Local Winterwatch

 About this time of year I usually do a blog about the wildlife I have encountered over the Winter months; my version of Winterwatch I suppose. Well this year is no different other than my travels have been curtailed somewhat so it will in effect be a very localised Winterwatch.

Since last March I have been taking part in the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) Garden Watch Project, which requires me to submit weekly counts of the different species of birds I have seen in our garden. Over the last couple of months I have also been taking photos and videos of some of the birds I have seen in my garden, so I at least have some material for my Local Winterwatch.

Why don't we start with the Finches, seldom seen in our garden in the Summer months, they visit in substantial numbers in the Winter, especially if we get a cold spell and there is seed in the feeders. In Winter our most numerous Finch visitor is the Goldfinch:

Patiently Waiting for a Great Tit to Finish

Goldfinches fending off a Greenfinch

This little video probably best illustrates the frenzy of some Goldfinches fighting over the feeder, it starts off relatively peaceful then builds to all out war:

The only bird that usually keep the Goldfinch off the feeder is the Greenfinch; this Winter has been good for Greenfinch here, I know that's not the case throughout the UK in recent years. Unlike the Goldfinch there is a distinct difference between male and female Greenfinch as you can see from these photos:

Female Greenfinch

Male Greenfinch

As you can see the male is much more 'green' than the female. These are powerful birds with strong beaks and very few other birds keep them from the feeder, especially if there is a bunch of them:

The Greenfinch are hard to shift when they are on the feeder, but they all scatter when Cathy next door comes out to her garden!

A more timid finch is the Chaffinch. They are usually content with picking up fallen seed and other scraps from the ground but will occasionally eat from the feeder. Once again the male and female are quite different, with the male being more colourful. I don't have great photos of them this Winter but here are a couple:

Female Chaffinch

Male Chaffinch

Chaffinches are quite a common bird and often overlooked, despite the fact that a male Chaffinch in full breeding plumage is a stunning bird. One Chaffinch that has been visiting our garden over the last few weeks appears to have a deformity/growth on one of its claws, which makes it very difficult to perch, but it does manage it somehow:

Talking about stunning finches, the male Bullfinch must be quite high up the ranking. We have had some in our garden this Winter but I failed to get any photos of them. I did however get this short video of a male Bullfinch whilst out for a walk to Dalmeny a couple of weeks back:

The only other finch we normally see in our garden in the Winter is the Siskin, however I haven't seen any so far this winter. It maybe hasn't been cold enough for them to come out from the coniferous woodlands, they must still be finding enough to eat there; often you get an influx from Scandinavia if the Winter turns particularly cold over there.

The one bird that regularly chased the big finches off the feeder in the past was our resident Blue Tit 'Psycho'. He roosted in our bird box over winter for the last 3 or 4 years and would defend his territory viciously, no matter the size of the other birds. Unfortunately we haven't seen him this winter so it has been relatively calm.

We still get Blue Tits and other tits visiting, but not Psycho, so lets have a look at those in our garden this winter:

Blue Tit in the Tree

Blue Tit on Feeder (with House Sparrow)

There seems to be two or three Blue Tits visiting our garden and they sometimes check out our bird boxes. Here's hoping that they nest in the box which Psycho use to occupy as it has a camera in it. Here is a little video of a Blue Tit (and a Great Tit) in the snow:

A pair of Great Tits have been visiting the garden quite regularly this Winter; in previous years Great Tits were only seen on the odd occasion. There is one female and one male so here is hoping they pair up and squeeze into one of our bird boxes.

Female Great Tit

Male Great Tit

I am making the assumption that they are male and female based on the fact that a female Great Tit has a paler yellow breast than the male. It maybe that they just have different colouration from each other because one is Scottish and one is Scandinavian; any thoughts you birding experts?

Here is a slowed down video of both Great Tits in action:

Another little tit that visits our garden is the Coal Tit; their visits are fleeting and infrequent so it is very difficult to get a good photo of them. I did however capture one such visit by a Coal Tit on video:

Some people have been lucky enough to have a whole flock of Long-tailed Tits in their garden this Winter (well done Alan!) but not us. Pity they are great little birds to watch.

Moving on! 

What about the Pigeons I hear you say! .............. probably not top of most people's favourite bird list, but they can be quite funny at times. Let us start with the most common pigeon we see in our garden any time of year, the Wood Pigeon:

Wood Pigeon

What a beauty! I reckon if we ran out of chicken in this country I could make a substantial meal for four from a Wood Pigeon and a few vegetables (apologies to any Vegans), and there would be no 'food miles' to add on. 

I suppose we must be considered semi-rural as we hardly see any Feral Pigeons in our garden, I think they prefer the city life. We did get one our two this winter:

Feral Pigeon

Feral Pigeon with Wood Pigeon

Never sure if they have come out of the city or whether they are actually Racing Pigeons having a pit stop. The pigeon in the video below definitely looks like some hybridised Racing Pigeon although it isn't ringed. The Wood Pigeon wasn't sure what it was:

Told you that they could be funny!

