New Garden Visitors

I had a lovely surprise this morning thanks to a chance look through the window. As I may have mentioned, our new garden hasn't been getting many feathered visitors, other than a resident woodpigeon and several feisty robins arguing over territory. I'm still putting out food but only a small amount to keep those who do visit satisfied. Whenever something is on the feeder it catches my eye immediately because it doesn't seem to happen that often at the moment, and this morning, as I was in the middle of getting dressed, I noticed a couple of birds scoffing down hearts that I hadn't seen before. I grabbed my bins and was taken straight away by the bright yellow plumage and black cap of one of the birds: a siskin! The other was duller with more markings, which I identified as a female. As I continued to peer through my bins, more birds appeared and I counted three males and two females, plus a female redpoll and a goldfinch. 

It certainly brightened up my morning, since it's the first time we've been visited by siskins and redpolls. They hung around for quite some time afterwards too; what obliging birds!

Big Garden Birdwatch 2016: My First Brambling!

A new house in a new town means new birds. I've been particularly looking forward to doing the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this year for this very reason. It's given me an opportunity to get a really good idea of what birds we have visiting our new garden as, up until now, I've only really managed fleeting glances through the windows, although this technique has yielded some great spots already! I've been adding to a new patch list as each species has revealed itself and recently bullfinch, goldcrest and nuthatch have all been included.

When I woke up yesterday, the muted grey light told me that it wasn't the sunniest of mornings. It was drizzly, cloudy and typically British. I was already lacking in hope for many feathered visitors as our feeders have hardly been descended upon since moving here and I've had to change the food on more than one occasion because untouched peanuts have gone mouldy in the persistent rain. I just think that the mild temperatures have meant that there are still plenty of natural food sources out there, so the birds haven't found the need to visit the feeders as often as I'm used to. With that in mind, I wasn't expecting to see much.

The first quarter of an hour lived up to my expectations. The only activity going on came from three feisty robins bullying a lone blue tit, while three woodpigeons watched from the branches of the oak tree. I found it fascinating to see the robins using the feeders with ease as this behaviour is relatively new for this usually ground-feeding species. 

Without a doubt, the highlight of the hour for me was a visit from a brambling! I watched Friday's episode of Winterwatch which mentioned the possibility of seeing bramblings hidden in flocks of chaffinches and I couldn't believe it when I spotted one during my watch. It was an extremely fleeting visit, but it perched on a bush long enough for me to get a positive I.D. before flitting off over the fence. Actually the same thing happened with a bullfinch later in the hour so I was able to add those both to my list.

Image: John Harding/BTO

I rode the brambling high for the rest of the hour and actually quite a few of my favourite species made appearances, including a nuthatch, long-tailed tit and a great-spotted woodpecker. Whether the latter was the same one I'd hear drumming earlier in the morning, I don't know. I was also serenaded by a particularly enthusiastic song thrush on the top of the fence. Both of these would suggest we have an early Spring heading our way!

There was quite a lot going on in the area of trees behind the garden (of course). There is one I call the "starling tree" because it's usually bustling with them. However, they were replaced yesterday by a flock of 30 or so bullfinches and goldfinches. I could just about make out the bold, black heads and flashed of red although I could really have done with a scope at that point! One day, one day... I saw the brambling again, this time hanging upside down at the top of bare tree, pecking at the tiny branches. There were also a number of carrion crows fighting above me and a mix of gulls lazily circling the trees.

My total tally for the hour was as follows:

3 Woodpigeon

1 Blackbird (m)

3 Robins

2 Blue tits

1 Magpie

1 Coal tit

1 Song thrush

1 Brambling

1 Bullfinch

1 Jay

1 Great-spotted woodpecker

1 Dunnock

1 Long-tailed tit

I've put together a little table comparing my results from the past three years. Obviously two of the three counts were in Southwater but it will be interesting to see how the results vary at this new house over the next few years.

Out with the old (patch) and in with the new!

It all happened rather fast after an extremely long process; my parents and I are now living in Midhurst. We moved from our Southwater house exactly a week before Christmas (!) and into the place my mum and step-dad bought together in the beautiful historic town of Midhurst, found smack-bang in the middle of the South Downs National Park.

