Birds Archives - A Year in the Valley

Red-legged Partridge

We have never seen a partridge in the watermeadow before, but this one turned up this morning looking very bedraggled. We wondered whether he had been displaced by Storm Pierick last night. Here, he has dried out and fluffed himself up. Red-legged partridges look very striking with their complex colouring. They can be identified by their red beak and legs.

They live in lowland scrub and farmland, eating small insects as well as seeds, leaves, and roots. They are ground-nesting birds. Their nest is just a foliage-lined scrape in the undergrowth. They prefer to run instead of fly if disturbed. In fact they are a non-native species having been introduced to the UK in the eighteenth century as a new gamebird.

Daisy D

09 April 2024

Birds

Red-legged Partridge

Redwing

It was a blustery, grey Easter Sunday and I had no expectations of seeing anything unusual in the watermeadow. However, as we looked out of our kitchen window, we could see a few birds hopping along the footpath. The smaller birds were a dunnock and a robin, but there was a larger brown bird. I dismissed it as a female blackbird, then I noticed speckles, so a thrush? I picked up the camera – I still need to log a Song Thrush – and zoomed in. This bird looked thrush-like but had very striking speckles and obvious pale eye stripes. There was another further down the path. I snapped a few photos of the pair and then got out the bird guides.

The Redwing has similar markings, but I thought it was just a winter visitor. However, the distribution map shows that redwings overwinter as far south as North Africa and migrate up to Iceland and Scandinavia for the summer. It’s nearly April, so could it be that these redwings were passing through on their way north? I studied the photos and could clearly see a reddish patch on its side. I didn’t see it take off, as it spent a long time on the bank of the stream, but if I’d been able to watch for long enough, I would have seen red flashes under its wings as it flew. It was sheer luck that we happened to be watching as the redwings visited, but how lucky were we!!

Daisy D

31 March 2024

Birds

Redwing

Chiffchaff

I have heard the chiffchaff a few times with its unmistakable ‘chiff-chaff’ call, and I finally managed to track it down in near the top of this tree a little way up the valley. The last time I actually saw one it was on the electric cables that slant across the bottom of the watermeadow. They definitely seem to prefer being up high. They feed on insects. It is interesting that although they build their nests in bushes and undergrowth near the ground, they prefer to nest in habitats where there are taller trees.

Daisy D

26 March 2024

Birds

Chiffchaff

Water Rail

I thought at first it was a moorhen, just looking a bit grey in the early morning light, but suddenly I realised that the bill was quite long and when I took a look through the camera zoom, I could see the patterning on its sides. We have never seen a Water Rail in the garden before. It is a relative of the moorhen, but with stunning markings – a rich brown back streaked with black, plain grey front, and black & white striped flanks, together with a flame red bill. They are shy by nature. This one, dabbling in the muddy pathway, kept running for cover into the long grass. They favour wetlands and grasslands and are most likely to be seen in the winter. They will swim, if necessary, and can fly long distances, but prefer to walk, foraging in the mud for insects, crustaceans, small fish, even small animals, and birds, as well as seeds, berries and roots in the winter.

Daisy D

03 March 2024

Birds

Moorhen, Water Rail

Bird Traffic Report – and Wood Pigeons revisited

Lately, it’s been harder to spot new things than in December-January. I notice things re-emerging that I have already counted, but nothing new. This morning it is seriously raining (again!) and we have a broadly easterly wind. I decided to do a bit of twitching and compile a Bird Traffic Report to see what was flying in the valley.

Between 9-9:30am I spotted many herring gulls, up to 21 at a time. There were six on the right-hand field opposite, to start with and it became a bit of a gull drop-in with others joining and flying off during the half hour. Two crows flew across the valley. Wood pigeons were around. Then I noticed a flock of at least 17 grazing in the left-hand field opposite. Two mallards were swimming in the flooded lawn next door. Finally, four male mallards flew down the valley, got buffeted by the wind, did a slightly flustered U-turn, and curved off back up the valley again!

