The Holly and the Ivy

The past month, like most of the year, has been warm, with little rain but enough to keep the ground damp. Insect life has been abundant, the few frosts having had no effect and birds have taken full advantage of this along the river - most species are insectivorous and will prefer to feed on insects and spiders in preference to any other food whilst available, at any time of the year, not just during the nesting season.
As soon as frosts start and this source of food becomes scarce then fruits, berries and nuts will be consumed. Hopefully this winter there will be plenty for all, including migrants from the frozen north.

Ivy forms a valuable food source during the winter as flowers and then berries sustain wildlife and the evergreen leaves provide shelter for many species.

Song thrushes were singing loudly after overnight rain on 30th December 2011, three of them at least.

 It was great to hear from John R. before the year was out that he had seen a barn owl hunting at about 15.45 on Wednesday 28th December! A confirmation that our local wildlife is surviving.

Tuesday 27th December was a typical day for this winter, very dull and overcast but dry, with no wind and no sign of the cloud clearing. A glance at the riverside revealed a beautiful tiny goldcrest foraging for insects amongst the fine twigs on an old oak, easy to distinguish it from the numerous blue and great tits foraging in the same area by it's behavior and size rather than colouring in the very poor light. A male bullfinch, 4 chaffinch, 2 greenfinch, 5 robins, at least 5 goldfinch and 4 wrens were also foraging in nearby thickets close to the river, a green woodpecker 'jaffled' loudly and a great spotted woodpecker flew low overhead. Soft calls reavealed some fieldfare entering the blackthorn whilst two nuthatch were busy in another oak, probing the bark with their strong bills, in search of insects. Two probable treecreepers flew down to the roots of trees and were seen making their way swiftly upwards and around out of sight. At least 10 blackbirds were seen on the river banks searching amongst fallen leaves.

Sunday 18th December was the day of our conservation group meet on the river: 

A cold frosty start with song thrush singing loudly, many robins with some singing and about 10 wrens but only one or two trying out short songs. Blackbirds were active all along the riverside foraging silently amongst the fallen leaves with only an occasional alarm call. Redwing were the stars today - a group had arrived and spread out amongst the thickets along the riverside where Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Holly berries and fruits were the attraction. A fine close view of one redwing posing with a holly berry in its beak, a rare sight as they are wary birds. The thickets also held assorted finches, greenfinch, goldfinch and chaffinch. A small group of long-tailed tits, fluffed up against the cold, were seen amongst the numerous roving groups of great and blue tits. Sentinel woodpigeons sat high in the trees, ready for flight at the slightest disturbance below. Here and there they were accompanied by crows, starlings and a jay. A flash of orange then brilliant blue along the river - a kingfisher speeding around the corner. In a sheltered spot a dunnock was seen foraging low amongst the roots and a bright male bullfinch flew up from a bramble patch. A house sparrow colony was chattering in a hawthorn hedge whilst two treecreepers and then a nuthatch were seen searching for insects in the bark of mature trees.

On 9th December, a fine sunny day to start with the squirrels were foraging and seeking a varied diet:

This grey squirrel plucked a whole mushroom and carried it to a sunny spot on an old log where it enjoyed its meal. Obviously this was a delicacy as there were still plenty of nuts and acorns to be had.

     

On 6th December, several redwing were seen flying low along the river vegetation, no doubt marking the trees and thickets that held berries and fruits.

Monday 5th December was an unusually very cold clear day with early frost bringing out the foraging birds. Just a quick look along the river showed a male blackcap, 2 nuthatch, 2 bullfinch with a great view of the large vividly coloured male calling (rather loudly for a bullfinch) first before leaving the thicket to forage on the river bank. A female was seen close by. A jay called loudly and a 'charm' of about 25 goldfinches flew over to others occupying a thicket. 5 Blackbirds, 2 chaffinches, a dunnock, 2 songthrush were seen and 2 robins out of several more were singing. On the opposite side of a thicket at least 4 fieldfares were feeding with numerous great tits and blue tits foraging along the river. A colony of house sparrows was chattering as usual inside a hedge.

Holly berries on a young tree - one day they were there and the next day they had disappeared, eaten by hungry migrant redwings from the famine of  frozen Scandinavia, pausing for a while to feed and then move on. 

  

Slight signs of winter

On 30th November it still felt like October on the Riverside with hundreds of small gnats dancing in the sunshine - but here and there Hawthorn bushes were stripped of berries, indicating the fleeting passage of migrant birds halting for a while to replenish their energy supplies before moving on, unseen. Apart from the oaks, most trees and thickets were bare with plenty of deep damp leaf litter on the ground.

Spot the Roe deer browsing....close to the deer were a singing robin, a leaping grey squirrel, a song thrush singing, a green woodpecker jaffling (no partridge or pear tree however)

(click on the photo and scroll to the end to see a larger version).

 Along the river on 30th November were:

Robins, some singing full songs, in quite close proximity to each other, no fighting today (17);  large roaming flocks of blue tits along the thickets, feeding on the still abundant insects (60+) together with great tits, some calling, making full use of insects in the canopy and the understorey (31). A family group of long-tailed tits moved across from tree to tree independently  (6+) , not as part of the roaming flock which was following the course of the river. 

Blackbirds were foraging everywhere leaving no leaf unturned, in Holly, Ivy, Blackthorn, Hawthorn and the thick leaf litter under all the trees (23). Many sparrows added their chatter to the almost spring-like sounds, there were three colonies in different locations, two in Hawthorn hedges and one colony in a Blackthorn thicket (50+). The beautiful singing of a song thrush came from a dense mixed thicket - it has only started singing during the last few days. Another song thrush flew over the river whilst a third was also singing much further down the river. Wrens (7) and dunnock (2) were more easily visible but only two wrens were singing, softly. Chaffinches (3) were still quiet, mainly feeding amongst the leaves on the ground.

A beautiful treecreeper was making its way up a sunlit conifer trunk collecting insects emerging from the bark in the warmth - no shortage of early winter food this year.

Jays (4) and carrion crows (6) were noisily bickering, annoyed by the grey squirrels (5) now having to leap higher and higher into the oak canopy to collect fresh acorns then descend to the foot of the tree to sit and eat. A commotion in a holly tree revealed a large mistle thrush being chased by a blackbird from one holly to the next and back again, a dispute over a future source of food. Nuthatches (4) were calling from various old trees near dense undergrowth where a Roe deer was feeding, almost invisible in the dappled low sun. Another deer was sighted for a second, behind a thicket, before it bounded away, perhaps disturbed by the loud jaffle of a green woodpecker. High on a tree top a male greenfinch was perched as a lookout showing brilliant green whilst woodpigeons sat around on the lower branches but still high up. A slight shower of rain sent more woodpigeons  (10+) across into the trees from the field whilst a magpie flew up from the river, wet, to shake and dry off and three more magpies flew up from their feeding ground on the field. Just one starling was seen on its own, perched on a tree top.

Above the trees a charm of goldfinches flew across, a group of at least 17, chatter-singing and a single herring gull glided over joined suddenly by about 30 black-headed gulls.   

 The highlight of the day appeared low over the river as a flash of bright orange, making a rapid turn along the bend in the river and then away upstream - a brilliant view of the kingfisher, its blue back shining in the sun for an instant.