If you want a prettier looking pigeon then look no further than the Collared Dove. It maybe didn't arrive here until the 1950's but it has since become very well established: 

Collared Dove in the tree

Crows!     Not everybody's favourite.     Intelligent.......Yes!    Oportunists......Yes!      Predatory........Yes!        Successful.......Absolutely!!

There is very little that Crows don't eat and they know where to find food no matter where they are; that is why you get Crows on the beach and Crows on the mountain tops. Why we even get Crows in our gardens, here are a few that visit our garden:

Duncan the Carrion Crow

Duncan is our resident Carrion Crow who visits our garden every day in search of any scraps we throw out. He is also well known for dipping his bread in our bird bath and occasionally bathing in the same soup he eats from. Here is Duncan surveying his domain and bathing in relatively clean water:

 Another crow that visits our garden and occasionally takes a bath is the Magpie. Sometimes we get 3 or 4 Magpies visiting at the same time.

Magpie having a bath

Where's my towel?

 Magnificent bird with striking colour scheme, but not welcome by some, especially if you have little birds nesting in your garden. Here is a video of one sitting on the fence trying to eat a grape:

I love how the Magpie nonchalantly walks away as if to say "I didn't really want that grape anyway".

We sometimes get a Rook in our garden but not over the last few months. We never get any Jays in our garden, but live in hope. Don't expect to see any Ravens or Choughs anytime soon, but never say never.

That leaves us with our final crow visitor............ the Jackdaw:

Jackdaw walking the tightrope

Our neighbour two doors down always has lots of noisy Jackdaws in her garden squabbling with each other. Sometimes one our two will come over to our garden, usually when Duncan is not around. I love the bright blue eyes that Jackdaws have and that they always look like they are up to some mischief.

Jackdaws often fly about in small groups and are not afraid to gate-crash somebody else's party, as illustrated in this video taken out our front window:

That leads me nicely on to some of the other birds that visit our garden, starting with Starlings.

Starlings are always flying around our estate in the Winter, possibly because of the number of people that put seed or scraps out for the birds. So sometimes you can get one our two birds visiting the garden, other times you get a whole mess of them; which I don't mind as I enjoy watching their antics.

Starling on the Garden Fence

There's food here chaps!

We're on our way!!!

They have also taken an interest in the pond I put in the front garden this Summer. 

Glad to see it is being put to good use as a Starling bath.

Sparrows also use the pond a lot, for drinking and bathing. They sometimes come to our back garden to visit the feeder but are mostly seen in our front garden:

Male House Sparrow on feeder

House Sparrows at snowy pond

This is because they generally feed in our neighbours garden, who not only provides food for the Sparrows but has a nearby prickly hedge providing all the protection they need from predators. Here you can see them using the hedge for cover in my neighbours garden:

Another common visitor to our garden are Blackbirds. These are very much ground feeders, they sometimes perch in the tree or on the fence but never seen one on the feeder before. maybe I need to make a bird table?

Male Blackbird

Female Blackbird

Recently we have been visited by a male Blackbird which has a white wing feather, making it very easy to recognise (provided that it is facing the right direction):

White-winged Blackbird

No Blackbird video, but I am sure you have seen plenty of them.

A rather low-profile visitor is the Dunnock, with it's streaky brown plumage and grey head it is often over looked (and often mistaken for many other species as it skulks about in the vegetation). It is however worth a second look as it has some intricate patterns on its plumage (and it is a very good singer):

Dunnock side view

Dunnock rear view

Dunnock

The total opposite to the shy, reserved Dunnock is the Robin. It is bright, bold and colourful and certainly likes to pose:

Robin on the Ground

Robin on the Feeder

Robin on the Planter Handle

Robin on the Giraffe's Head?

No problems getting a photo of a Robin in the garden!

So what happens when the Rockin' Robin and the Dull Dunnock meet in the same garden? Well it goes a bit like this:

Not the best of buddies it would appear.

Another relatively timid bird which occasionally visits our garden is the Pied Wagtail. Although it is basically black and white it is still a stunning bird and a welcomed guest when it makes an appearance:

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pretty little bird.

One bird that fleetingly visits our garden in Winter, but doesn't dwell long enough for me to photograph, is the Wren. Luckily I did manage to capture a Wren on video during a recent walk to Dalmeny, so you can see (and hear) it in all it's full glory:

A very territorial bird methinks!

That's about it for the birds in and around our neighbourhood.

I can give you a little video of the only mammal (apart from the collection of cats) that we have seen in our garden over the last couple months, namely a little Wood Mouse:

 

Lastly, do you want to see a Carrion Crow snow-bathing? Of course you do:

Crazy! .........and I said they were very intelligent!

That's all folks!

Take Care Out There

Teddy Edward