setting. 

No, we don't have a front garden but what we do have is beautiful. I hope you agree.

Regards

Dave R.