Sunday, 19 February 2012

After the Big Freeze

Great Spotted Woodpecker (c) 2012 Richard Whateley
Mistle Thrush (c) 2012 Richard Whateley
Great Tit (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

Last week saw quite a thawing out after the bone-chilling previous week. Most of the wetland habitats were still frozen over, so were largely devoid of birds, so we tried to find birds in woodland. The Tuesday & Wednesday groups went looking for Bullfinches, which came up trumps again, although the courtship scene observed the previous week was not repeated. Other birds seen were Treecreeper, Redwing, Long-tailed Tits, Great Spotted Woodpecker, & Stock Doves.

The Thursday & Friday groups went to our only fragment of ancient woodland. Here, the most fascinating birds watched were some over-excited Great Spotted Woodpeckers. There were at least 2 females & 1 male, but another individual may also have been involved. One bird drummed on one resonant piece of wood, then there was a short pause, then it drummed on a different stump, which emitted a sound at a quite different frequency. One of the birds drumming was definitely a female, so it isn't only male birds which drum.

On both visits Common Buzzards were seen, which is a new bird for this particular area. It is unlikely that they will breed in the fragment of ancient woodland, as it is a very popular area with noisy ramblers & dogwalkers, so they are unlikely to settle down long enough to breed in peace. However, there are a couple of suitable copses nearby, so hopefully we will have some breeding in the area this summer. Other birds seen included: Blue, Great, Coal & Long-tailed Tits, Treecreepers, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Rooks, Carrion Crows, Wrens, Dunnocks, but only one session obtained decent views of some genuinely wild Bullfinches.
Bullfinch
ditto
Bullfinch [female]
ditto
Robin
Robin
Goldcrest
Record shot of Goldcrest
Record shot of Goldcrest
Treecreeper
ditto

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