Psilos
Bird Journal |
Tuesday January
22nd 2008 |
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"When
the sun shines" |
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When the sun shines for those
precious few minutes you can be sure that there is nothing around but
a robin. Dont get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the humble robin.
He looks as beautiful as the next bird with his red breast glowing in
the sunlight but the sun is so scarce that it would be nice to see something
else take that well lit centre stage. Birds abound in poor light but
as soon as the sun comes out they all dive for cover. |
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The sun is not
the only thing that makes birds dive for cover around here. Warning
calls broke out everywhere and even I was alerted to the presence of
a predator. Stealthily he flew across the back of the woods and landed
on a branch behind the fence at the top of my allotment. A male Sparrowhawk.
I often see the female but the male is a first for me here. Sadly behind
the fence is not a good photo opportunity but I was just pleased that
he was here and that he might come back. He sat for a mere few seconds
before he took off once more weaving in and out of the trees and away. |
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I havent been out birding much this last few weeks due to the weather but I have been keeping the feeders well stocked and watching what arrives. Sods law says that all the best birds turn up when I do not have my camera. Two days ago three jays came in together and came down to feed along with a greater spotted woodpecker. Naturally today they were nowhere to be seen. Another bird that was nowhere to be seen was the Magpie. This is very unusual as they are always around, being a nuisance and scaring the other birds away. I was therefore hopeful that in their absence I would get better views of the shyer birds. One bird that does not like the Magpies is the Nuthatch. They have started coming more frequantly to my feeders now, becoming bolder. As I was leaving both birds were putting in an appearance. |
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Large flocks of
Redwings and Fieldfares were in the trees high up around the allotment.
At one point a redwing came down and sat ten feet from my car right
on my eye level. Never have I been so close to these wary birds and
I marvelled at his beauty. A Treecreeper moved jauntily along the back
and the understated call of the Bullfinch could plainly be heard from
the undergrowth. The Greater spotted woodpecker was around too but his
persistent alarm call showed that he was unsettled and so he never came
in close. A small flock of Long tailed tits came into the feeders looking
for fat balls. Sadly there were none. I will have to rectify that soon
enough. |
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Another first for
the allotment was a skein of low flying Pink footed geese flying west.
I often see Canade geese flying over but to see these geese flying over
so low is very unusual. |
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Lots of male Chaffinches about
too. Looked out for Brambling amongst them but sadly there were none.
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The Greattits are becoming
more numerous and more feisty too. I love how they challenge all the
other birds and it is fascinating to see just how much their breast
pluamge colouration varies. Again today not a great number of bird species
but seeing the male Sparrowhawk has made me remember that you never
know exactly what will turn up next. |
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