Given the option, I don't think I would have chosen to move away from where we were before. I was so spoilt by the rural location of our cottage, being fully immersed in nature and not being able to look out of the window without seeing some form of wildlife. I talked about this in my guest post for A Focus On Nature but, in a nutshell, living in Southwater and immersing myself in the natural world were the reasons I decided to pursue conservation as a career. I have had some amazing experiences in that quiet corner of West Sussex.

Our old back garden bordered a huge expanse of woodland and so we had all sorts of creatures visiting the feeders. I discovered the undeniable quirky character of the nuthatch, now my favourite garden bird, and was treated to frequent close sightings of great-spotted woodpeckers, including a male and female pair feeding their two juveniles on the peanuts. We regularly had goldcrests hopping about in the bushes, the occasional visit from goldfinches, long-tailed tits and bullfinches, the odd treecreeper clinging to the oak tree and even a couple of redwing stopped by briefly on their way through. I think the most exciting sighting I had was actually one of the last before we moved, seen from the kitchen window, and that was a firecrest!

In the three years we lived there, we had five different species of bird nesting in the garden, though not all with successful broods. The first year the nestbox went up, the blue tits moved in straight away and their chicks fledged with success, spending the next couple of weeks using our feeding station to learn how to feed. At the same time, a few metres above the box, a pair of nuthatches spent weeks lining a hole in the oak trunk with mud until it was only big enough for the parents to fit through and then flew back and forth with food for their chicks. I didn't see them fledge so can only hope they did so successfully.

 The following year the great tits decided it was their turn in the box and the same thing happened; I saw a flock of juvenile great tits on the feeders and made the assumption that they had come from our box. Elsewhere in the garden, a female blackbird had decided the hedge next to our kitchen was the perfect place to build her nest, and I spent many moments at the window watching her return with her beak stuffed with twigs and moss. She laid three eggs which all hatched, but sadly, the day after, they had disappeared from the nest. I put this down to either corvids or woodpeckers. In a separate bush at the same time, long-tailed tits built themselves an impressive ball of feathers, moss, horse hair and lichen. Unfortunately this didn't even see eggs as it was destroyed by a predator of some form before the family returned to lay any.

I explored quite a bit of the woodland surrounding our old house where I had some close encounters with roe deer on several occasions. The first one was with a doe and her very young fawn, so young it still had its spots. I remember holding my breath and not moving a muscle from where I was stood, while my heart beat wildly in excitement. We frequently had deer crossing in front of the house too and so I was often able to watch them from the front garden. I always felt grateful to be so close to such beautiful animals in the wild and still do.

I also built a mini wildlife pond not long after we first moved in. I would have loved to construct a full-sized one with plants but the house (and garden) were rented so that wasn't an option. It didn't seem to bother the local amphibians that my pond was only small; I had both toads and frogs frequent it right up until the last few weeks, when there were two resident frogs living under the pile of rocks surrounding it. 

It's actually quite difficult to look back on three years worth of experiences and remember each and every one in perfect detail. The big ones have stuck with me, naturally, but there were others that would have just become blurry in my memory if I hadn't have blogged about them. I'm definitely going to be better with recording what I see, hear etc. if only so that when I move away from this patch eventually, I'll be able to look back as I'm doing now and recall everything over and over.

The feeling of leaving was bittersweet. I was worried that moving to a slightly more suburban area, albeit with a small patch of woodland behind the house, would mean less variety of garden birds. I have absolutely nothing against blue tits and starlings, as many of you will know from this article I wrote back in October , but I knew I would miss seeing the nuthatch and woodpeckers especially! 

It turns out I didn't need to worry. The first bird I spotted after moving in was a goldcrest! And not a goldcrest in the distance through bins. Nope, this was in a small tree in our neighbours front garden, about 6ft from our window. I took that to be a good sign. Since then we've had goldfinches and long-tailed tits on the feeders, a song thrush in the front garden and two great-spotted woodpeckers fly over, chuck-chucking as they went. It's looking like this patch won't be letting me down any time soon.

