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Watch the Birdie

Watch the Birdie.   I’m not a twitcher but I am interested in birds, especially those I can see in or from my garden.   I have written previous blogs about those I have seen. I have just collated my records for the whole of 2009; these cover 330 days in the year with separate spread sheets for each month and one for the whole year.   I have seen 35 different types of bird, averaging 23 a month, and 9 per day. The ones that have visited the most are:   Wood Pigeon 93%; Blackbird 89%; Rook 78%; Collared Dove 72% and Starling 69% of days.   Blue Tit frequency was 34%, the Robin 29%. The colourful Bullfinch showed up 2% of the time.   December saw the appearance of a male Blackcap (2 days.) Three birds appeared on one day only – Cock Pheasant, Mistle Thrush and a Jay (the only Jay in the village?)

Chat

Chat   Who wants to spend their time in chat rooms when there are other more entertaining chats?   Chat is the collective name for a group of often brightly coloured small birds. You may not be familiar with some of these.   The robin, originally a woodland bird, has become a garden dweller. The red breasts of both males and females act as signals to warn off other robins that invade their territory. Defence of its territory is a robin’s life. Only when the cold is as severe as this winter does finding food take preference. This year it has been quite common to see five or six robins competing for wire worms and fat balls hung up in gardens. It’s a fascinating show when two robins take up position on opposite sides of a tree trunk puffing up their breasts and singing to scare off their opponent. <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/S6Y8JzojZFI/AAAAAAAABBY/AXZI1dTuLBE/s640/Robin%20110310%20002.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="437" />   The whinchat is one of the earliest summer visitors to Britain starting to arrive in early April after a journey from Africa across the Sahara. They nest and breed mainly in the west and north on open heathland and rough grassland. With streaky brown upper parts the male’s white eye-stripe distinguishes it from the related stone chat.   The stonechat was once a common bird throughout Britain, but their distribution is now confined to local areas. The stonechat male has a black head and back with white patches on its neck and wings; its chestnut breast is more pronounced than that of the whinchat. Move about in pairs and breed in the same areas as whinchats. The stonechat is closely associated with gorse bushes but both birds are known as ‘furze-chats.’   The wheatear is an early summer visitor, arriving from Africa in March. Recognisable by its black and white tail, it nests mainly in the west and north on rough open wasteland in holes and rock crevices. Brighter coloured wheatears pass through Britain on their way to Iceland and Greenland. In Victorian times they used to be trapped on the south cost and served up as a delicacy at dinner-tables.   <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/S6Y9EaSYqaI/AAAAAAAABBg/HN5kDV2eoeM/redstart--2009-91.jpg" border="0" width="698" height="479" />     The red breast and tail, great back, black face and bib make the redstart an attractive bird. A summer visitor, it nests throughout Britain mainly in wooded areas. The black redstart once a winter visitor is much less colourful but there is no mistaking its chestnut-red rump and tail. The black redstart is very much a town bird having established itself on bombsites during and after WWII; it has also nested inside Dungeness nuclear power station.   The nightingale is a summer visitor to the south-east. It nests under ground vegetation such as ivy. In spite of its name the nightingale is as likely to be heard singing during the day as by night, Shy birds, but inconspicuous until they begin to sing nightingales are white-chested with brown plumage and a red-brown tail.   The bluethroat is another bird that skulks on the ground among vegetation. It is mostly seen in autumn on the east cpast on its way south from Scandinavia. As its name implies there is no mistaking its blue throat with a short reddish brown waistcoat below.

Boxing Day Birds

<h3 class="post-title entry-title"></h3> <div class="post-header"></div> Our garden is alive with birds this morning. I have resorted to trying to photograph them through a double glazed window. Here's two to share with you at this holiday time. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TRcly39wxRI/AAAAAAAACS0/a1RZfF7hviI/s576/Goldfinch%20261210.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TRcly39wxRI/AAAAAAAACS0/a1RZfF7hviI/s640/Goldfinch%20261210.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="516" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Goldfinches</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>   <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TRcl-VV9wgI/AAAAAAAACTI/S_5myflThso/s512/Icicles%20Bird%20tracks%20015.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TRcl-VV9wgI/AAAAAAAACTI/S_5myflThso/s640/Icicles%20Bird%20tracks%20015.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="614" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Robin</div>

Records of a Bad Birdwatcher

I have been a ‘fan’ of The Times columnist Simon Barnes for quite a while. Simon is a well known sportswriter, but his columns that interest me most are those on wildlife, especially birds. His book ‘How to be a bad birdwatcher’ was serialised on Radio 4; I have been fortunate enough to obtain a copy courtesy of a Mind charity shop.   Last January I posted a piece <a href="blogs/entry/Watch-the-Birdie">http://www.writelink.co.uk/community/blogs/entry/Watch-the-Birdie</a> about the birds I saw in my garden in 2009. I have just collated my records for 2010. This year they cover 339 days (330 in 2009).    <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TF7yMzxoK5I/AAAAAAAABkA/Lv6ysrA4Lww/s640/Woodpigeon%20010810%20001.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="480" />   As in the previous year I have seen 35 different types, averaging 22 (23) and month and 8 (9) per day.   There has only been one change in the top ten most frequent visitors with the robin entering the list in place of the greenfinch. Top of the pile again is the wood pigeon on 95% of the days (93 in 2009), followed by rook 93% (78), blackbird 85% (89), starling 67% (69), collared dove 64% (72), sparrow 60% (41), robin 53% (29), gull 44% (48), hedge sparrow 42% (40) and the blue tit 40% (34).   A tree creeper put in an appearance in December; newcomers during the year were owls, fieldfares and the most spectacular arrival, a woodcock which crashed into the front window on December 27th.    <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TRiaYmoYmjI/AAAAAAAACTo/ReQIah5Y-vQ/s640/Snipe%20271210%20002.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="480" />   My favourite photo was of the goldfinches in the conifer in our front garden on Boxing Day (See Boxing Day Birds). Did you know that the collective noun for them is a charm of goldfinches?   However my favourite birds of the year were not in my garden but the sand cranes on Oxford Hills golf course in Michigan. They were quite content to share the course with us.   <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HcW1R2xVTKA/TBnRcEbD5KI/AAAAAAAABMc/fAX0GiGfRCk/s640/DT%20may%202010%20023.jpg" border="0" width="640" height="480" />

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