Up at the bird feeder – sparrows were flying in and out of the ‘Sparrow Tree’. I imagine there were many more hunkered down in there. Also spotted – 2 great tits, 2 blue tits, 2 dunnocks, and a robin.

I wondered what the pigeons were grazing on in the field and found out that they eat a lot of grass seed. I also discovered that pigeons breed all year round (up to six broods a year) but we never see fluffy fledglings. Why not? Well, they spend a longer time than most in the nest, fed on high-calorie crop milk and high-protein insects as well as seeds and leaves. This means that by the time they fledge they already have adult plumage. In wood pigeons, the only difference is they don’t yet have the iconic white collar round their neck.

Daisy D

25 February 2024

Birds

Wood Pigeon

Geese, possibly Canada

We heard a loud honking and looked up. Three geese were flying up the valley. They are probably Canada Geese, as I could make out white around their bill and white in their tail – and possibly their belly. That colouring rules out a lot of geese, but leaves Canada, barnacle, and greater white-fronted geese. They all have white under their tails and somewhere on their head. The greater white-fronted goose is a winter visitor and has a tiny bit of white over its bill. The barnacle goose is mostly found in the north. The Canada goose has a white chinstrap, so I’m going with that as I know they can be seen locally i.e. Par Beach Bird Lake.

Daisy D

23 February 2024

Birds

Geese

Jay

The jay is my favourite corvid. It’s shy, so I don’t see it very often. The jay is more correctly known as the Eurasian Jay. Unlike our other crows, which are monochrome, the jay is a soft pinky-brown, with black markings on its face and crown. It has black and white wings with a striking bright blue panel, finely marked in black. You can just see the blue flash on the left-hand side of this jay, still noticeable even though it was across the valley by the time I was able to get the shot. The little feathers from this panel are very conspicuous if you happen to see one on the ground and are exquisite little treasures.

Jays mostly live in wooded areas, preferring broad-leaved trees, but they can also be seen in coniferous forests, scrub, and urban habitats.

Their favourite food is acorns, but they will also eat insects, seeds, fruit, eggs and small birds and mammals. Another name for it is the Acorn Jay, for its love of acorns, which it hides for later. It is said that the spread of oak trees after the Ice Age was largely caused by its forgotten acorns.

Daisy D

02 February 2024

Birds

Jay

Big Garden Birdwatch 2024

So, not a sighting today, but more of a summary. As usual when we do the Big Garden Birdwatch, the birds were mostly taking the day off. We scored a total of 20 birds in an hour. We thought that was a rubbish score, really, given the number of birds that we commonly spot during the day. The rules of this Birdwatch are that you count the highest number that you see at any one time (in case you count the same bird twice) and you don’t count birds flying over the garden, which today included five woodpigeons, a kestrel, a heron, two carrion crows and a jay.

The birds that landed in our garden (top garden and watermeadow combined) were:

Wood Pigeon x 1 – sitting on the fence in the watermeadow.

Dunnock x 2 – hopping around under the bird feeder and shrubs.

Little Egrets x 2 – having been fended off next door’s lake by the mallards and moorhens, they flew over the fence to pause and reconsider their plans briefly before carrying on up the valley. It’s been a joy to see this pair every day for the last week or so and we hope they are going to choose to nest in the valley.

Robin x 1 – there were two of them yesterday having a bundle on our patio, possibly rivals, as they are known to be fiercely territorial.

Sparrowhawk x 1 – this was a stroke of luck! The sparrowhawk came to perch on our fence for a while. The kestrel was flying around, but not stopping.

Wren x 1 – over the other side of the garden under the shrubs.

Blackbird x 1 – over by the fruit cage.

House Sparrows x 6, Blue Tits x 2, Great Tits x 3 – these were flying between the bird feeder, surrounding trees and the willows and sea buckthorn in the watermeadow.

