1st - 14th February - Then I Am Spinning and I'm Diving

The start of the month saw the temperatures a little below average but with plenty of rain and grey skies.  The second week of the period though saw the temperature plummet and we had snow flurries that produced a dusting of snow for three days, but more significantly the ground was frozen solid and the wind coming from the north through to the east was strong and bitingly cold. 

In the garden the male Blackcap continued to visit the feeders through out the period, I would have thought that there may have been more as in previous years but he does seem to be the only one about.

Through the first week things were relatively quiet.  On the the 2nd February I heard calling Tawny Owls for the first time this year and for a while since early December.  A walk along Alton Lane on the same day saw around 200 Rooks feeding in the adjacent fields and activity around the old nests in the rookery.

Rooks were also seen around the garden in the second week when the snow came and the temperatures fell.  Despite the amount of food available they never come into the garden but will gather on the surrounding roofs.

The 5th saw three Red Kites circling over the house, the first time there has been more than two birds present for some months now.

In the first week we had another bird come to take the meal worms, a Coal Tit, this makes it now eight birds that are happy to feed from the dishes around the garden, these are, the Blackbird and Robins, of course, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, the Wren, Dunnock and surprisingly Woodpigeon.

With the cold weather there was a major change in the garden.  Suddenly we were inundated with Blackbirds, at one stage I counted 12 birds in the garden and they would fight.  The resident birds though seemed to keep well away, I would only see the tame male and female at dawn when I first went out and maybe last thing in the evening.  Our male Blackbird would come to the back door and was even prepared to come into the kitchen to escape the attention of the other Blackbirds

The Robins did not seem that phased and would come to the back door too, Donald being quite happy to actually come into the house once more.  There was one amusing incident where he was being fed on the mat and one of the other Robins came close and started the aggressive song.  Donald turned to face the other Robin, using the threshold of the back door to gain height over the other who was on the patio, a door and step below.  Donald then stuck his head up and waved his red breast at the other as if to say, this is my house back off.

The other character through the cold snap was the Wren.  It completely lost its inhibitions and would come within a couple of feet from me, happy to do so when either the Robins or the tame Blackbird was present.  Later in the week it would come to the dish close to the house, the one that the other birds other than the Robins would not use.

I had to marvel at the physiology of this little bird, temperatures were as low as minus six degrees centigrade but it managed to survive the early part of the cold spell, but then he went missing.  We didn't see the Wren on Friday and no sign over the weekend despite the conditions warming slightly.  Had the little bird succumbed?  Rather than leave the answer until the next post I can say it turned up on Monday, straight to the dish so all was well.

We think the shear number of larger birds was just too much to negotiate so it went somewhere else, or just avoided the meal worms.

I have a rather love - hate relationship with Starlings.  I love the winter murmurations, but they do completely take over in the garden, their aggression and gang approach enabling them to muscle in and move larger birds away and they will devour the dish in seconds as opposed to the blackbird's more refined eating habits.

During the cold weather the Starlings would monopolise the fat feeders and once the bird bath was freed of ice they would be the first into the water splashing everywhere as up to three would bathe at any time.  They would normally bathe around the middle of the afternoon and then take to the highest point of the trees to take in the afternoon sun and preen and finish their ablutions.  This provided some wonderful photo opportunities and the chance to admire their beautiful plumage.

Petrol colours of green and blue glint and change as the bird moves and the sunlight catches the feathers

Some work required to make sure the feathers are in tip top condition to enable them to keep warm through the cold of the night

White arrow head dashes standout on the dark feathers

Here some work on the tail feathers.

Many think of the Starling as just a blackbird, up close they are a mixture of colours, the petrol colours of the main feathers, these then fringed with brown to produce a beautiful combination

All set now to spend the night in my roof!

Love them or hate then you can't deny they are a beautiful bird beyond their aerobatic skills.

With the Starlings gone, a male Hose Sparrow took advantage of the late afternoon sunshine.

