5th - 9th January - Like A Drifter I Was Born To Walk Alone

 So the New Year, same as the old Year?

On the the evening of the 4th our glorious Prime Minister appeared once again on national television to inform us all that to save our NHS and stay safe we had to lockdown once again,  and once again the ambiguities around the guidelines that provide endless copy for our illustrious media.  Either way my birding will be limited over the coming weeks.

Weather wise the end of the year and into the new year has seen the coldest weather of the winter so far.  Any period of cold weather, I watch the berries on the tree across the road from me.  The big hope of course is for Waxwings, but that is not going to happen this year and remains a distant hope every year.  No, every year the Redwings will come to eat the berries it just depend how much other food is available.  After a couple of frosts into the new year they arrived.

Notoriously difficult birds to see in the trees let alone get close to, this berry laden tree being so close to the house is ideal.  The upstairs bedroom becomes a hide with a bean bag on the windowsill keeping the camera still in the low light conditions.

Over the course of the next few days I was able to capture many shots of this delightful thrush.  The plumage helps them merge into the tree and the way that they keep so still cements their invisible cloak.  Only the need to gorge on the berries belying their presence.

At one time there was up to six birds in the tree and every so often you could hear their contact calls. 

In previous years they would easily be spooked by pedestrians walking underneath the tree, but this year they would just freeze as persons walked by and once gone continue their feeding.

This gives a good example of how they can merge into the branches.

The brown streaked plumage on the breast and the brown upper parts are perfect to hide them, they only give themselves away when you get the flash of orange red on the flank.

Or of course they are holding a ripe red berry!

Two more images to wrap up the Redwing for this year.  There are still plenty of berries on the tree but as the frosts have gone so, too, have the Redwing.

A day later I noticed a flash of pink and white in the tree and a male Bullfinch appeared after feeding on the berries.

While it was cold and frosty it has also been quite misty, many days the fog not lifting and the trees coated with a hoar frost that turned them into a winter wonderland or something maybe from children's television from the sixties like the "Singing, Ring Tree".

Lunch time walks found the resident Red-legged Partridge covey of sixteen birds along Gradwell Lane feeding in the field in the mist.  A case of "Partridges in the mist".

On my walk I would pass Robins watching from the hedgerows, looking for any morsel of food disturbed by the many passing walkers.

While Dunnocks would flick their wings and tails on the top of the hedges.

A regular sight and sound has been the Mistle Thrush that has taken residence in the Holly tree along Brislands.  The tree is laden with berries and clear is a major asset.  The Mistle Thrush can be heard calling with a rattling sound from within the tree and also seen chasing off the Blackbirds and Redwing.  Comparable in size with a Fieldfare and slightly larger than a Blackbird it is quite a striking bird when seen from the front.  Unfortunately this one refused to turn around.

A longer walk to Swelling Hill Pond found even more Mallard on a partially frozen pond.  A count of 42 is the highest I have had in winter, the autumn being typically the time when the duck congregate.

There was no sign of the Tufted Duck seen on Christmas Day, still the Mallard is a very striking duck when you break away its common status.

Back home the garden has been relatively quiet with not the huge numbers of Goldfinch we have seen over the last few winters.  A reason for this could be that there is plenty of natural food around.  I was surprised to see these Goldfinch feeding at the top of a Leylandii tree, I am not sure what they had found there.

Starling numbers have increased significantly with a flock of well over 100 seen from my office window.  They are lat risers and will often appear in the tree outside my window around 9:00AM to take in the morning sunshine or to preen after a morning dip in the bird bath.

The regulars are still with me though, the Blackbird pair and the Robins.  The Robins are very shy and if two are about there is an immediate scrap.  They will both come to the take the meal worms which I put in trays either side of the garden

An addition to the garden birds feeding on the meal worms is a Wren.  It creeps along the wall and like to hide in amongst the old logs I have around the garden.  It uses these as cover as it nips out to take the meal worms from the dish.  If not disturbed by the blackbirds it will take up to 5 worms which must be a considerable meal for such a small bird.  As of yet I haven't been able to get any photographs but I will try over the next few weeks.

That leaves the Blackbirds themselves.  This is the eighth year we have been feeding the male Blackbird.  It was a long moult this year after and four brood breeding season at the which of it he was in a very bedraggled state, at time we could see his skin.  Now with superb feathers he is showing another identification feature to the twisted bill, a pale brown patch of upper wing covert feathers.

He has remained with the female through the winter and in fact they appeared to moult together, both appearing on the shed after emerging from the conifer bush, to eat meal worms we put out every day.  Occasionally they will have a little tussle but bot will feed from their own dish on the lawn and both will chase off any other Blackbird that would dare to come too close.

So the first week of the new year lockdown comes to an end.  I have a feeling I will be spending a little more time around the patch over the next few weeks.