Disconnecting to Reconnect

I've been reveling in the glorious colours of autumn over the past week or so. It's really one of the best displays of turning leaves I've seen in a long while! Driving down the A24 is a real treat at the moment, with the bordering trees either side showing an array of golds, reds and russets that look stunning in the sunshine.

I spent the morning at Pulborough Brooks as a hides and trails volunteer again. This is the first time I've gone out on my own as I've had Graham, a much more experienced and knowledgeable volunteer, showing me the ropes these past few weeks. I was glad of the chance to see how I got on with identifying trickier species without a seasoned birder to help me. Of course, I had my Collins guide tucked in my backpack but I didn't need it today. So far I've been lucky with the weather on the days I've been on the reserve and today was particularly lovely; what I'd call a proper autumn day. There were a few raptors about, including a couple of sparrowhawks and male kestrels, and one female peregrine bathing in a small pool in front of Winpenny hide.

That is a peregrine-I promise! These terrible photos were snapped on my phone through the scope.

I had an especially close encounter with a pair of goldcrests which were busy picking insects of leaves only a couple of feet above me. I was close enough to see the reflection in their eyes and that fantastic streak of yellow on their heads. They weren't fazed at all by me stood so near which is pretty unusual for what is normally a very shy bird!

At Hanger View, I stood with a group of visitors and watched two healthy-looking male bullfinches flicking between the sloes. A buzzard circled over the pools for a while but was seen off by a rather brave and determined lapwing. From Nettley's hide, I managed to identify five black-tailed godwits which I was pleased with as I'd never seen them in the flesh before, although I knew they were about having checked the sightings book when I arrived. Myself and the visitors in the hide also picked out three snipe with some difficulty; boy, those birds blend in! It certainly helped to have the scope with me.

Fuzzy Snipe.

Wigeon

Black-tailed Godwits

When I got back to the visitor's centre, it occurred to me that, apart from taking a few photos, I had just spent four hours completely away from technology. I'll openly admit that I use my phone far too much normally and it's become one of those bad habits that I hate but find very hard to break. Part of the reason I use social media a lot is to do with my portrait business as I always have messages to reply to and I don't like to leave those too long. However, I know full well that I check Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Insert preferred platform here too many times in a day and it's something I try hard to avoid. The fact that I didn't once feel the need to hop online while I was out and about on the reserve today proves that I am capable of cutting back. I actually felt really good about having been off grid for a short while and just spending time in the fresh air doing something I genuinely enjoyed, something that didn't involve a screen. 

Sensational Butterflies and Chuffed with a Chiffchaff

I took a little trip into London town on Friday just gone to visit the pop-up exotic butterfly house at the Natural History Museum. I know the thought of insects flapping around your head in large numbers may not appeal to some, but it's certainly right up my street! Stepping into the tent outside the museum was wonderful, not only for the array of butterflies but for the intensely humid climate that took the edge of a not-quite warm Spring day in the capital.

The thing that most struck me was the size of some of the species, in comparison to our native ones. One of the largest species there appeared a bright, iridescent blue but in actual fact is naturally yellow. The scales on their wings act in the same way as a kingfisher's feathers do, by refracting light and appearing a vivid shade of blue to the human eye. In some lights, I could see a slight yellow tinge to some of the wings but the fact was a hard one to swallow!

I did have one slightly unexpected experience while in there. Naturally the insects were inclined to land on the visitors whenever the mood took them, especially if they happened to be wearing tantalisingly floral clothing (the visitors, that is, not the butterflies!) At one point I was told I had one on my head and I could feel it flapping away across my sunglasses. It appeared to be in no rush to vacate. The operator of the butterfly house came over when he saw what was going on and told us that the particular species currently occupying my head was actually a host-specific butterfly, meaning that it only lays its eggs on one specific plant. As if to completely contradict this, the butterfly decided that the underside of my sunglasses would be the perfect place to lay a couple of eggs! The operator was certainly very surprised and confused by this behaviour and asked me if I wouldn't mind taking off my glasses so he could remove the eggs and the butterfly. Even after removal, it kept showing keen interest in my glasses, but no one could work out why!

