Silence of the Birds

We were greeted by silence at the lower Vicars Hill Gate on 27 July, at least as far as birdsong is concerned. Traffic was light on the road and, for a minute or two, all that could be heard was the sound of raindrops plopping down from leaf to leaf in the plane trees. It was evident that we had reached the end of the breeding period and entered that quiet season when most birds rest and moult. We began our circuit of the park and although we had a few brief sightings and soundings, things remained uneventful until we reached the upper part of Eastern Road.

Here we saw a small sparrow-like bird scavenging on the roadway which had clearly lost its tail. From its grey head and thin bill, we realised it was a Dunnock - a bird once better known as the 'Hedge Sparrow' although the two species are not related. I would guess that it was a juvenile which had had a close encounter with a predator - a bigger bird or possibly even a squirrel or cat. No worries - it survived. And as a bird's tail is composed entirely of feathers, it will soon grow back again. We see or hear Dunnocks often on Hilly Fields but rarely out in the open like this. They are skulking birds, usually glimpsed in the undergrowth where, unexpectedly perhaps in view of their drab appearance, they lead adventurous sex lives which 'might make Russell Brand blush.'

Female Blackbird: Upper Eastern Rd

Also scavenging on this stretch of road were a family of 4 Blackbirds, presumably the same adults that we saw last year but with different juveniles.  Blackbirds are scrub nesters, ie. they favour bushes and small trees. Upper Eastern Road with its thick vegetation, bramble bushes and hawthorns is ideal habitat for them and, with all the berries and orchard fruit nearby, is almost like nesting in a larder. We also caught a brief glimpse of a Song Thrush further up the road which is only our second sighting this year.

Song Thrush: stock photo

Elsewhere, Wrens sang occasionally and we heard a few wistful snatches of Robin and Blackbird song and both saw and heard a pair of Goldfinches. We may have heard a brief snatch of Blackcap song at one point but were not sure enough to record it. The final list included 7 Woodpigeons, 2 each of Blue Tit, Crow and Magpie and singles of Great Tit, House Sparrow and Parakeet in addition to the birds already mentioned. A total of 13 species in all - a fair drop from last month, but identical to last year's July figure and only one less than July 2014.

Gulls Galore

Sue and I did our monthly bird survey a tad early on 19 November, but were rewarded by variety if not overwhelmed by numbers. Following our usual route from the lower Vicars Hill entrance, we moved slowly along the Veda Rd border through the little wood to upper Eastern Road. En route, we saw and heard Robins, Great Tits and Blue Tits, heard a brief outburst of Wren song and glimpsed a Jay. On Eastern Rd, Sue heard the laugh (or 'yaffle') of a Green Woodpecker without seeing it, I saw a Wren skulking in the undergrowth and caught a brief blue and pink flash of male Chaffinch which we heard calling later. The most reliable presence on Eastern Rd, however, is the family or commune of Blackbirds which appears to be five strong and includes at least one juvenile. I have a feeling that they've nested in the thick bushes along there in past years if not this year and obviously enjoy the red hawberries in autumn.

Spot the female Blackbird...

Around the corner in the trees behind the tennis courts were at least half a dozen Goldfinches tweeting to each other, but the real hotspot was the slope east of the school where we saw Long-tailed Tits and Starlings in the trees and a Pied Wagtail down on the path that leads up from Adelaide Ave. A wander over to the Montague Ave side proved fruitless - we've seen Redwings there in past winters but no sightings so far despite thousands arriving elsewhere in recent weeks from Scandinavia.

Starling in flight

On the playing fields on the north side of the park, a flock of gulls were pecking at the ground. Close examination revealed 7 Black-headed Gulls and 3 Common Gulls - names which are somewhat misleading. During the breeding season (spring and summer), the Black-headed Gull has a dark chocolate-brown head which from a distance looks black. By autumn, this has reduced to a dark spot behind the eye. And the Common Gull is actually far less common than the Black-headed or the Herring Gull. However the Little Gull is the littlest gull and the Lesser Black-backed and Greater Black-backed Gulls are accurately named too. I won't mention the other 5 species of gull found in the UK. No wonder people just call them sea gulls.

Left: Common Gull, yellow legs and bill, holds itself more erect, slightly larger. 

