Birds on OtterCam

I rarely set my trail cameras for pictures of birds but birds trigger more recordings than mammals.  Most of the mammals are rats and mice and most of the birds are wood pigeons and moorhens but sometimes it is something more interesting.  Several Eurasian bitterns have been in Gosforth Nature Reserve all winter and at least one is still there - it is rarely seen but constantly heard as its booming call echoes through the reeds.  This one did me the honour of walking past my camera.

Another surprise was a cormorant, a common sight on the lake but not previously within range of a trail camera.

Next two little brown jobs.  Reed buntings are common enough and the singing males are very visible in spring.  Females are less showy but still very attractive and, like the bittern, beautifully camouflaged for life in the reeds.  Cetti's warblers are easily heard but rarely seen, which is a pity as they are also very attractive little birds.

Common birds tend to get overlooked but the trail cameras can give us an intimate view.  Here are a few recent ones that caught my eye.

Finally another surprise - a tawny owl trying to catch a rat.  Perhaps a bit optimistic but it may have misjudged the size of its prey in the dark.  The rat lived to tell the tale.

Garden birds

It has been an interesting week for birds on the feeders.  The most exciting sighting was a willow tit.  These photos were taken with the first camera to hand through the window.

I eventually got set up with a better lens with the window open but I have had only a few glimpses since.  This isn't a great photo but it does show the pale wing patch, said previously to be typical of willow tit (but watch the video in the link below).

My BTO Garden BirdWatch records show I have recorded a marsh tit three times in the past 25 years but never a willow tit.  Marsh and willow tits are hard to tell apart and my previous identifications could be wrong but I am grateful to Denise A, Phil A and Phil J for confirming the ID this time.  You can watch a short BTO video on telling marsh tit and willow tit apart here.

There are lots of woodpeckers as well and they tend to monopolise the peanut feeders.  Adults were still feeding fledglings this morning, three weeks after they first appeared.

Another rare summer sighting this week was a male siskin.  I see a few each winter but never before in the summer.  They did breed in the nature reserve only 1km away last year.

And another rare summer bird, a male reed bunting, a regular over the past three weeks.  I expect to see one or two in late spring but never before in the summer.

And previously reed buntings have always been ground feeders here but this one is happy on the seed feeder.

A pair of jays are here every day.  I hope they have a nest nearby and I may see young jays soon.  Jays nested in the garden last year but the nest was wiped out by carrion crows.

Activity on the feeders is frantic at the moment as there are so many young birds.  When it is here the willow tit isn't immediately obvious because there are so many young great tits.

There are almost 30 bird species in the garden each week, mostly regulars but every now and then a surprise.

Out and about in April

It has been a good month for seeing birds in my garden, mostly under the feeders just outside the kitchen window.  The most exciting sighting was a male brambling.  It was only here for a day but I saw it several times throughout the day. By now I expect it is back in Scandinavia or in northern Scotland waiting for a favourable wind for the crossing.

The siskins turned up at the end of March and have been here every day since.  I see at least two females and at least two males but never more than four together.  There may be only four.

Blackcaps arrive from Africa every April and they turned up on time again this year.  There have been two singing males in the copse.  Twice I caught a glimpse of one opposite the front door when I didn't have a camera ready.  The good news is that once when I was waiting with a camera a female turned up, attracted by the song.

I think blackcaps must nest in the garden every year but once the singing stops in May I don't see any sign of them until the youngsters emerge in the summer.  I have never seen an overwintering blackcap but I hear tell of them not far away.  Maybe one winter mine will stay.

Another April visitor every year, but from much closer by, is a male reed bunting.  This one probably came from the nature reserve just north of here.  I expect there isn't much to eat there in April.  Interestingly I have never seen a female here.

Tree sparrows must be well advanced with their nest building.  They can have two or three broods in a season so they need to start early.

I noticed a couple of odd-looking stock doves last month.  This one has scorched-looking primaries so I sent a photo to the BTO and their expert commented that it looks like a genetic or growth problem, which doesn't add much.  The bird seems well.

This one probably has avian pox virus.  It mostly affects tits, sparrows, dunnocks and starlings.  I haven't seen any other affected birds so it probably isn't anything to be concerned about at this stage.

The sparrowhawk still visits regularly but I rarely see it sitting now.  One one occasion it perched on top of the finial on my gazebo after an unsuccessful attack for just long enough for me to get a distant photo.

The dry weather has been tough for birds that rely on earthworms and other soil invertebrates.  Very early one morning I saw this oystercatcher on the golf course opposite the kitchen window, taking advantage of the fact that the greens have been watered.  The oystercatchers arrived to take up their nest sites on the roof of a building across the road in February.  I hope to see one foraging in my garden again in the summer.

The easing of lockdown has meant we are able to travel farther but the cold weather hasn't encouraged expeditions, mainly because the spring is delayed.  In Northamptonshire at the beginning of the month I saw hairy-footed flower bees (Anthophora plumipes), such as this male,

and tawny mining bees (Andrena fulva), such as this female.

At home I saw my first red mason bees (Osmia bicornis).  This male is investigating a hole in the dead sycamore.

This female is sheltering from the cold in the bee house but hasn't started building a nest yet - not here, anyway.  She is adopting a defensive posture, with her middle leg raised, because I have opened the side.

Also in the bee house on the same day was a sleeping queen common wasp (Vespula vulgaris).

At Belsay Hall I saw red-tailed bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius),

whit-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum),

buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris),

and common carder bees (Bombus pascuorum).

Also at Belsay I saw blue tits and great tits taking nectar from a very fragrant rhododendron.  I have seen blue tits with pollen on their faces before but have never witnessed this behaviour.

This April may not have been the cruellest month but it was cold and dry.  There was a little bit of rain in the last four days but overall rainfall was very low.  And it was the frostiest April for 60 years.

May isn't starting off much better.  Spring so far is quite late so it will be interesting to see what effect that has on the natural world.

End of year favourites - Aves (garden)

Some photos from the garden this year, beginning with last winter's sparrowhawk and finishing with the current sparrowhawk but otherwise in no particular order.