A Fine February 2023 - for Birds

 After a rather erratic beginning to the year in January, with it's mixture of wet and windy weather with singing Song thrushes and Robins and a male Blackcap sheltering from thunder, lightening and heavy rain in a garden, and high river levels  recorded, it became steadily colder. Two Grey squirrels were seen collecting fresh 'duvets' of fallen leaves to repair wind-damaged dreys and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard drumming on freezing tree-trunks. River levels dropped rapidly revealing bare clay beneath the topsoil as the weather brightened at the end of the month. February was less extreme but eventful in that a significant amount of planting was achieved in order to restore hedging and create a even more diverse habitat for wildlife here along the river.  (See our HFCG News for February 2023 to  come).

Survey - Monday 27th February 2023 was a cold day and very bright, sunny with a blue sky with temperature warming to 4 deg C from -2 earlier.

Riverside vegetation showed little change - Hazel catkins were growing and small leaf-buds were appearing on other trees with a few more green shoots of Wild Garlic but it will be a slow spring, unlike the previous few years.  Little remained of the bountiful crops of fruits and berries - plundered by hungry birds - more trees to benefit wildlife have been planted now.  There were signs of frog spawn in a small pond however.. Frogs are a valuable source of food for many birds in the spring.

The First Lesser Celandine plants seen flowering at the end of February - a very welcome sight this year!

House Sparrows first. As usual, given a sunny day, most were seen perching on the sunny side of the hedges especially in areas sheltered by the wind (85). There was one Chaffinch  and one Goldfinch. The latter are usually more numerous - they may have flown off to forage on the remaining Dock and Thistle seeds. Three fast-moving Goldcrests were visible in a conifer whilst below a bright Kingfisher dashed across the surface of the river under the steep banks.   One Dunnock was seen in usual habitat, an insect-rich footpath between rough hedges.There were 24 Robins evenly spaced in their spring territories, most were singing and easily seen in the bare vegetation.  Blue ts (33), Great ts (22) and 7 Long-tailed ts were seen in various locations, the Long-tails in ones and twos obviously prospecting for nest sites or starting to build nests - not so easy this year as bramble banks and hedges are still so bare. They usually make an early start and spend several weeks on construction. It was good to see and hear wrens (12) singing loudly along the river banks, seemingly unaffected by the high water levels of the winter. Bare trees made it easy to spot a Treecreeper climbing along a horizontal branch upside-down and also to locate a quiet Nuthatch in an Oak. It will be finishing refurbishing it's nest by now. A Great Spotted Woodpecker suddenly started to drum close by on what was probably a springy branch, making a 'doinnnggg' sound. Again as with other birds today it was quite clearly visible.

Woodpigeons (20) were not very active, most sitting hunched on oak branches some cooing lazily. Starlings were scarce too with only 6 seen, most were probably keeping warm in their Day Roost. Later they may be seen all flying together in a mini-murmuration - or - is there another reason - as they were silent...? Carrion Crows were dispersed, mostly on the field margins (9). Magpies (6) were quiet for a change although not invisible and Herring Gulls (13) likewise. A single Black-Headed Gull was patrolling the playing fields - their 'scout' which remains behind when the flock decides to fly off.

Blackbirds (total seen 21) on the other hand were very active some picking over fallen leaves, several chasing each other, and others contact-calling or giving alarm calls, mostly males. Only one Song Thrush was seen and 2 Redwing, observing from a low thicket. Should they leave or wait until the weather is more suitable before the long journey back - maybe a warm westerly wind would be best. Upstream was a piece of foil litter glinting in the sun - just a flash of wing and it turned into a male Mallard duck foraging amongst a small 'island ' of twigs near the bank. Had it been a female it would have remained invisible as the twigs were moving with the fast flowing river.

A flash of brilliant white in a shallow less turbulent part fo the river was a Little Egret fishing quietly  well out of sight under high banks. It suddenly flew up, it's bright yellow feet visible when it perched on a mossy branch in the tree above and continued to survey the river below. 

The survey really started with a series of raptors. First a Kestrel sitting on a branch . It had disturbed two Carrion Crows and  one Magpie just by flying from one branch to another. Next came a Red Kite flying up over where I was standing, over my head, drifting and circling, close with markings showing well, unconcerned by my presence. Then seconds later a Common Buzzard flew over me approaching from the north and circling low above, also unconcerned by my presence although creating more of a disturbance amongst other birds sending up  woodpigeons and starlings from the trees.

