Tag Archives: birding

362/366 New leaf flitter

27 Sunday Dec 2020

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For several reasons (Covid restrictions, environmental concerns around travelling simply to see new birds, a desire for quality not quantity), I decided early in the year to restrict my birding to my local patch. That’s meant my list of the bird species I’ve seen this year only totals 118, not the 200 I’ve previously aimed for, but I’ve enjoyed spending more time observing the birds I have seen, getting to know their preferred places, behaviour, feeding patterns, etc. And I have seen one new bird this year, a stunning Yellow-browed warbler that appeared along the local coastal path back in October.

201227 yellow-browed warbler

357/366 Grainy wagtails

22 Tuesday Dec 2020

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These are very grainy photos as the weather was atrocious and I didn’t have my good camera, had only popped out briefly from home between showers to get milk and a few groceries from the corner shop, but I was so delighted to spot this family of three Grey wagtails foraging in the lane behind my house that I just had to share. It seems the usual Pied wagtails are being challenged for the urban pickings this winter!

201221 grey wagtail (3)

354/366 Goosander courtship

19 Saturday Dec 2020

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This gorgeous redheaded female Goosander is cruising along the River Ely, diving, fishing, minding her own business, when …

201219 goosander courtship (1)

… this dude literally drops out of the sky right by her, and indicates, by the way he points his beak skywards, that he’s in the mood for a little hanky panky, but …

201219 goosander courtship (2)

… when it comes to it, he feigns aloofness. The female adopts a submissive posture, and she chases him and chases him and chases him and chases him until …

201219 goosander courtship (3)201219 goosander courtship (4)

… finally, he gets the idea, and the action begins (the look on her face!) …

201219 goosander courtship (5)

… and then, after dismounting, he doesn’t want to let go. (And now I know why she has that hair-do!)

201219 goosander courtship (6)

352/366 Winter travellers

17 Thursday Dec 2020

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When winter begins to tighten its deadly grip on the world’s northernmost latitudes, food gets scarce and many birds either flee south or face starvation.

201217 fieldfare

Fieldfares come chack-chack-chacking all the way across the North Sea from Scandinavia, some even further, from the desolate snowbound plains of Siberia.

201217 redwing

Some Redwings also fly across the North Sea, though most of those we see in Britain have come south from Iceland. Seeing and hearing these gorgeous birds is one of winter’s highlights for me.

350/366 S s s s … Siskin

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

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Siskin (Carduelis spinus) are not finches I see very often so, when I heard their high-pitched whistles at Grangemoor Park last Saturday, I immediately looked up to try to spot them.

201215 siskin (1)

And there they were, perhaps six birds, feeding on Alder cones, high above me. There were other trees in my sightline and the light was shocking so it wasn’t easy to watch or photograph them.

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Still, I lingered on the muddy path for 20 minutes or so, enjoying their upside-down feeding techniques, listening to their noisy interaction, enjoying the fleeting glints of yellow when the sun lit their feathers. What a treat!

201215 siskin (3)

347/366 Speug

12 Saturday Dec 2020

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Craff, cuddy, grey spadger, roo-doo, sparr and sprug, spuggie and spurdie…. These are all regional names for the sparrow, both the House sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the Tree sparrow (Passer montanus). My ex, a Lanarkshire Scotsman, called it a speug, so that name is one I still sometimes use. And I’m sure many of you will have your own names for this little bird, one of our most common urban garden companions.

201212 house sparrow

340/366 Ravens bonding

05 Saturday Dec 2020

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When I walked across Cardiff Bay’s Barrage and back on Tuesday, I was thrilled to spot the resident Ravens hopping about on one of the gantries. Then, as I watched, they paused next to each other and began mutual preening and murmuring in low, sweet tones.

201205 raven courtship (1)

It’s believed Ravens mate for life but even life partners need to reaffirm their pair bonding and these actions, plus dramatic aerial displays, are all important aspects of Raven courtship.

201205 raven courtship (2)

If you’ve not heard the sounds I’m talking about, the Raven love speak, there’s a short audio piece on the Audubon website here.

337/366 The anvil

02 Wednesday Dec 2020

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At the moment there are plenty of juicy berries on the trees and bushes, but when those disappear, or the ground’s too hard to probe for earthworms, snails become an important source of winter food for our Song thrushes. But how to get inside those protective shells to the body within? The answer is shown in the photo below – find a suitable stone, or similar hard object, and bash the snails on it.

201202 song thrush anvil

336/366 Wagging all the way

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

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When days are short and skies are grey, a bobbing, tail-wagging, chissicking Pied wagtail is sure to bring a smile. There are always a few Pied wags around in the summer months but, come the chilly days of winter, many more come to town, where it’s slightly warmer and the urban pickings presumably a little richer.

201201 pied wagtail (1)201201 pied wagtail (2)201201 pied wagtail (3)