The cold snap was due to end on Sunday the 14th, it was though still very cold with the rain making it feel even more colder than the height of the low temperatures, it must be the damp conditions.  The second half of the month is due to be a lot milder, maybe even dabbling with Spring conditions.  Will this produce the first Lesser Celandines of the year?  Maybe even a Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell butterfly?  We shall just have to wait and see.

25th - 31st January - There's No Colour And No Sound

 The snow that suddenly arrived on Sunday and disrupted several plans was still with us on Monday morning, but gone was the grey monochrome conditions, to be replaced with clear blue skies and very cold temperatures despite the welcome sunshine.  At lunchtime I went out for a walk, the side roads still covered in snow and ice while the main roads were clear.  I headed along Brislands with clear skies providing excellent visibility and white snow as far as the eye could see.

A closer view.

Shadows from the trees along the lane scattered across the snow and taking on a blue hue.

Looking towards the entrance to Old Down Wood.

This was so much different from the previous day's walk.  I walked into Old Down Wood and was greeted with this scene.

On Sunday the trees were covered with snow and unfortunately this had either dropped off or melted.  I had hoped for some shots from below with the branches snow covered against the blue sky, but had to make do with the following:

Beech, Sweet Chestnut and some Oak

The Larch trees looking like palms along Sunset Boulevard

Finally, Silver Birch.

With time not on my side I walked to the Gradwell entrance, on my left the Four Trees, now looking more like five, distant across the snow covered field, the dark shadow of the wood stretching across the snow.

Walking across the field and looking back Four Marks had taken on an Alpine feel.

This was the first snow fall locally for at least two years and the first opportunity to enjoy it.

Back home once the snow had gone there were some notable garden sightings, on Tuesday, the 26th, a male Blackcap was seen briefly on the feeders, on the 28th a pair of Siskin returned to feed on the feeders, but preferred the loose seed in the tray as it meant that they could avoid the aggressive Goldfinches.

The male

And the female 

But the best record was of a male Lesser Redpoll on the 27th, apologies for the poor photograph but I had to move quickly to capture the record and then it was gone.

As is always the case around Four Marks at this time of year, the garden prove to be the best source of interesting sightings both in and over.  I have had Buzzard and Red Kite over the garden regularly, but as yet this year still await sightings of Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.

One further bird of interest in the garden this week is a very pale, almost greyish Great Tit, researching the possibility of it being a continental bird it would appear it is probably more like a first winter female.

In order for the snow to go we had to have a temperature rise and some rain, this resulted in some very murky and miserable conditions through the middle of the week.  On Thursday though things brightened up and I was able to get out for a lunchtime walk.  As I left the house one of the aforementioned Red Kites drifted over the house and along Lymington Rise.

I have seen this bird frequently since the start of the cold spell, it is distinctive by the notch in the secondaries, there are three distinct birds that patrol the area, I have seen all three at one time on a couple of occasions.  I can only assume that some of the neighbours put food out for them.

Later as I walked home one without the notch in the wing drifted over but distant.

Walking up Gradwell Lane I stopped for a Nuthatch that was calling by the footpath that leads to Old Down Wood.

A Rabbit was out in the open, the first I have seen for a while.

A single Holly Tree along Brislands has been laden with Berries since the autumn and has been the sole property of a Mistle Thrush that has guarded them veraciously.  Any Blackbird coming close would be chased off.  But with the recent cold snap and snow the challenge became much harder to protect its store.  

Today I watched Redwing fly in and and the numbers overwhelmed the poor Mistle Thrush.  I saw some attempts to repel the Redwing but eventually gave up as the numbers became too much and concentrated in feeding itself.  Here one of the successful Redwing

And the Mistle Thrush accepting the situation despite it superior size over many Redwing, digging into the Holly Berries.

I stood watching after the Mistle Thrush left, but the hoped for Fieldfare did not appear and the Redwing were never in a place that allowed me to get a good shot.  Just as I was about to walk on I heard song from the tree close by.  The Mistle Thrush was singing at the top of the tree.

