Redpolls and the weather...

As I mentioned in a previous post about garden birdwatching, we are incredibly fortunate to have Redpoll visiting our garden regularly in the winter months. However, this winter has been a little different.

For a start, the birds, of all species, have been fairly absent from the feeders with only the odd flourish as a raiding party of Long-Tailed Tits descends, or a rabble of various species stumbles across some easy feeding whilst moving away from their parents territory. We have chalked this up to the mild weather still allowing for plenty of natural food to be available in the area - why would you want to stop at McDonald's when you can have a fresh food banquet?

However, over the last week or so the numbers of birds visiting the garden has started to increase and we were very happy to see that Redpolls are essentially beginning to take up residence as they have done in previous years (one year to the extent that they roosted in the back hedge and then just moved a few metres to feed during daylight). All of this years Redpolls have been Lesser (to the best of our knowledge and ID skill) but last year we did have at least two Mealy (Common) Redpolls who were regular visitors alongside the Lessers.

This years Redpolls are different though - mainly because they are red ... and I'm not just talking about their 'polls'. In previous years, just before they leave us in Spring, some have began to show a hint of red on their breast; but this year they have arrived very red!

Below, you can see photos taken in February 2010 (two winters ago) which clearly show no sign of red on the breast despite being closer to the breeding season than they are now. I should now take the opportunity to apologise for the quality of some of these photos, Redpolls on the feeder offer too good an opportunity to miss to play with some digiscoping (and they are all taken through a window).

Lesser Redpolls, Ixer Garden, Feb. 2010

Next, a couple of photos from January 2011 (last winter) which is clearly closer to this time of year and again there is no sign of red on the breast at all.

Lesser Redpolls, Ixer Garden, Jan. 2011

Finally, here are two photos taken today (31/12/11) which show just how red some of the birds are this winter.

Lesser Redpolls, Ixer Garden, Dec. 2011

So the big question is, why are they so different this year?

The answer, I really don't know!

My best guess would be something to do with the extremely mild weather, but I'm struggling to work out exactly why that would affect them. Is their winter moult temperature dependent so they have not fully moulted because it has been mild? Have they already adopted their breeding plumage because of the 'spring-like' feel about the weather (I even heard a chaffinch singing a week ago - weird!)? Is there an increased number of males staying in this area because of the mild weather?

Any suggestions or answers would be most welcome. Thanks!

Trimley Marshes

The day started well with what could only be described as a rush of birds in the garden after the relative quiet of late. Some Redpoll took up residence on the niger seed and were subsequently joined by a solitary goldfinch. A coal tit buzzed around, two male blackbirds constantly chased a female and two blue tits were in and out of a nest box - is it spring already?

Anyway, once we got beyond the enjoyment of garden birdwatching, we packed the car and headed down the the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve Trimley Marshes, which is situated right next to the huge Felixstowe container port. This is a fantastic reserve, but you do have to walk two miles to get from the car park to the actual hides. The bonus of this is that you can actually imagine that you have done some exercise once you've seen all the reserve and got back to the car!

Not much to be seen on this initial walk, but it was nice to see that some serious investment has been made initially improving the surface of the path and then also some substantial re-profiling work around the reserve itself - should be great come the Spring.

So, to the birds. We got there and went straight up to the riverbank to see what was being pushed up the bank by the incoming tide. Delighted to see a good size group of Avocets alongside Shelduck, Wigeon, Redshank and Black-Tailed Godwit. Then, from the fields on the other side of the river, there was an eruption of Brent Geese of which I managed to get a very bad photo of some of some of them.



Brent Geese at Trimley Marsh SWT, December 2011

From here we headed down to the Reservoir Hide where we were greeted by literally hundreds of waterfowl and gulls. There were Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Coot, Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe. Oh, and also Barnacle, Greylag and Canada Geese. For me, the most impressive sight from this hide was the number of Common Gulls, literally hundreds (actually living up to their name!) alongside the Herring, Great Black-Backed and Black Headed Gulls. We also saw this little chap just outside:

Muntjac Deer, Trimley Marshes SWT, December 2011

After finishing in this hide, we decided to head to the furthest hide and work backwards. From here there was not a huge amount to see other than more waterfowl (in nowhere near the same numbers) but it did include Pintail. Then from nowhere a pair of Marsh Harriers took to the air and headed in separate directions much to the dislike of a few hundred Lapwing and a rather disgruntled Curlew. As we left the hide a Kestrel was further down the path sitting in state on a fence post.

Back up to the riverbank to be greeted by a female Common Scoter, the first I have seen at close quarters which was a massive bonus! Unfortunately she didn't hang around for a photo. Back down to the path and we disturbed some Goldfinches and Reed Buntings and saw a Little Egret further up. The rest of the hides offered very few new species, but did give some more excellent views of Pintail and a small flock of Dunlin.