Right: Black-headed Gull, red legs and bill, black spot behind the eye, slightly smaller.

After that, we found 8 House Sparrows in their usual place the Cliffview hedge. And that was it apart from the birds I haven't mentioned: 11 Feral Pigeons, 5 Woodpigeons, 5 Magpies (more than usual), 3 Crows,  2 Ring-necked Parakeets and 1 Greenfinch. And on her way out of the park, Sue heard the call of a Great Spotted Woodpecker - bringing out total to a very healthy 22 species. Are we getting more bird species in Hilly Fields or are we just getting better at seeing and hearing them? Both I hope. 

Return of the Chiffchaff

Our monthly bird survey on 26 March began well with the sighting of a pair of Jays in the trees along the Veda Road border. It is sometimes hard to believe that these birds with their colourful pink and fawn bodies and bright blue wing patches belong to the same family as the all-black Carrion Crow, but they do - as also do Magpies. Further on we saw a Crow with nesting material in its beak and as we worked our way round the park with Robins, Wrens, Great Tits and Blue Tits singing and calling, it was evident that the birds were busy preparing for the mating season.

Crow with nesting material in the children's playground

In the wood, we heard what I'd been hoping for - the song of a Chiffchaff. This is a small warbler with a pale lemony breast and a white stripe above the eye. It migrates to Britain every spring from the Mediterranean and West Africa. This year it got here just before the Saharan dust! It's only in the last 3 years that we've seen or heard Chiffchaffs on Hilly Fields and only last year that they stayed the whole summer and bred. A few days after the survey, I heard two Chiffchaffs singing and there may be a third somewhere in the trees around the Veda Road/Eastern Road back gardens. Their song is very distinctive and easy to remember. Here's a clip I posted on the blog last year

In the trees at the back of the tennis courts, we had some good views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and later Judith saw a Mistle Thrush on the grass in front of the courts. There was no sign of any gulls - the mild weather has presumably tempted them back to the coasts. Next to the bothy, some sort of territorial skirmish was going on between a plucky little House Sparrow and two Blackbirds. Here's one of the latter peeping out rather cautiously from a bush:

In total, we saw and/or heard 19 different species. As well as those already mentioned, these include no less than 25 Feral Pigeons on the cricket pitch observed by Sue on her way home, 11 Starlings, 4 Woodpigeons, 2 Magpies, Goldfinches and Ring-necked Parakeets, a singing Dunnock and a solitary Long-tailed Tit. All in your local green space on a fine spring morning. I'll update on the Dawn Chorus Walk in a few days...

April Bird Survey

We had a rain-free but quiet morning (30 April) for our monthly bird survey, rather like last month. Most of the usual birds were seen or heard but in fewer numbers. We heard the Great Spotted Woodpecker only once, heard only one Blackcap (we had seen Blackcaps on separate occasions earlier in the month in the wood/Eastern Rd area) and saw only one Goldfinch. We also had the feeling that we were constantly just missing birds, that they had been there behind our backs but flown just before we turned around! Of course the fact that the trees and bushes are now in full bloom provides them with much more cover. It is notable also that far fewer Great Tits were heard, whereas since the New Year their calls have been coming at us in quadrophonic sound. The highest number of birds seen in one place was a flock of nine starlings, but this is well down on the numbers that we were seeing in the main winter months.

Great Tits - the male has a broader black stripe down the breast

All this can be put down mainly to the ongoing breeding season and indeed we saw both a Starling and a Blue Tit carrying insects in their bills presumably to feed the fledglings in their nests. On the plus side, quite a few Blue Tits were seen and heard in different places as we walked around and a fair number of Wrens were heard with their piercing song. It was nice also to see a Long-tailed Tit in the garden next to the Bothy - an unmistakable bird simply because its tail is indeed long in relation to its body size. On the other side of the Bothy, we witnessed a fierce skirmish between a very dark brown female blackbird and a male. Needless to say, the female won the day - they are aggressive defenders of territory, especially at this time of year. The female always provides a visual reminder that Blackbirds belong to the Thrush family, although their speckled breasts don't stand out as strongly as the Song or Mistle Thrush.

In lulls between bird sightings, we did see an Orange Tip butterfly and a probable Holly Blue, though it was fluttering so fast we can't be sure. But enough of biodiversity. We demand better weather and more birds!