Category Archives: birds

Joe Ben or Saw sharpener

22 Tuesday Feb 2022

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From Fauna Britannica, some vernacular names for the Great tit (Parus major): Big ox-eye (Angus); black-capped lolly (West Yorkshire); Black-headed Bob (Devon); Joe Ben (Suffolk); Joe Bent (Gloucestershire); Sawfinch & Saw sharpener (Roxburghshire); Sharp saw (Norfolk), and many more.

220222 great tit

Author Buczacki explains that ‘the names “Joe Ben” and “Joe Bent” are probably onomatopoeic of the bisyllabic call; “saw sharpener” and other “saw” references are similarly descriptive of the call.’ Many birders describe the call as ‘teacher, teacher’ – I guess we all have our own ways of remembering the calls of birds.

Med gull on The Marl

16 Wednesday Feb 2022

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I managed to clock up the 89th species on my 2022 patch birding list on Friday after bumping in to the bird’s finder at the Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve. John had, about an hour earlier, spotted a Mediterranean gull among the flock at The Marl playing fields, so I strode in that direction, hoping the bird would still be present. At first I couldn’t find it as The Marl is popular with dog walkers and their pooches were constantly unsettling the large flock of Black-headed gulls prospecting diligently for worms in the lush grass. But, eventually, the birds settled down again and a thorough scan for a white rear end (adult Med gulls have no black on their wing or tail feathers) produced my bird.

220216 med gull

Marsh tits x 4

01 Tuesday Feb 2022

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In mid December I spent a couple of hours watching and taking lots of photos of Marsh tits, as I was keen to try to work out how many there are living in our local woodland. Two separate birds came to seed at one end of the woodland ride and a single bird came to seed at the other end of the wood. The distance between the two locations, and my photos, led me to believe that these were three different birds. And I had previously seen another bird with a slightly deformed left claw, which had been photographed by a local birder just a week earlier. This all leads me to believe there are now at least four Marsh tits in the woodland, which is excellent news for their ongoing survival.

220201 marsh tit

Non-migrating sandpiper

29 Saturday Jan 2022

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One of the highlights of my local walks this winter has been the presence of a Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), usually seen foraging along the embankment where the river Ely runs out into Cardiff Bay. These birds usually migrate to west Africa for the winter but, each year, a few birds remain in Britain, and we are privileged to have this one, sharing our area during these cooler months. Yesterday, it was feeding well on some kind of tiny crustacean, freshwater shrimps perhaps.

220129 common sandpiper

You can read a detailed summary of the life cycle of Common sandpipers on Graham Appleton’s excellent Waderstales blog, Not-so-Common sandpipers, May 2019.

Lighting up the wetlands

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

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A male Stonechat is overwintering at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve. With his orange breast, dark head and streaky brown wings, all crisply edged in white, he’s a dapper-looking little chap, and he’s rarely still. Eyes peeled for the next tasty titbit, he prefers a lofty perch from which to survey his surroundings, and flits quickly down for the catch, then back up to the nearest best vantage point. He’s like a bright spark on a cold winter’s day.

Dancing with weeds

22 Saturday Jan 2022

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I consider myself fortunate to have seen the courtship of Great crested grebes many times during my years residing in Britain but last Thursday was the first time I’d seen the part of their display that includes them dancing with weeds in their beaks.

220122 weed dancing (1)

I recognised the noises the birds make as they work up to their display and was lucky enough to be very close by, so quickly got my camera out of my backpack. As I did, both birds reached down under the water’s surface before emerging with long strings of slimy weed in their beaks. Pushing rapidly against the water with their feet helped them raise their bodies almost fully out of the water and their bellies bumped together as they moved their heads from side to side, almost slapping each other with the weed.

220122 weed dancing (2)

After a couple of minutes of this strenuous activity, they subsided back into the water, first one grebe then the other dropping the weed, but they continued with their usual display routine of head shaking and dipping from one side to the other. Several more minutes passed before, presumably satisfied that their pair bond had been sealed, they sailed off to carry on with their day. For me, the experience was magical, birdwatching at its absolute best!

220122 weed dancing (3)