For the whole time we were visiting there was almost a constant stream of Cormorants overhead; must have been hundreds over the course of the day! Other birds of note were half a dozen Golden Plover, a Snipe and a Grey Heron. However, the final bonus of the day was some truly amazing views of a pair of Bearded Tits. We had good views of them earlier in the day next to the gate to the Reservoir Hide and thought it would be a while before we got any better views. But when the pair of then came close enough to get a good photo, I was delighted!



Bearded Tit, Trimley Marshes SWT, December 2011

Dad and I agreed that it was probably one of our most enjoyable birding trips for quite a while!

An ominously quiet start...

So after the excitement of the Bullfinch visit yesterday morning, Dad and I decided to try our luck and find a new bird for him. There had been reports from the previous day and in the morning that there was a Great Grey Shrike at a near-by common. I was optimistic having seen my first Grey Shrike in the same place earlier this year which, although slightly distant, still gave some decent views.

Great Grey Shrike at Upper Hollesley Common, January 2011

We arrived at Upper Hollesley Common to find a number of other birders returning to vehicles - not necessarily a good omen. A brief chat to a nice couple revealed that the bird hadn't been seen since midday and despite a number of people searching the common thoroughly there was no further sign.

Oh well. We decided to have a short walk around anyway and were quite stunned. There were literally no birds anywhere! Half an hour and a few Crows and Magpies later we decided to call it a day and head back to the car. On one of the customary scans over the common whilst returning, Dad suddenly said he spotted something moving low and fast across the heathland. I managed to pick it up and was delighted to identify it as a ringtail Hen Harrier - what an unbelievable stroke of luck! Alas it was moving sufficiently fast that it was out of sight within seconds. Then, while hoping to grab another brief glimpse of the Harrier, a Crossbill flew overhead and a Dartford Warbler started shouting at us. Unfortunately, all we saw of the Warbler was a dark shape diving into the heather and the Crossbill didn't stop anywhere close.

Having not relocated any of the previously mentioned species, we completed our ridiculously quiet return to the car.

With a renewed sense of optimism we decided to continue down the road to Bawdsey to search for a different life tick for Dad, a Snow Bunting!

Arriving at East Lane in Bawdsey we had about an hour before sunset. We took to the sea wall, where we were watched closely by some Seals, and headed straight towards where we thought the Snow Buntings were likely to be. As we approached we saw a flock of 10 being flushed and flying further down the beach. After a careful bit of stalking we got some lovely views of the Buntings going about their business (I didn't bring my camera).

There were lots of waterfowl around the lagoons at East Lane including Tufted Duck, Pochard, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Coot and Little Grebe with a handfull of Common Scoter on the sea. There were also some Turnstone, Redshank, Lapwing and Curlew as well as a generous number of Common Gulls with the Black Headed, Lesser Black-Backed and Herring Gulls.

A question though. Is it normal for Wigeon to roost on the sea? As the sun was going down, a group of about 50 Wigeon flew out to sea and landed in a tight raft about 200 metres out and went nowhere for the rest of the time we were there.

All-in-all, a good expedition despite being desperately quiet on the Common.

Garden birding...

The one thing I miss living in a flat in the centre of Birmingham is access to a garden. So when I return back to beautiful Suffolk to see the family in the holidays, I love looking out at the feeders in the garden to see what decides to pay us a visit.

The garden is actually amazing when you look at all the species that have paid us a visit. Today saw the arrival of another new species which we haven't recorded before which really made me smile. We were watching a Song Thrush (a bird which itself was a delight to see) when a bird flew across the field of view showing a very clear white patch on the rump. To quote Rolf Harris, "Can you guess what it is yet?".

Yes, that's right, it was a stunning male Bullfinch which was followed by a second. So happy to see them in the garden!

This follows a text I received from my Dad just over a week ago informing me that there was a Waxwing in the garden - couldn't believe I was still in Birmingham!

Think that brings our garden list to 43, though I may be forgetting something. You can see the complete list below:

• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Coal Tit
• Long-Tailed Tit
• Song Thrush
• Redwing
• Fieldfare
• Blackbird
• Mistle Thrush
• Waxwing
• Chaffinch
• Goldfinch
• Greenfinch
• Bullfinch
• Lesser Redpoll
• Mealy (Common) Redpoll
• Brambling
• Wren
• Dunnock
• Robin
• Goldcrest
• Treecreeper
• Blackcap
• Chiffchaff
• Willow Warbler
• Whitethroat
• Green Woodpecker
• Collared Dove
• Woodpigeon
• Carrion Crow
• Rook
• Jay
• Jackdaw (over)
• House Martin
• Lesser Black-Backed Gull
• Herring Gull (over)
• Black Headed Gull
• Pheasant
• Starling
• Sparrowhawk
• Kestrel
• Swift (over)
• Swallow (over)

(edit) Knew I would forget one, and what an obvious one to forget.

• House Sparrow

(edit)(edit) And then of course there was this one.

• Grey Heron

That must be it now, so 45 species then.