One hundred and sixty-three

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Tags

Avocet, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great tit, robin, Sand martin

Neither my age, nor my weight, nor my height (though that comes closest), one hundred and sixty-three is my birding total for 2017 – that is, the total number of species I managed to see in Britain.

171231 avocets

This was the first year I’ve kept a count, and it was just out of interest really but, as my more dedicated birding friends post their totals on our Facebook group page (one has 223, another a whopping 252) , I’ve decided to try for a 200-bird year in 2018. That doesn’t mean I’m going to become a mad twitcher or go haring off all over the country to see rare birds. I’m just going to make more of an effort to see as many as I can because I love them so!

171231 robin

And my favourite birding moments in 2017? There were too many to recount, from marvelling at an encounter between a Bittern and a Marsh harrier at RSPB Ham Wall to my frequent local conversations with Robins and chuckles at Tufted ducks, from the joy of watching Avocets with their chicks at Rye Harbour on my birthday to the thrill of seeing feeding Gannets crashing headfirst into the ocean off Dawlish beach, from the lovely little Turnstones than bumble along the embankment in Penarth Marina to the Sand martin that sat and chattered away to me on a railing at Cardiff Bay.

171231 Sand martin

Why just yesterday I had a Great tit land on my hand to grab itself a piece of the flapjack I was sharing with the hungry birds at Cosmeston! Every moment like that, every second spent watching and hearing my feathered friends is joyous!

171231 Great tit

Birds of Forest Farm

07 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, bullfinch, dunnock, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Kingfisher, long-tailed tit, Moorhen, robin, treecreeper

I had a meeting at Forest Farm last Friday so, of course, I took the opportunity while I was there to have a wander around the trails and along the Glamorganshire Canal. And it was wonderful, though I did come away feeling a little guilty. We’d had a week of low temperatures, with overnight frosts, and there was a bitterly cold wind blowing. It was obvious the wee birds were cold and hungry but I hadn’t taken any seed with me. Here are a Long-tailed tit, a male Bullfinch, a Dunnock, a Robin and a Great tit.

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The water of the canal was sheltered from the breeze and very still, making for some stunning reflections (thank you little Moorhen). And I was treated to excellent views of a female Kingfisher, who sat for at least 15 minutes on her branch. From the way her feathers were fluffed up and she was hunched over her ‘toes’, I figure she was feeling the cold as well.

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The Great spotted woodpecker was a treat, as were the Treecreepers – at least four of them, perhaps a family group, were actively scuttling up the branches in one small area by the canal. It was a grand day – my meeting went well and the birding was even better than expected!

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A birder’s bliss

25 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, parks

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, Blackcap, Blue tit, British birds, chaffinch, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Great tit, jackdaw, robin, Woodpigeon

We’ve seen some of the landscape at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park; we’ve checked out the prime lakefront real estate; and we’ve been tit-elated by some of its small birds. Now, here’s what was on Nature’s menu last Wednesday.

160425 blackcap

The absolute highlight of the day was seeing my first Blackcap, and not just one, but five in total, at different times, in different locations, including a female (she wears a brown cap). I was well pleased with that!

160425 tits

After a quiet birding day last time I visited, I was delighted to see more of my favourites this time: a robin was feeding its fledgling; the great and blue tits were demanding food; chaffinches and wood pigeons were getting tucked in to seed left by others; two buzzards were gliding overhead, looking for lunch; a jackdaw was collecting nest-making materials.

As well as these and many other birds, there was a wonderful assortment of butterflies and bees feasting on the lesser celandine and wild violets flowering along the path edges. There were occasional clumps of bluebells and wafts of wild garlic flowers, and it was a gloriously warm spring day. A man I met during my wandering told me I looked happy, and so I was, doing what I love most – being with nature.

Tit elation

12 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, Blue tit, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Great tit

Yesterday saw my first visit to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, just outside Penarth, here in south Wales. And what a fabulous place it is! With two former quarries now filled to form lakes, large meadows, seemingly endless tree-lined walks and an extensive woodland, it’s perfect for everything from family picnics and walking the dog, jogging and mountain-biking, to exercising the pony and birdwatching. I’ll certainly be heading back there again soon.

0 great tit

As I’m mad keen on birds I particularly enjoyed my wonderful long wander through Cogan Wood. The place was alive with all the little birds I love the most, and the most prolific of these were the Great tits and Blue tits. Though the weather was not particularly cold and there was plenty of natural food around for them, they acted like they were starving and, in the most wonderful way, I was almost mobbed by them as I walked along. I tell ya, those critters can smell seed even when it’s tucked away in a plastic box in a backpack! I rewarded them well for all the delightful photo opportunities they provided.

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My favourite avians

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, blackbird, Blue tit, British birds, bullfinch, dunnock, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great tit, robin, thrush

In spite of occasional hail showers and a biting cold wind, yesterday was another magical day at Forest Farm Nature Reserve. I was serenaded by robins, I laughed at the antics of the cute little blue tits, was entertained by the thrushes and blackbirds performing acrobatic stunts in search of the tastiest ivy berries, and enjoyed the most wonderful privilege of a great tit perching on my hand to eat the seeds I was offering. Here are a few of my photos.

A little timid, often overlooked, but very lovely dunnock

Both the thrush (above) and blackbird (below) were feasting on ivy berries

160305 ff3 blackbird

A great tit

Always so cute, a little blue tit

A male bullfinch – such stunning colours

No visit to Forest Farm is complete without a robin or twenty!

Birding at Forest Farm

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, British birds, dunnock, Great tit, nuthatch, robin

Forest Farm Nature Reserve, just north of Cardiff, is one of my favourite places, for a wander alongside the old Glamorgan Canal, for ferreting amongst the undergrowth for fungi, for enjoying the fresh air and an invigorating walk, and for photographing the local birds. With three bird hides and numerous informal feeding places scattered throughout the reserve, it’s almost impossible not to see birds. Mostly, they’re the familiar woodland and garden birds but Forest Farm is also well known for those extremely skilful anglers, the gorgeous kingfishers.

Here are some of the more common birds I photographed yesterday.

Mr Greedy, the nuthatch

Mr Hungry, the dunnock

Mr Handsome, the great tit

Mr Grumpy, the robin

Mr Scruffy, the great tit

The little Great tit

19 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great tit

151219 great tit (2)

One of the three different Great tits in these photographs may well be ‘George’, a cheeky little chap who’s earned himself a nickname from the birders who regularly visit the hides at Forest Farm Nature Reserve near Cardiff because he is quite brazen in his visits inside the hide to demand food. His favourite, apparently, is nyjer seeds and, if these are offered in an outstretched hand, he will quite happily sit on the hand and feed. He is fussy though and turned his beak up pretty smartly at my suet pellets!

151219 great tit (3)

Though the Great tit (Parus major) is a popular visitor to many people’s bird feeders, it’s not normally quite as friendly as ‘George’, and its usual habitat is deciduous woodland though, as you see, this tit adapts well to different situations. It’s a melodious little bird, with a standard song that sounds a bit like ‘teach-er’ (which is how it came to be known in days past by the common name of ‘saw sharpener’), but it’s also rather skilled at jamming a variety of tunes and rhythms.

151219 great tit (1)