Out and about in October

I twice went to the coast in October looking for goldcrests but didn't see one.  Then last week I heard one in the garden. The first camera I grabbed has only a 300mm lens so the photos are a bit heavily cropped but they are not too bad. This is the first goldcrest I have seen here for almost 20 years but I expect they are here more often and I don't notice. I had forgotten they have such bright orange feet.

When I was at the coast at least I saw a few gulls.  Gulls are not always easy even though I went on a gull ID course last winter.  This one is easy - a great black-backed gull (I hope).

And a herring gull.

And a first winter herring gull (I hope).

This is a bit of an experiment.  I made a panorama of redshanks at St Marys.  It looks OK on my computer but I don't know how it will come out on the blog.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and see if it worth looking at.

In Gosforth Nature Reserve I met a young roe deer fawn, now in her dark winter coat.  She was curious but not alarmed, even though I was fairly close.

I always find flight shots very difficult but at least this heron, also in the nature reserve, is nearly in focus.

Back in the garden the wasps, bees and hoverflies were enjoying the Kniphofia caulescens.

October was mostly wet and windy, starting with Storm Alex and ending with Storm Aiden.  The charts don't show wind but confirm the cloudy wet weather.

Early in the month was the UK's wettest single day on record.  And this Met Office chart confirms that it rained almost every day, which was what it felt like.

The reimposed lockdown will have an impact on all our activities but I'll try to get some photos for November, even if only in the garden.  During the first lockdown there was so much see that I was posting every two days.  Now I'll try to keep up once a week.

Goldcrests at St Mary's

A few more of this year's influx of goldcrests, this time from St Mary's, Whitley Bay.  They always look a bit sad or sorry for themselves.  These photos are from last week but a few were still there this afternoon.

Bird of the week - Goldcrest

This is Europe's smallest bird and is not easy to photograph.  If you are not too old and your hearing is still OK you may well hear it before seeing it.  Goldcrests eat tiny insects and are mainly found in coniferous woodland.  They are not especially shy but are usually found right in the middle of a bush or tree rather than posing in good light on the edge.

I think all the photos above are of females which have a yellow crest.  The males have orange in the crest but were being a bit less co-operative.  This was the best I could do.

Despite weighing only 5g, large numbers of goldcrests migrate to the British Isles from Scandinavia and Northern Europe each autumn.  Goldcrest numbers peak in October as winter visitors supplement the resident population and are briefly more visible.  These are the latest BTO BirdTrack data.

The UK population is fairly stable but can plummet after a severe winter.

The BTO BirdAtlas shows that goldcrests are particularly fond of Ireland.

The goldcrest is Regulus regulus, regulus being a prince.  Thomas Bewick knew it as the golden-crested wren.  This is his illustration from A History of British Birds (1797).  Not his finest effort.

You can watch a BTO video on goldcrest and firecrest here.  Listen the goldcrest's song here.  And listen to Chris Watson's BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day on goldcrest here.

Prestwick Carr