I was most fascinated by the window displaying hundreds of chrysalides all in uniform lines. The sheer variety of shapes, sizes and colours was quite a spectacle. There were several freshly-hatched insects, still drying out their crinkled wings, and a few chrysalides were wriggling with the promise of imminent hatching. Some of these looked exactly liked curled-up autumn leaves, others looked like tiny, pastel jewels and one type reminded me of a snail without its shell!

My definite highlight was being able to see a truly striking species of moth only inches away from me. It is actually the largest species of moth on the planet; the Atticus Atlas. There was a male and female in the tent, having only emerged from their cocoons two days before. The guide very gently lifted the hook that the larger female was attached to down for us to have a closer look. Her body was enormous, with long, furry "ears" and translucent spots on her wings that looked almost like very thin tracing paper. She wasn't the largest example of the species: apparently they can grow to nearly cover the chest of a grown man!

After checking ourselves for any hitchhiking insects, we headed to Hyde Park for some lunch by the Serpentine. This, it turns out, is an absolute haven for all sorts of bird life. Alongside many species I've seen before but never tire of watching, I was ecstatic to spot two chiffchaffs! This was a first for me. I was able to easily identify their characteristic song that gave them away before spotting them nestled in the reedbed.

The Greylags were all getting a bit territorial with one another and we later found out that some had goslings, which explained their behaviour. I was surprised when I saw a Greylag chase off the Grey Heron at one point though!

F + M Tufted Duck

Egyptian Geese goslings

Male GC Grebe

Here's a full list of the birds I spotted, including my first wild parakeets:

-2 chiffchaff
-30+ Greylag Geese and 1 gosling
-1 grey heron
-Starlings
-Town Pigeons
-Pied Wagtails
-1 Canada Goose
-20+ Egyptian Geese with goslings
-2 Parakeets
-1 Great Crested Grebe
-1 male, 2 female Pochard
-1 male, 1 female Tufted Duck
-Mallard Drakes
-House Martins
-Coots
-Moorhens
-1 adult, 1 juvenile Herring Gull

I believe the Sensational Butterflies exhibition will be available until September this year so it's definitely worth popping along to witness the spectacle for yourself!

Chichester Chicks and Intruders!

Today marked day 30 of incubation in the Chichester peregrine nest. I was on volunteering duty and really felt like today would be the day we would finally begin to see signs of hatching. Each time there was a glimpse of the eggs as the parents shifted around on the nest, myself and the rest of the RSPB team would be peering intently for any suggestions of pipping, which is when the chicks begin to make small holes in the shell using their "egg tooth". Even on our high-quality HD camera, we saw none. The female was incredibly fidgety at times, struggling to get comfortable on the eggs on several occasions and this is out of character for her, as she would normally be straight down on them with one little wriggle before settling in for a few hours of incubation. We were almost convinced that the fidgeting was a positive sign of imminent hatching but so far, we haven't been proved correct!

 A poor-quality snap of the male during a shift-swap with the female this morning

This didn't mean the day was a wash-out. In fact it was the opposite if we are being literal, as the sun was definitely making up for yesterday's horrifically strong winds and rain. The warm weather seemed to bring a lot of other feathered species out to play, including a lone sparrowhawk early on in the day. It didn't hang around but simply drifted across the city before heading off to the East. A flock of six or seven swifts spent the day twisting and diving through the sky just above our marquee, their scree scree calls punctuating our conversations with the visitors. One of them showed interest in an old nesting sight set inside the brickwork of the building connected to the cafe which suggests that hopefully they will choose to nest their again this year. This will be a fantastic bonus sight to see for visitors, volunteers and staff alike.

The biggest event of the day was the return of an intruding female peregrine. Over the past few weeks, there have been two different individuals identified, both female, although one is a juvenile, and both have been seen off by the parents. Today, the intruder arrived above us, followed closely by our male who had only come off the nest an hour and a half before this appearance. He was absolutely intent on getting rid of her and managed to execute several collisions with her which seemed to do the trick. It was quite a spectacle and I was pleased to have been there to see it as I've managed to miss all previous intruder occurrences this year! There was a small group of the public with us at the time who were all thrilled to see it too.

