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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Woodpigeon

Birds and berries, 1

27 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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Tags

autumn berries, berry-eating birds, birding, birds and berries, birdwatching, British birds, Woodpigeon

When I walked past this same spot two days after taking this photo, the tree was bare of berries and there were some very content-looking full-bellied Woodpigeons perched nearby.

211127 woodpigeon and berries

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107/366 In my tree

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birding out the window, birds in my tree, birdwatching, Blue tit, British birds, Cherry tree, Goldfinch, Willow warbler, Woodpigeon

It’s amazing how much time you can ‘waste’ trying to take photos of all the birds that spend time in a tree. I know because I’ve spent several hours doing just that. I can watch the tree as I sit at my desk/dining table or on my living room sofa (my kitchen/dining/living room is just one big room) so it’s easy to spot birds arriving or to hear them singing and calling, but it’s not so easy to sneak over to the open window to take photos because, obviously, if I can see the birds, they can also see me! So, my clothes drying rack was moved in to service as a not-very-effective bird hide.

200416 1 bird hide

First up was a Blue tit – always cute and very chirpy. As the tree – some kind of ornamental cherry – is now quite leafy, it’s hard to get a clear shot and, of course, the birds don’t exactly pose for me.

200416 2 blue tit

Next, and returning continuously throughout the day, a couple of Goldfinches. Their cheerful twittering has been a joy in recent days.

200416 3 goldfinch

Surprise of the day was this Willow warbler, a real rarity in my urban setting. It visited on and off for a couple of hours then, presumably, continued its migration path, heading north to the Welsh Valleys to find a spot to breed.

200416 4 willow warbler

And so to bed … this Woodpigeon had obviously had a hard day.

200416 5 woodpigeon

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336/365 Birds and berries

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, plants, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

autumn berries, birding, birds eating berries, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, Fieldfare, Mistle thrush, Redwing, Song thrush, winter thrushes, Woodpigeon

It’s only been a few weeks since I saw my first winter thrushes of the season but now they’re everywhere, feasting on autumn’s bounty of lush, delicious berries. Song and Mistle thrushes, Blackbirds, Redwings and Fieldfares and, not a thrush, the Woodpigeons are also indulging in the berry-fest. The Redwings are particularly skittish but I’ve managed to sneak up on a few to grab photos, though, more often than not, the whole tree I’m trying to approach will suddenly erupt with birds flying off in all directions. And then I feel a little guilty about interrupting their repast.

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31/365 Frosty and hungry

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, flowers, nature, weather, wildflowers, winter

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birding, British birds, Daisy, frost, frosty winter days, Woodpigeon

190131frostydaisy

It was frosty white this morning but, as I write this at 4pm, the forecast snow hasn’t arrived. If I sound disappointed, it’s because I am – as an Antipodean who’s not seen much snow, I love it when it does happen. Still, I enjoyed crunching around the fields at Cosmeston this morning and made sure I took plenty of bird seed for all my hungry feathered friends.

190131woodpigeon

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In a Pengam garden

05 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, bullfinch, Carrion crow, Collared dove, garden birds, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Woodpigeon

My friend Sharon has a lovely garden: an area of lawn bordered by flowers, shrubs and hedge; a separate area for growing vegies, the glasshouse and the beehives; and a lovely little bit of wild woodland at the end. It’s a paradise for birds, particularly because Sharon also has lots of feeders that she keeps stocked up with seeds of various kinds and suet blocks. As a person who lives in a first-floor flat with no garden, I just love visiting Sharon’s garden. I could sit watching the birds all day long.

180705 1 Pengam garden birds

My photos show just a few of the birds that entertained us yesterday – and these 14 species are not the only birds that visit: House sparrow, Blue tit, Great tit, Collared dove, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Carrion crow, Great spotted woodpecker, Magpie, Robin, Dunnock, and Blackbird.

180705 2 Great spotted woodpecker

The Great spotted woodpeckers have been bringing their offspring to the garden this year

180705 3 Woodpigeon and Carrion crow

The Woodpigeon doesn’t look too happy about the Carrion crow being so close

180705 4 Blackbird

A Blackbird with an odd beak

180705 5 Goldfinches and Bullfinch

‘This is ours’, squawked the Goldfinch to the Bullfinch, but …

180705 6 Bullfinch

… the Bullfinch won out on the day!

180705 7 Collared dove

A beautiful Collared dove

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The bounteous cotoneaster

19 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

berries, birding, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, Cotoneaster berries, Redwing, Roath Park, winter berries for birds, Woodpigeon

They may look luscious and juicy but Cotoneaster berries contain toxins, which means that many people consider them poisonous. (There’s a good article about whether or not they really are poisonous on the Poison Garden website.) Yet the blackbirds, thrushes and woodpigeons seem to enjoy them and, when the more desirable berries like rowan have been consumed, these nutritious berries help to sustain the birds through the lean winter months.

170119-cotoneaster-pigeon

Roath Park has several cotoneaster trees that are covered in bright red and dull yellow berries at the moment so, as I walked home from the train station this afternoon I kept an eye out for feeding birds. And I got lucky.

170119-cotoneaster-blackbird-1
170119-cotoneaster-blackbird-2

The hefty woodpigeons were easy to spot as their clambering made the branches shake a lot. The blackbirds were more delicate but also more entertaining, as they performed their aerial trapeze, clinging to branches and stretching as far sideways or upside down as they could to reach the furthest fruit. The bonus of the day was a group of about five redwings also feeding spasmodically in these trees. They were more skittish, flitting quickly on to the very top branches for some rapid pecking but, always watchful, flitting away again to higher nearby trees as people walked past along the pathway.

170119-cotoneaster-redwing

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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.

160425 wood pigeon
160425 robins
160425 jackdaw
160425 chaffinch

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.

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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.

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