A disastrous end to the season

My breeding season actually ended a few moths back, with most of the pairs failing to have further rounds. But worse I lost 3 hens. My best hen from pair 2, the hen from pair 3 and the remaining red cinnamon opaline hen I bred this year and was going to keep. I blame the deaths on a very persistent cat that was new to the area that had a big liking to my birds. Buster wasn't much use. The cat has now disappeared. Coincidently my new neighbours had their cat run over....I shouldn't laugh and no, it wasn't me!
I'm now hanging on to most of my remaining young in the hope of getting some replacement hens, although most look like cocks.

Re

 Red back yellow opaline, looks like hen but still young

black eyed white bengalese chick (top)

Fawn bengalese chick

Red back opaline yellow. Hens I think, still young.

My old male now without a mate

Yellow opaline. Looks like a cock. This was the chick that got plucked in previous posts

Red fronted opline cock

Other red fronted opaline cock

Yellow opaline cock. Bit concerned about flight and tail feathers.

Red bellied cinnamon hen

Butterflies and Waterfalls

These were taken on a recent trip to Wensleydale in the Yorkshire dales.

Peacock butterflies

Red Admiral butterfly

Hardraw Force

It's big!

Long exposure

latest fledglings

Pair 2's chicks fledged a few days ago. A lot of red, but small.

I may let them breed again as they have only had 5 chicks in total.

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Flamingo's

Flamingo's in the wild near Roquetas de Mar Almeria Spain

A very noisy black winged stilt

Flying past the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Some sort of tern

A few changes

I've made a few changes to this year’s pairs. My 2007 red fronted normal has been sold into retirement; he just wasn't that interested in breeding again. The cinnamon hen that was with him is now with the yellow opaline male of pair 3. The red backed hen that was with him has now been isolated due to a further deterioration in her feathers and also I wasn't happy with her plucking her chick, which is now nearly fully recovered.


Pair 2 have just 2 chicks for their second brood, both redbacks.

Pair 4 is a reluctant to start a second brood.

Bad news; the red back cinnamon chick from pair 4 pictured in th last post has died.  Don't know if I'm starting to see a trend here, but the reddist birds always appear to be the weakest. Fortunately her sister is thriving and still has lots of red.  

  Some pictures of the other chicks, bred this year....

Latest fledglings

4 of pair 4's chicks have left the nest. Probably the best birds this year. I wasn't going to keep any young this year, but I may be tempted with the very red cinnamon opaline hen in the first picture.

Red opaline cinnamon hen

Red fronted opaline cock

Other red fronted opaline cock in the middle

Other red cinnamon opaline hen (slightly more orangery than the other)

A fed fronted cinnamon hen still needs to fledge

And here it is, pair 3's single chick. I'm very disappointed with the parents doing this. However, the chick is a big strong bird and will have its feathers back in a few weeks or so.