I think we were all surprised that there were not more buzzards and red kites out enjoying the thermals during the day. There were none of the latter but of the former there were only two appearances. During the first half of the day, a pair were gliding very high up showing no interest in the nest site and this resulted in only a brief spell of chatter from the female on the nest. Another one arrived in the afternoon, flying lower this time and with the male peregrine in tow. He didn't need to waste his energy on chasing the buzzard off as a rather brave herring gull had this covered. I was quite amazed at how close the gull was getting, as he swooped down on the raptor but never made contact. At the same time, I was presented with my first ever example of a peregrine falcon in a stoop. As the buzzard headed away from the site, the male peregrine remained airborne and quite suddenly he went from a glide to tucking his wings tightly in to his body and dropping into the characteristic dive. It wasn't a fully vertical one but still fairly steep and it brought him quickly and neatly on to the North side of the cathedral spire, out of our eye line.

The garden of the Cloister's Cafe, where we are set up, is a haven for various species of songbird, many of which are simply not fussed by the presence of humans. A wren, who has nested in the roots of the lilac bushes, spent much of the day to-ing and fro-ing with a full beak. Based on the frequency it was visiting, it was determined that it must be feeding chicks. We were serenaded all day by a very chatty blackbird who spent most of the time perched on the wall beside our marquee. At one point he flew across the garden so low that he almost brushed my head-not an easy task given that I'm only 5' 3"! A pair of blue tits hung from the bottom of low-hanging tree branches, picking off insects from the leaves. A dunnock jumped around the undergrowth before flying to sit on top of a low roof and released a brief but beautiful stream of song. A charm of eight or so goldfinch were also in the trees for some time, chattering and chasing each other through the air.

So although we are still waiting oh so patiently for the tiniest sign that these chicks are starting to arrive, today was certainly not uneventful. It is heartening to see such a broad range of species inhabiting a space that is only the size of an average suburban back garden.

Blackbird Nest Update #3: We have chicks!

Over the past week, I have been noticing the male blackbird taking a more active role in looking after the nest. He has brought food in for the female several times and sat on the nest briefly while she was away. A couple of days ago, I observed the female fly in with a caterpillar in her beak and through binoculars, I watched her peer in to the nest. I didn't see what she did with the caterpillar and assumed she ate it herself. Since seeing that, I noticed she was off the nest far more frequently which suggested to me that the eggs may have hatched.

Yesterday, I took the opportunity while the female was away from the nest area to check on the status of the eggs. As always, I made extra sure that I was in no way disturbing the nest. I was able to confirm by snapping a very quick photo that the eggs had indeed hatched! Judging by the chicks' appearance and lack of downy feathers, I'm estimating that they are only a day or two old.

When the female returned, she again brought food in and this time around I was able to see the chicks poke their heads out of the nest, their mouths open in wide gapes. Although it would be brilliant if all three chicks fledged successfully, I learned recently that the success rate is only around 30-40%. Chances are this female will lay one or two more broods at this site, so I may get to witness the cycle more than once.

Blackbird Nest Update #2

Since my last update on the blackbird nest, I have seen exciting developments. By Friday 3rd April, two more eggs had been laid and I managed to again sneak a peek at them while the female was away from the nest. She has now gone into full incubation mode, only disappearing briefly two or three times a day to feed, as the male doesn't seem to be feeding her or getting involved at all.

**I would like to stress a second time that although I have taken photos of the eggs, in no way am I disturbing the nest, eggs or nesting site when I do so. I make sure this is the case and the safety of the nest and eggs is my priority** 

A Sunny Visit to WWT Arundel

On Easter Monday, myself and my family took a long-overdue trip to Arundel Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. I've wanted to visit for quite a while now as I often hear positive comments from visitors at Pulborough Brooks and back in March, I went along to a talk at The Capitol theatre in Horsham, given by the centre's grounds manager Paul Stevens, about the conservation work and projects being carried out on the wetlands, so I was keen to see the reserve myself. 