Saturday was a complete wash out, it rained all day.  Sunday morning started dry and with some sunny spells.  I had a window of opportunity and headed out.  Passing the Holly tree on Brislands I noticed that all the berries were now gone, the tree stripped in three days.

Along Brislands close to the entrance to the wood I picked up three Yellowhammers flying into the field where I promptly lost them.  I made some noise and disturbed them from the ground and they flew up into the nearby tree where, despite my best efforts I could not get a view of them to enable a suitable photograph.

From across the field I could also hear the distant song of a Skylark, but again it was too far away for any pictures.

Entering the wood there was initially an eerie silence, I struggled to hear any bird calls let alone song.  I walked to check the owl tree but there was no sign of it being present, it doesn't hurt to keep checking though.

Reaching the main path I turned south, stopping in the open space to look and listen.  Again it was very quiet, then as you stand and watch things begin to appear.  I heard a distant flock of Siskin but couldn't see them.  On the other side of the path a few birds flew across the trees settling in  the top branches, they were a group of about 10 Bullfinches, a mixture of male and female birds.

As they moved through the branches you could hear their soft piping contact calls.

A calling Great Spotted Woodpecker could be heard, but I found another closer preening at the top of a Larch tree.

I walked to the pond and have to admit I wasn't surprised to see the drake Tufted Duck back.

The number of Mallard reduced significantly when the majority of the pond froze over last weekend, so I can only assume wherever the Mallard went the Tufted Duck went with them.  The Mallard numbers were back up to 42 so it must have returned with them.  It does seem to be associating with one female Mallard.  It was a chance to get some more photographs then.

Some people insisted on feeding the Mallard and it drifted over to join them but realised its mistake and started to swim back towards me, moving into some nice reflections in the water.

I walked around the pond, stopping to watch a flock of Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrest move through the tree branches.

I walked around the back of the pond to a path that accesses the footpath that runs around the back of the pond to Lyeway Road.  Before leaving I stopped to get some more shots of the Snowdrops around the picnic area.

The path at the back of the pond is heavily flooded and I waded through about a foot of water coming out in the garden and then heading towards Lyeway.  As I approached the road a Common Gull flew over.

Common Gulls are the coomonest gull seen around Four Marks in the winter and scanning across the fields I could see, after spooking a Roe Deer close to the hedge, a group of about twenty birds.  A van coming up Lyeway Road disturbed and they flew up before settling back down out of view.

The field looked very wet and flooded in places and they were probably looking for worms coming to the surface.  In this they were joined by a good number of Carrion Crows, but no sign of the pair of Ravens.

I made my way home without any notable sightings.  Coming into the garden I noticed the male Blackcap on the feeder.  It flew up into the tree and I stood and waited until it moved to a more open position.  The first Blackcap photograph of the new year wasn't a bad one.

Rather than rush in I decided to put out some mealworms and almost immediately was joined by the Robins, this one is the infamous "Donald".  Looking almost angelic!

The Wren then appeared, I missed the chance to catch it on the log, but watched as it picked up a mealworm that looks like a substantial meal for a little bird.

It then proceeds to wack it against the side of the dish to stun or kill.

Then it turns to take it under the log to eat before returning for more.  The maximum I have seen it take is four.

The Wren is one of the early risers, in this video taken a few weeks ago you can see it was active a 7:20 a good 40 minutes before sunrise.  It clearly knows the trays are a source of food and comes back during the day to check if there is anything it might have missed.  It also watches, I am convinced for me to come into the garden as once I go in it appears to check the trays.

I have often wondered what happens when some worms are left in the tray overnight, well here was the answer.

I know they are not badgers but it is the best I can do aside from Wood Pigeons.

So we have completed the first month of the year and it is much the same for now as the old year.  February next, what will this bring.  The long range forecast is for cold weather to return, will this bring more snow?  We shall have to see.