• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • READING
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Category Archives: birds

51/365 Tawny!

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

birding, British birds, British owls, intuition, owl in a tree, Tawny owl

There are times when I think birding is about developing a sixth sense. Today I was out walking somewhere I’d never been before, I was loving being surrounded by glorious old trees and constant bird song, but then it started to rain, just lightly but enough to be unpleasant. I’d been out for several hours so figured I’d increase my pace and head back to the station for the train home. I was stomping along the track when I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to stop, turn around and look back the way I had come. There was no particular sound that triggered this feeling and I didn’t immediately see any reason to stop, until I looked up … and saw this gorgeous Tawny owl snoozing in a dead tree. Sixth sense, intuition, luck, call it what you want – it was certainly working for me today.

190220 Tawny owl

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

49/365 With laser-sharp chants

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great tit

190218 Great tit

‘The laser-sharp chants of great tits’ is how Brett Westwood describes the sounds these enchanting little birds sing out as the fever of spring begins to take hold and they vie with each other to advertise their charms and attract a mate. I think, however, that this little one’s chirping at me today was more about food than anything else.

* The quote is from Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss, Wonderland: A year of Britain’s wildlife day by day, John Murray, London, 2017.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

43/365 Spring in the air

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birds mating', birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebes mating

The scent of Spring was strong in the air today or, at least, all the birds I saw thought so. The Great crested grebes were being particularly amorous. First, though, this female fancied some lunch – just a little snack to keep her energy levels up.

190212 great crested grebe (1)

Then she climbed on to the minimal nest that she and her mate had created and got herself ready. The male seemed unsure – perhaps he was shy because I was watching.

190212 great crested grebe (2)

After a couple of minutes when nothing had happened, the female stood up, gave herself a little shake and directed some stern squeaks at the male.

190212 great crested grebe (3)

He had obviously got the message!

190212 great crested grebe (4)

The end made me laugh out loud as he slid unceremoniously over the female’s head in to the water. Let’s hope their efforts were not in vain. I’ll be keeping an eye on them, from a suitable distance.

190212 great crested grebe (5)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

39/365 Who’s black-and-white?

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cormorant, Cormorant's facial plumage, Penarth marina

I took advantage of a two-hour break in Storm Erik’s passage early afternoon to do a quick circuit of the Ely embankment, just in case the storm had driven in any unusual birds. Apart from a lot of Black-headed gulls and Coots taking advantage of the shelter afforded by Penarth’s cliffs and three Redshanks enjoying a companionable snooze, it was fairly quiet. But I did find this gorgeous Cormorant perched on a pontoon in the marina, drying its wings. They’re so often thought of as black-and-white birds but just look at how colourful its facial markings are.

190208 cormorant

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

A well-travelled Black-headed gull

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bird migration, birding, birdwatching, Black-headed gull, British birds, colour-ringed birds, colour-ringed Black-headed gull, tracking bird movements

When I was in Barry earlier this week, I noticed one of the Black-headed gulls at The Knap was colour-ringed so I took its photo and reported my sighting by checking who was ringing what where on the European Colour-ring birding website.

Today I heard back from Paul Roper of the North Thames Gull Group (NTGG) and the information he supplied is fascinating. This bird was ringed as an adult (‘third calendar year or older’) at the Pitsea Landfill Site in Essex on 12 March 2016 but it doesn’t seem to spend much time in England. As Paul commented in his email, ‘This one is particularly interesting as it appears to breed in Finland and goes there via Germany’.