Our original plan was to go on the Thursday before Easter but the weather was chilly and drizzly and, although I wouldn't have minded bundling up in a raincoat, we decided to postpone. I'm so glad we did as Easter Monday was the hottest day of 2015! I even caught a touch of sun on my chest and had lines where my binocular straps had sat. 

If you've been to WWT Arundel before, you'll know they hold a zoo license for the exotic wildfowl they have in the first few ponds. Many of these foreign species are under threat in their native countries and so having them here helps to protect their species and educate the public on them. There was quite a variety of ducks and geese and they were all fairly vocal at the feeding platform, where visitors can throw special grain bought from the WWT shop. Especially vocal was a group of Eider ducks. The males emitted a humorous "oooh" noise which was obviously intended to attract the females. The male and female plumage is so different; the sheer contrast always amazes me.

Male Falcated Ducks

Male Mandarin Ducks 

Naturally, given that we are now well and truly into Spring and the breeding season is underway, there were plenty of Mallard ducklings to be seen as they are the first species of duck to breed, many of them so tiny that they can only have fledged a day or two before. My favourite had to be a pair of Moorhen chicks which were absolutely fresh fledglings, judging from their size. I didn't get a photo but just imagine a piece of black cotton wool and you're more or less there!

Male Wood Duck

Emperor Goose

Male Shelduck

One species of duck that I found particularly fascinating was the White-Headed Duck. My first sighting was of two females and I was instantly reminded of a duck-billed platypus! They have wide, flat beaks, similar to a Shoveler and their tails stand out for their width too. The males have the white head and a wonderful blue-coloured bill which leaves them looking a little less platypus-like in comparison to the brown females.

Female White-Headed Duck showing her tail

Reedbed Boardwalk

The reedbed boardwalk was a great way to experience this particular habitat. It felt very relaxing to be surrounded by gently swaying reeds. I was keeping my eyes peeled for signs of Water Rails, Bitterns and Warbler nests but as I suspected, I saw none of these. There was a nesting Moorhen right at the edge of the walkway, clucking at two male Mallards as they drifted by her. 

The reserve was much larger than I expected and we did have to stop for some lunch half way round. Refueling with tea and cake is of great importance. I had to take my coat back to the car as I simply had no need for it with the wonderful weather we were having-even the breeze was warm-and as I did, I saw that the car park was full and cars were queuing to get in. When the sun comes out in the UK, especially on a bank holiday, Brits instinctively come pouring out of the woodwork, Pimms in hand, in search of the nearest beach, park or attraction. I was pleased so many had opted to see some nature.

After lunch, we headed straight for the boat jetty. This was the part I was most keen to experience as I was really hoping to spot a water vole. If I remember correctly from Paul Stevens' talk, there are 120 breeding pairs of water voles at Arundel which is a fantastic number. I knew, however, that they can be pretty tricky to spot so I was trying my best not to get my hopes too high...

Rightly so, as we didn't spot any! Even the wooden platforms dotted around for the females to use as territory-marking latrines were clear of any droppings. Our boat guide did point out evidence that the voles had been in the area by the broken reeds; they bend each reed down and turn their heads to the side to bite through, leaving a 45° angle. Despite not seeing the water voles, there was plenty more to see, including a pair of Mute Swans building a nest together, with one pulling up grass and passing it to the other who was placing it on the nest. It was fascinating to see their teamwork in action.

From the Sand Martin hide, I managed to spot a female nesting Lapwing and a male close by (as seen below to the left of the photo). The air was full of raucous calls from the Black-Headed Gulls out on the scrapes but no Sand Martins were nesting in the holes of the sandy hide. Greylag and Canada geese were also abundant.

At the end of our visit, I felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wildfowl there was at the centre. It would be impossible to go away feeling disappointed at any time of year there as each season brings new species and new behaviour and activity to witness. I'm reliably informed that the water voles are more active during late Summer, so I think another trip may well be on the cards!