End of year stocktake

Four weeks of the Garden Bird Survey completed, first third done.. how are we progressing?

Grey Wagtail (c.OOS)

We certainly hit the ground running, with 30 species already recorded; that brings us well on our way towards our high of 36, with anything between 30 and 36 a good return for this large rural garden overvthe 13 week survey period.  The weather hasn't been too remarkable one way or another, though we have had a few cold mornings down to - 3C. which brought in a party of Redwings and a flurry of Blackbirds.

The one clear gain this winter, for us, is the rise in the number of Goldfinches, up to 14 now and the drop in the number of Coal Tits: just a single bird when we usually host anywhere between 8 and 15 birds in winter. The former respond to the steady supply of Nyjer seed available, but the latters disappearance is puzzling: it will be very interesting to get the end of season story from across the country. 

No sign of a woodpecker yet this winter and no patrolling Sparrowhawk, surely both will visit?  A few species are literally borderline, such as Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting, but the  Red Kites really do patrol the area, expecting to pick up a morsel.

The most welcome new winter visitor has been the regular appearance of a young Grey Wagtail.  Though they occur on the local wooded streams, a favourite breeding habitat, it is a pleasure to watch this bird forage the gravel area on the warm westerly side of the house.  In colder winters I suspect the Grey Wagtails might move downstream to slightly warmer conditions: they suffered in the cold winters of 2009/10.

A young Grey Wagtail (c.OOS)

Enjoy the holidays!

An Apple a day

Fieldfare amongst the windfalls (c. Shay Connolly)

Whilst the weather has swung back to mild and wet, it was  a chilly minus 3 a week back: weather like that can bring birds new into to your garden, a a correspondent, Ray Walsh, in County Meath reported:


" Five or six birds have arrived in my back garden over the past few days, the size of a thrush, and are attacking the Blackbirds that are feeding on the apples left on the ground. The birds are dark around the eye, mottled chest with reddy brown colour, brown wings and tail, and very grey looking from the back ".

Save an Apple for a Fieldfare (c.Dick Coombes)

That amounts to a very good description of Fieldfares, a so called 'winter thrush' that visits us from Scandinavia.  They are, as the name suggests, more typically associated with open fields and keen on perching up high on hedgerows, and they are quite aggressive, much like our Mistle Thrushes. Whilst it has been a great winter for a profusion of berries on Holly and Hawthorn, these go very quickly and hungry birds will descend on gardens in cold spells, particularly if you provide a surefire incentive: 

Apples in particular , left as windfalls will be eagerly snapped up and even if you don't have your own orchard, many green grocers and shops will supply you with any fruit that is past its sell by date or otherwise 'spoilt' for human consumption or sale.

(C. Shay Connolly)

Try spreading fruit, or spiking a tree on cold mornings and see if you can attract the Fieldfare or Redwing: two of the brightest birds in mid winter: the Blackbirds might not be impressed, but it is known that territorial battles breakdown when it gets really cold and birds just get on with feeding, rather than lose precious energy defending a dwindling food stock..