The Little Brown Job

We started our September bird survey from the lower Vicars Hill entrance as usual and soon encountered that legendary species, the Little Brown Job - a term used by birders for any small, nondescript, briefly glimpsed bird that can't be identified. We heard a short snatch of song that sounded vaguely familiar, then saw our suspect flitting high in the trees on the Veda Road border, hidden most of the time by trunks or branches or foliage. It had no clear distinguishing features and after a few minutes of craning our necks, we gave up. It was most likely to have been the juvenile Blackcap that we saw last month, but we couldn't be sure enough to count it. A little further along the trail, we saw another bird high in a tree looking down at us disapprovingly. We had no trouble identifying this one. 'Twas our old 'frenemy', the Ring-necked Parakeet.

It was 21st September, a lovely morning and the last day of summer. Robins and Wrens sang frequently and Speckled Wood butterflies fluttered around the margins of the wood, making the most of the sun. We saw three Goldfinches and heard more twittering in the background. Then we came across another oddity on Upper Eastern Road. Flopped unmoving on a branch, grey with an oddly distorted face, it was clearly a pigeon or dove, but which variety?  Eventually, we realised it was a juvenile Woodpigeon lacking the white collar of the adult and with swellings around the mouth. In all probability, it was suffering from trichomonosis or 'canker', a disease affecting various bird species which blocks the gullet and leads ultimately to death from starvation. There was little we could do other than move on. I don't recall seeing the disease before on Hilly Fields and there were 18 healthy Woodpigeons feeding on the grass nearby.

Elsewhere, we saw 5 Crows, 3 Magpies, 3 House Sparrows, 2 each of Blackbird, Blue Tit and Feral Pigeon and 1 each of Goldcrest and Great Tit. We estimated at least 12 Robins present and at least 7 Wrens as well as the other birds mentioned above - 13 species in all. And some definite signs of autumn: leaves starting to carpet the grassland, red berries on the hawthorns and squirrels leaping through the trees and scurrying up and down trunks, gathering nuts for winter storage.

Gearing Up

Sun with very little wind made ideal conditions for our monthly bird survey on 24 February. And the birds seemed to appreciate it too. There was a great deal of activity going on as they gear up for the breeding season with much calling, singing and flitting about, especially among the small birds - the Tits, Wrens and Robins. Dunnocks were heard singing in several areas and finally seen in the garden next to the bowling green where the photo below was taken. The Dunnock is a sparrow-like bird (it used to be called the Hedge Sparrow) with similar chestnut-brown streaks, but has more grey around the head and a thinner beak. Difficult to spot most of the year as it creeps around in the undergrowth, but in late winter/early spring. it will often sing from a tree branch with a sweet rhythmic warble.

Dunnock

A small group of Long-tailed Tits were seen on upper Eastern Road, one carrying a feather in its beak - obvious nesting material. We saw a pair of Mistle Thrushes on the grass in the East Field, a Jay which judging by its direction had flown over from the cemetery and a small flock of Starlings which moved around the park from tree to tree. It was good also to see our old friends Mr and Mrs Great Spotted Woodpecker in the little wood by Eastern Road. Both were perched on the tall bare tree by the green gates on Eastern Road, though the male flew out of the picture below just before I pressed the button/ The male has a red patch on the top of the head, the female doesn't. You can see where she's been pecking at the bark searching for insects.

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker

The grand total was 12 Wood Pigeons, 11 Robins, 10 Starlings, 8 House Sparrows, 5 each of Dunnocks and Wrens, 4 each of Crow and Long-tailed Tits, 3 each of Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Parakeet, 2 each of Feral Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie and Mistle Thrush and 1 each of Black-headed Gull, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Goldfinch and Jay - 22 species in all.

Puffed-up Woodpigeon basking in the sun

This is a good point to give you advance notice of our annual Dawn Chorus walk. This year it will be on Thursday 31 March, meeting at 6 am outside the cafe. As in previous years, we'll spend an hour walking around Hilly Fields listening to and looking at the birds. Then we'll go down the hill to the Brockley and Ladywell cemeteries to repeat the exercise there. If you only want to attend the cemeteries walk, be outside the double gates on Brockley Grove near the chapel at 7am.

June Bird Survey

Friday 29th June: a cloudy morning with spots of rain, occasional glimmers of sun and a strong wind. The wind made it difficult to hear the birds and perhaps they weren't bothering to sing much anyway. It was also hard to see the small birds as all the trees are in full leaf. In short, we saw and/or heard only 13 species during a two hour survey and that's the lowest number recorded this year, down from 23 species in Jan, 22 in Feb, 16 in March and April and 14 in May. Crap weather may have something to do with it (wettest April-June quarter since 1910 etc.), but also the moulting season is beginning which means some birds will be keeping a low profile as they shed their feathers. 


The highest number by far was a flock of 20+ Woodpigeons foraging on the East field. After that, 4 Carrion Crow, 4 Blackbirds, 4 House Sparrows, 3 Starlings, 3 Feral Pigeons, 2 Magpies, 2 Goldfinches, 2 Wrens and 1 each of Pied Wagtail, Robin, Great Tit and Chaffinch. The Pied Wagtail was hopping about the bowling green only a few feet away from two Glendale workers who were mowing the grass, though it eventually flew away. From previous observations, the green is becoming a regular haunt for this attractive bird which feeds mainly on insects including flies, midges and caterpillars.

Stock photo - not the bowling green!

No sign of the Great Spotted Woodpeckers (see recent posts), but we did see a fledgling Carrion Crow following its mum or dad around near the cricket pitch, sometimes opening its mouth in hope of food. It's plumage at this stage is mainly dark brown rather than the familiar all-black of the adult. A few of the smaller birds we saw did look rather disheveled (though not this Crow) which may be due to the strains of producing and feeding their needy broods.

In the cherry tree just to the south of the newly opened cafe, we saw four blackbirds flitting around and pecking at the cherries. Easy to see the speckled breast of the female in the pic. below even if the camera is slightly out of focus. 

After that, we treated ourselves to a much-needed coffee!