Was this the reason why there were fewer starlings and wood pigeons about?

Song Thrushes Signal Spring

Tuesday 31st January 2023 the day of the January Survey was a cloudy day with no blue sky visible at first. The light was bright however with no rain or wind but much mud and some broken branches to make up the picture for the last day in January. The most noticeable visual sign was the bareness and drop in the height of riverside vegetation compared with last winter and the winter before. Then brambles were throwing their new shoots high without dying down as the warm weather allowed for continuous growth. Today bramble fronds were weighed down with layers of fallen Oak leaves. The only sign of reasonable growth were some tiny clumps of green leaves low down on the warmer earth of the river banks - Wild Garlic. 

Above, on the level route of the footpaths there were only layers fallen leaves on hard ground. It was not clear in places which was the path and which was normally a soft green verge with wild flowers springing up: the footpath is on the left and the verge on the right:

The space on the right of the trees is usually frequented by birds,

 Blackbirds and Song Thrushes mostly shuffling through the leaves

finding plentiful bounty. but this was not long after the Survey.

Yes there were Song Thrushes, not foraging but singing full songs as loudly as I've ever heard and clearly visible in the bare branches directly overhead.

On the day of the Survey and most of January and February, singing birds dominated the whole riverside, it would have been a desolate scene without them with still only slow-growing Hazel Catkins to bring colour.

With continuous birdsong and no wind, it was easy to see most and rejoice at their numbers.

Almost all Robins (33) were singing and visible, even in the conifers. with Blue ts (35), Great ts (18) and fast moving Long-tailed ts (11) very active, giving contact calls, the Great ts giving by far the loudest and most varied spring calls. Wrens (only 2) were the least audible and visible as this season is usually a quiet one for them, depending on the weather and Bankside growth of mosses. There were seven Dunnock, most singing, one bathing in a drainage Basin which still carried some water and another singing loudly from an Oak. Their numbers were vastly exceeded by House Sparrows, as usual - there were approximately 90, some singing loudly whilst hidden amongst dry Brambles - the most popular habitat on dry ground but with the river nearby. The only disadvantage of growing a thick underlay of winter down is the time it takes to get dry again preening in the winter sun after bathing. Five Goldfinches were singing in a bank thicket, but no large flocks were seen.  The soft call of a Bullfinch was heard as the bird moved around the the Blackthorn thickets over the river but fell silent when a Sparrowhawk whizzed through the top branches, heading North where vegetation provided cover for attempts at predation. Often these attempts are most successful with Woodpigeon prey. There were 29 Woodpigeons spread out along the river and tall hedges, observing. Eight Magpies were actively chasing each other with 17 Carrion Crows, in the Oaks, some chasing the Magpies. 

The most numerous birds today apart from the House Sparrows, were the Herring Gulls (68) some in small groups, others in a group of about 40, visibly incoming with the blue sky forming a 'kettle' over the school. Interestingly only one starling was seen, many others were present but invisible in their 'day roost'.

Those characters of the playing fields, the Black-headed Gulls were present, (about 40) many losing their winter plumage, all quietly wandering, evenly distanced, across the grass.

Of the thrushes, Blackbirds were the most numerous, foraging in various places along the river and on  leaf-strewn paths (19). A single Redwing was clearly seen, looking around from a Blackthorn, 

perhaps deciding to join a departing flock.

The masters of the days singers were the Song Thrushes. 14 were clearly seen in their own habitats on their chosen perches, some giving sustained and beautiful voice-carrying songs. Once having chosen their 'singing station' perches they can often be found in the same  general location each day, if not disturbed. (as do the Mistle Thrushes).  Other birds seen were 6 Nuthatch, some calling. They too seek the best locations and return to them but only call in alarm or to threaten imposters as their tree cavity nests take many weeks to build and refurbish well in advance of nesting.

A single Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen clearly visible investigating a nest halfway up an old tree trunk.

Finally on the outskirts of the survey area a Red Kite was seen flying onto an old tree near a large drainage basin, more often occupied by a Kestrel.