Our winter visitors are flocking in, some will overwinter here but most will just be passing through, feeding on the abundant invertebrates, fruits and berries here, then heading for warmer countries.
A 'golden' oak on the river bank provides a rich source of insects
for roaming mixed flocks of small birds, some migrants and others resident here.
The oak leaves are falling slowly, one by one and each leaf harbours insects, with many more to be found in the crevices of the bark which will provide food even in the coldest weather.
Tuesday 18th November 2014:
After continuous rain the day before, the morning was fine and quiet, with no wind but very damp.
The river was flowing fast, muddy and quite high with rose hips and hawthorn berries on branches over-arching the water, brightening the banks, shining in the low sun. Less visible to us but clearly visible to birds, sloes on the blackthorn attracted birds as much as the bright red berries and fruits.
On the riverside, mossy grass in shady areas had been disturbed by birds seeking food in the damp earth - blackbirds, song thrushes and their relatives the fieldfares had obviously been busy, with smaller birds taking advantage of the digging too.
Robins were heard singing and seen all along the riverside (15), sometimes with two together but most separated by sizeable territories. Blackbirds (28) outnumbered the robins, none singing but some very bold, flying low over my head towards the river and the succulent fruits of its overhanging vegetation. A large proportion of these birds were clearly visitors to our shores, appearing more stocky, the males with darker beaks, tough birds capable of stripping a holly bush bare in minutes - if their fellow visitors, the redwing hadn't got there before them! With thickets not yet bare, the movement of birds along the river amongst the branches, seen briefly as silhouettes, was easily detected but only 2 songthrushes foraging in a riverbank blackthorn, 1 fieldfare and 4 redwing were clearly seen, foraging in a large holly, with lots more hidden 'in the wings'.
A holly over the river still has berries - awaiting hungry visitors
from the north
Overhead 24 herring gulls and 30 black-headed gulls were seen wheeling against the clear blue sky, with a single black headed gull feeding on the grass. Whilst concentrating on the aerial scene, I noticed a Red Admiral butterfly flying strongly over the tops of the Scots Pines, in the sun. Another solitary flier was seen - a bumble bee, a Common Carder Bee, in search of late flowering plants.
More carrion crows were seen than usual here (12) mostly calling loudly from tree tops, two rooks and several distant jackdaws were also seen flying over the trees. Five magpies were seen over the fields and 8 woodpigeons were busy foraging on the grass in various areas.
Are jays creatures of habit? Each winter at least one jay is busy searching for, or storing acorns in a small area of earth underneath the same poplar tree, with squirrels and magpies seen on the same patch. Today, two jays were seen flying from a hawthorn into the poplar, then dropping down onto the ground, hoping to unearth acorns. Other nuts and seeds may have been hidden there but there have been no acorns this autumn.
House sparrows (24) were noisily occupying their usual hedgerows, moving into the sun, whilst 5 chaffinches were seen flying across between trees. A singing colony of Goldfinches hid in ivy, at least 8 but probably more. Calls from branches in the oak directly above me came form a large family group of long-tailed tits, foraging on insects which had emerged onto leaves in the sun after the rain. Looking at the small branches - if one bounced it meant that one of the long-tails had just left. Initially there were about 8 birds but these were soon joined by 3 more, then 2 more with a few blue tits. In an adjacent oak upstream there were even more and another group were seen flying out in the open one-by one, easy to count, crossing a gap between maple trees. I counted 28 altogether, closely knit groups but forming just part of a large roaming flock of tits following the river, where the best foraging can be found.
Blue tits were very numerous (56 at least) most forming part of the roaming flock together with great tits which tend to forage lower down amongst tree trunks and fallen leaves on the ground.
A slight movement in the leaves of the undergrowth revealed a cautious Roe deer on the bank which moved out of sight. Above it, a great-spotted woodpecker suddenly called, causing another to fly out across the oaks (2). Two nuthatches were busy in nearby oaks, one calling and a very smart treecreeper was seen climbing and foraging amongst oak branches. They have done well this year together with most of our resident insectivorous birds and summer migrants. The mixture of damp and warm sunny weather over the summer has been perfect. Although not singing yet and therefore difficult to locate, 4 wrens were seen in different areas along the river, flying low over the water or perched on low branches.
The long drainage basin is steadily filling with rain water and it was good to see some birds foraging on the muddy banks. They turned out to be a few starlings (10) but as I was watching a flock of smaller birds flew up from the basin together towards me then around and back down onto the 'beach'. They were meadow pipits at least 25 - so good to see as their numbers are declining.
River bank in autumn
Last but not least, except in size, as they are our smallest birds - were goldcrests (at least 11), some foraging in conifers but most were foraging in maples and searching amongst ash keys, in the company of blue tits and great tits, which look huge in comparison. Some of them may have been part of the large roaming flock - safety in numbers and pooling intelligence about the landscape as they travel around. Flocks choose to follow rivers and streams and the bountiful riverbank vegetation from the hills to the sea.
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