nature notes II

[SusanDoris]

At last! Just been viewing circa 45 waxwings at Sainsbury's car park in Hessle. Beautiful birds busily eating berries from the surrounding bushes. Plenty of birders present. What a pleasant way to finish what has been an outstanding year, birdingwise. Anyway, anybody reading this, a good new year to you all.

Lovely, - we had some here a few years ago, but none since. When out walking on Christmas Day, it was lovely to hear some quite Spring-sounding bird notes.

[wigginhall]

Well done, enki.   Envy, envy.

Anybody who likes nature films, should try to catch 'Wild Tales from the Village', still on i-Player.  It's about small animals in a French village, but it's the photography that's mind-boggling.   I still can't see how they got some of the shots, e.g. dormice landing on attics floors, and skidding!

[SusanDoris]

My current talking book is, 'While Flocks Last' by Charlie Elder. Very good so far. I've decided that the next bird I would like to be able to identify by its song is the Fieldfare. Do you think I could confuse its song with that of a Greenfinch? I have listened to the audio on the RSPB page so I will have to do this a lot until I know it! I'm not sure whether I'll be able to hear one in my local walks, but I'll ask Dave (at the gym) as I expect he'll know.

[Enki]

Hi Susan,

Greenfinches make a fairly fast, fairly high nasal twittering sound. Fieldfares are much more harsh, lower, slower and not prolonged. You are much more likely to get their call mixed up with the call of a blackbird. Fieldfares usually only come to us in Autumn/Winter so you would hear their call rather than their song. One useful thing to know is that fieldfares are often in flocks, and call usually when flying. So you would be more likely to hear more than one calling, and the direction would be constantly changing.

Happy New Year.

[SusanDoris]

enki

Thank you. I'll make sure to keep the batteries up to date in my hearing aids when I'm out walking! 

[SusanDoris]

Thank you. I'llpay attention whe I'm out.

Listening on in the book, I've just heard the part when he actually sees aWryneck. I looked it up on the RSPB page and played the audio of its repetitions of one note, seems to be about a dozen times.

[wigginhall]

Just looking around for new buds, it's a nice thing to do in winter, anyway, the blackcurrant bushes are covered in them, ditto magnolias now (leaf buds, not flower buds), and some rose bushes, also of course, bulbs are coming up, and apparently there are snowdrops in some London parks.   New life!  Heard a woodpecker drumming last week.

[Enki]

A few days ago I heard my first yaffle of the year, and today, on the television aerial on our roof was a mistle thrush, earning its old name of storm cock in a howling gale which is with us at the moment. Also I notice the hazel catkins are out, no doubt with the high winds being particularly useful for pollination. They always remind me of late Christmas tree green baubles.

[floo]

A few days ago I heard my first yaffle of the year, and today, on the television aerial on our roof was a mistle thrush, earning its old name of storm cock in a howling gale which is with us at the moment. Also I notice the hazel catkins are out, no doubt with the high winds being particularly useful for pollination. They always remind me of late Christmas tree green baubles.

I have never across 'yaffle' before!

[Enki]

Another name for a green woodpecker, which is supposed to illustrate the sound it makes.

[wigginhall]

Good stuff, enki.  The dunnocks in London start singing in January, also great tits of course.   Snow on the way though!  That might shut them up.

[SusanDoris]

Has anyone hear heard a Marsh Warbler which, I understand from that book I read is extremely rare.

[Enki]

Has anyone hear heard a Marsh Warbler which, I understand from that book I read is extremely rare.

They are quite scarce. Being a migrant,  they usually occur in  very small numbers in Spring and Autumn, generally on the East Coast. Occasionally they stay to breed. I have been lucky to see a breeding pair about ten years ago near Scarborough, and, also, before that, near Tewksbury, where there were a small number which regularly bred there many years ago. They are hard to distinguish from reed warblers but their song is quite different. It is a beautiful song, with many variations, because the marsh warbler is a superb mimic of other birds, from great tits to nightingales. I think, if you heard one, Susan, you would be transfixed by its song. I know of no other bird which can mimic such a variety of other birds so well, even including species which we rarely see in the UK.

Perhaps, Susan, this Spring you may come across one. You never know.

[ekim]

The dunnocks in London start singing in January, also great tits of course. 

Would that be an the Windmill Theatre?

[Enki]

Would that be an the Windmill Theatre?

Wince! (Wiggs will know why )

[Nearly Sane]

Wince! (Wiggs will know why )

No Moving!

[SusanDoris]

enki

Thank you for your reply. I went to the RSPB Marsh Warbler web site yesterday and listened to the audio. Amazing!

[Enki]

If you think that human beings are highly sexed, then this is well worth a read:

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=6135

I now look at pec sands in a totally new light.

[Shaker]

BBC Winterwatch 2017: images of winter at dawn: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04qr8nv/p04qr7rr

[Rhiannon]

Lots of lapwings around the village this year, and a flock of fieldfares.

[ekim]

An interesting river walk yesterday yielded two kingfishers, two dippers, 4 egrets, a heron and a beaver.  Oh, and some snowdrops in full bloom.  It's quite surprising how many trees the beavers have munched their way through.

[Rhiannon]

I saw an egret at the wild pond at our nearby stately home back in the autumn. Never seen one before.

[Anchorman]

Interesting pic of an albino otter on the Clyde. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/bothwell-couple-spot-rare-albino-9696422

[Enki]

Looking back at the last two posts from Rhi and Anch, I think it is interesting that all types of animals(including humans, of course) can produce examples which are albinistic, leucistic(white morphs) and the opposite, melanistic, sometimes called dark morphs. The only example I've ever seen of a black little egret was many years ago, in Majorca, when, in our short lived excitement, we thought we were looking at a reef heron. It gets even more complicated and confusing because black reef herons can very occasionally produce white morphs!

The most unusual leucistic/albino bird I've seen was an almost pure white barn owl, working farm fields on a sunny morning. It really did give me the feeling that I was watching some sort of silent ghost, turning and cavorting in the sunlight. This picture might give you some idea:

http://weheartit.com/entry/group/20681808
   

[ekim]

Masses of frog spawn about at the moment.  I hope it contains its own antifreeze.