N.B. The rules of ‘A Year in the Valley’, my rules, include birds flying over the watermeadow, as they are taking advantage of the valley’s natural corridor, which includes our patch – and it’s not a count of population, but of diversity of species.

Daisy D

28 January 2024

Birds

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Great Tit, Grey Heron, House Sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Little Egret, Robin, Sparrowhawk, Wood Pigeon, Wren

Chiff-chaff or Willow Warbler?

That’s the leading question. Apparently we ‘re not supposed to see either of them until March or April. However, as previously mentioned, we’ve already heard the chiff-chaff’s song and a “wheep-wheep” call which could be either depending on whether the “wheep” is one syllable (chiff-chaff) or two as in “whee-eep” (willow warbler). I will have to listen more closely next time I hear it.

The main difference between the two in looks is that the chiff-chaff has black legs, and the willow warbler has paler legs. The willow warbler is yellower generally, with a white belly and more prominent yellow stripe over its eye. It also has longer primary feathers on its wings, as it has to fly further. The chiff-chaff has stubbier wings. Finally, the chiff-chaff constantly flicks its tail, whereas the willow warbler only flicks it occasionally.

Originally spotted on the bank of the watermeadow, it is now frequenting the top garden flying from the tree next to the bird feeder to next door’s roof and balcony railing and up the valley to some trees the other side of next door’s garden, where there was another waiting. So, we have a pair, which is exciting.

I’m going to go with willow warbler, as it has dark pinky legs. Its eye stripe is bright, and its belly is white. There is a yellow tinge to its breast and the wings look long. I think the only way to confirm will be to actually see a chiff-chaff and compare the two. So I’ll keep my eyes open.

Daisy D

26 January 2024

Birds

Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler

Mistle Thrush

Friday was a good day with herons and sunshine. I also managed to get a photo of a mistle thrush. It came to land on our shed roof and at first I thought it was the female blackbird, but then I saw spots! I noticed it again this morning on next door’s lawn which gave me a chance to see it hopping around.

There are two main types of thrush, given that it’s unlikely that the winter migrants – the fieldfare and redwing – would be spotted this far south.

That leaves us with the Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. This is why I think it’s a mistle thrush:

I originally assumed it was a blackbird, which is around the size of a mistle thrush. The song thrush is slightly smaller.
The c-shaped markings on the side of its neck are more pronounced on a mistle thrush, together with a slightly pale cheek patch.
The spots on its breast are rounder and more club-shaped than the angular arrow-head spots on a song thrush.
The spots are also more random on a mistle thrush and tend to join up at the flanks to form dark patches. On the song thrush they are arranged in roughly vertical lines.
The mistle thrush has a more upright stance than the lower crouching song thrush. When it was standing on the sloping shed roof, it was more difficult to tell. But on the next door’s lawn, I could see that it was tall and lean-looking.
Also, in flight the mistle thrush has white underwings and tail edging, whereas the song thrush has a slightly orange tint under its wings (not like the red flash of the redwing though) and a shorter dark tail. Here’s an edited version of the above photograph, which is a bit clearer:

In the garden today, I’m still watching the plants in the mud to see if they flower or grow a bit more so that I can properly identify them. So far, they are not doing anything much. The cyclamen-type plant is still not flowering and is getting buried under mulchy grass. I noticed bees flying around today, both large fluffy ones and smaller ones (not close enough to identify).

Out of the kitchen window, I saw a large bird of prey flying up over the house; the kestrel perching on the power line; magpies and crows over on the hillside; and seagulls flying up the valley in groups and singly. The valley is a busy corridor for birds, especially gulls and it appears that they are using it all day long, not just at the morning and evening rush hours. I saw a great thrashing and splashing in the stream and got quite excited, but it was only Mr Mallard, who had to rest on the bank for half an hour afterwards.

Daisy D

24 January 2024

Birds

Mistle Thrush