190208 Black-headed gull

Another thing that intrigued me was how site faithful this bird is in its choice of where to over-winter and Paul confirmed that, from their records, many birds ‘do seem to stick to a site faithfully in the winter’. From sightings dated 11 November 2016, 15 August 2017, 5 February 2018 and my sighting on 4 February 2019, we can see that, once it’s finished breeding in Finland, this little Black-headed gull heads back to Britain to spend its winters in Barry, in south Wales. You can see a map of its movements on the NTGG website here. There must be something about the fish and chips in Barrybados that keeps bringing it back!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

38/365 The seed-eaters

07 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bird seed, birding, birdwatching, British birds, feeding the birds, Jackdaws, seed-eating birds, Tufted duck

Shame on me! I bought a big bag of bird seed at one of the local cheapo shops for just a pound. It was a mistake, a case of false economy, as it’s almost 90% large seeds that the littler birds, the robins and tits, can’t eat, and it’s those littlies that I like to feed – I figure most of the larger birds can take care of themselves.

190217 tufted duck

Still, the cheap seed needs to be eaten. So, today, battling blustery winds, sheltering from hail behind too-narrow tree trunks, I bore two containers-full to Cosmeston, one lot for the Tufties, who lived up to their name as diving ducks by plunging constantly underwater following the sinking seed, and one for whichever of the bigger birds wanted the bounty I broadcast under the trees, which turned out to be a small clattering of grateful Jackdaws.

190217 jackdaw

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

37/365 Ever upwards

06 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, trees, winter

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Lime tree, treecreeper

190206 treecreeper

Up! Always and forever, the Treecreeper goes up, up, upwards. Never down, hardly ever sideways, though often, in the process of going up, spiralling round and round a trunk, a branch, to the top. And then, flying quickly down to the bottom and heading upwards once again. Unusually, today, this little Treecreeper flew down to the very base of a huge Lime right in front of me and I followed it round and round the tree, until it was too high to see. What a treat!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

36/365 Staring at gulls

05 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Common Gull, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, gulls, identifying gulls

I’m sure I’m gaining a reputation as ‘The woman who stares at gulls’. I don’t think of myself as a larophile, a gull-worshipper – I’d just like to become better at identifying them. With their annually changing plumages, the juveniles are the most difficult; generally, the adult gulls are easier, if you can get a good look at them. Today, at Cosmeston, while staring at the gulls as usual, I actually found something different, not one of the usual Black-headed gulls or Lesser black-backed gulls or Herring gulls, but this lovely Common gull. Fortunately, it was close to the shoreline so it was easy to pick out its distinctive bill and head shape and colouring. A very pretty little gull!

190205 Common gull

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

35/365 Little egret

04 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, seaside, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, Barry, Barry Old Harbour, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Little egret

After the rain and low cloud cleared late morning, I headed to the seaside for the afternoon, to Barry, a short train ride west along the south Wales coast. Despite the chilly wind blowing in off the sea, the day was glorious and I walked around the Knap, the Old Harbour, the beach at Barry Island and then along the old docks to catch the train home. The tide was out so it was a good time to check the now-silted-up Old Harbour for birds and I was delighted to spot this Little egret puddling about in one of the channels, trying to stir up something for its lunch. Such an elegant bird.

190204 little egret

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

32/365 Redwings

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Redwing, Victoria Square Penarth

190201 redwing

With its wide diversity of trees young and old, Victoria Square is home to a good number of birds. Today I spotted Blue and Great tits, Nuthatches, a Treecreeper and two Goldcrests, Crows and Jackdaws, Blackbirds and Song thrushes, a Greenfinch calling from a tree top, and several of these beautiful Redwings energetically turning leaves in the never-ending search for food. I sprinkled some seed about in the less snowy places close to trees and left them to it.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder. And I am living proof that Kiwis really can fly.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • 51/365 Tawny! February 20, 2019
  • 50/365 Conifer mazegill February 19, 2019
  • Birding at Dryslwyn and Kidwelly Quay February 18, 2019
  • 49/365 With laser-sharp chants February 18, 2019
  • 48/365 Prints in the mud February 17, 2019

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Click on the category

'Dedicated Naturalist' Project 365DaysWildin2019 amphibian animals autumn birds coastal fauna flowers fungi geology insects ladybird leaves lichen mammal molluscs nature nature photography parks plants reptiles seaside seasons slugs spring trees walks weather wildflowers winter

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
%d bloggers like this: