Magpie Mischief

 

Over the past couple of weeks, the local Magpie pair have been visiting their nest positioned high up in a neighbour's tree. Today, a commotion around the gardens led us to witness at least a dozen Magpies cackling, whistling and chortling to one another in the vicinity of said nest. 

Squabbling in the Vicinity of the Nest

Periodically a few of these would break away and chase one another unhurriedly across the street, always looping back into the tree in which their brethren were having a chat. I’ve witnessed these gatherings before which always happen in late winter or early spring. There’s never any outright aggression, just a long, sometimes heated, conversation presumably over territorial rights. Or perhaps its their equivalent to a pint and a mardle down the pub.

Some of the Chattering Group

Time was when the sight of a Magpie locally would have been quite notable, now it seems we have pairs littered all over our suburban landscape. Seen close to they are really rather handsome creatures, but of course have a nasty habit of raiding the nests of garden birds during spring. I’ve noticed though that this habit occurs mainly early on when nests are more exposed and built by inexperienced birds. It’s cruel to us, but maybe it teaches those Blackbirds etc to think a little more about where they build, forcing them to be more cunning themselves. I guess the acid test as to whether Magpies really affect garden bird populations is to assess numbers over time. Judging by the results of the recent Big Garden Birdwatch count and the yearly crop of young Robins, Dunnocks and Blue Tits hereabouts, there really doesn’t seem like there’s any long-term declines that can be laid at the Magpies' door. Love them or hate them, they are obviously here to stay.

Old Faithful

Numbers of Black-headed Gulls in the UK are swollen during winter with visitors from northern Europe. To track the movements of these birds there are various ringing programs implemented that affix a brightly coloured, and therefore easily seen, plastic ring to one leg as well as the more conventional small metal ring to the other. The rings do the birds no harm, but do allow members of the public to easily record their sightings. There is a spot not far from where I live which always has a posse of these dainty, but raucous birds mugging passers by for chunks of bread and scraps. There is a 2-way ringing program here with local naturalists ringing birds during the winter to record their summer distribution, and overwintering birds from Europe occasionally turning up to give details of their origins. I’ve written in more detail about that here.  Once, whilst feeding the ever-hungry ducks with my grandson, we watched a guy catch a gull with his bare hands, retiring to a convenient bench to attach a ring. Skilled work indeed. Me and the lad sat down to watch and have a chat, resulting in my young charge saying afterwards ‘Grandad I’ll never forget that’. From such an acorn I’m hoping a mighty oak will grow.

This bird, T2X8, was ringed in Poland during the summer of 2017 and regularly turns up in Norwich

 

J9Z5 in 2023

Taking advantage of a bright sunny day, we spent a few minutes at Salthouse on the North Norfolk coast this afternoon. As hoped for, Black-headed Gull J9Z5 was present looking healthy and pristine. This bird is tracked regularly by visitors to this place, and you can see below some of its history. It was ringed in Norway in June 2013, and a decade later is still going strong. The most remarkable thing as far as I’m concerned is that is shows amazing faithfulness to its chosen wintering grounds, travelling nearly 1000km every year to compete with the milling throng that congregate around these small pools. Quite remarkable.

Some of the History of J9Z5

The Fen in Winter

 

Although it is pretty quiet at Strumpshaw today, there’s always something to engage. Let’s go for a walk and see what we can find. We’ll keep it simple, avoid the muddy riverbank and complete the south eastern loop taking in the woodland and the river path before heading back to Reception via the Sandy Wall. What can we find on this pleasantly bright January day, albeit with a biting nor wester rippling the reeds? Snowdrops: dainty pearls of spring, hope rising through the decay of autumn past. They dot the path side as we move into the deeper part of the wood where Great Tits and Robins are already singing in proclamation of ownership of a small patch of this damp carr where the sad skeletons of ash stand bare and dead against the blue winter sky. We can stop and admire where contrast is made between the nodding heads of snowdrops and the layered strata of turkeytail fungus affixed to a tree stump. As we look, we hear a Stock Dove giving its low-pitched exclamation of surprise.

 

The wood is behind us and we can look over open fields where Fieldfares and Redwings hop around, probing the soft earth for worms and other succulents. Some of these wanderers of fields are helping the local Blackbirds strip berries from ivy heavily draped over path side oaks. They are wary of us, but occasionally perch on an exposed branch for a few seconds before diving back into cover. It’s not only Fieldfares here though, for as we watch we see a Mistle Thrush similarly engaged in the feast. A nearby singing Song Thrush completes the set.

 

The unpleasantly cold wind prevents us dallying along the riverside so we return to the wood, sit on a bench and wait to see what turns up. Blue Tits acrobatically tease seeds from alders, a pair of Pheasants stalk one another through the undergrowth and lead us to focus on something hunched against the trunk of a birch. It is a hare, wide eyed and beautiful. It sits there just 20 metres away, unperturbed by our close proximity. It yawns, it preens, it nibbles on some grass, it raises its long, silky ears and fixes us with a stare. And then this normally shy creature, all knowing brown eye, ambles away becoming lost in the tangle, leaving us enriched and thankful for a small gift from nature.

Winter at Walcott

It is always interesting to spend a couple of hours at Walcott on the NE Norfolk coast. Here you can park directly next to the beach (the only place in the county where this is possible), and thereby witness close up the antics of the myriad gulls and the ever scurrying Turnstones that between them seem to exist entirely on hand-outs provided by human visitors. The gulls are mainly Herring Gulls, dominated by a vociferous pair, the male of which is intolerant of any gull of any other species, sending them packing with an aggressive lunge, wings raised, beak gaping. After every successful sortie he will throw back his head and give voice to the typical laughter like cry of his tribe. The only bird he does tolerate, in fact the bird that plaques him constantly, is his offspring from the previous summer that even now well into the new year, begs him for food with a squeaky whining call. It is a mystery to me how on Earth they recognise one another, but the family bond is still strong. 

The 'Boss' and His Offspring a Few Weeks Ago

I always reward him for his machismo and dedication to his family by ensuring choice lumps of bread are thrown into his maw. He is quite bold in this regard and will stand there waiting for his crust just a couple of feet from where you stand. He is quite handsome and very large; without doubt the boss of the beach. 

The Turnstones, some 30 or 40 in number, zip about under the radar picking up small crumbs and seeds discarded or ignored by the larger and squabbling gulls. Some thoughtful folk (us on the occasion we remember), put out piles of seed for them which they hoover up gratefully. They virtually ignore passing people, although will take flight for a short distance when an accompanying dog trots past. It occurred to me today that having originated from Greenland and the wilds of Canada, some of them may never have encountered a human before until they turned up on the stone sea wall at this popular Norfolk outpost. They certainly are happy to waddle around on the footpath where the gulls fear to tread. 

Sometimes a Sanderling Will Brave the Human Traffic

Between feeds they can be found loafing around on the decaying sea defences, or splashing around in beach pools created by the run off rainwater from the road. Lots of people stop and watch these pied pipers, no doubt wondering what on Earth they could be. With binoculars slung around my neck providing a clue to my neediness, I’ve sometimes been asked the question and am happy to oblige. The answer never fails to elicit a show of wonder at how such small creatures decide to fly thousands of miles to peck around their feet on a windy winter day, when the crashing waves of the North Sea should surely deter anything from setting foot or wing anywhere near its latent ferocity.

Turnstones That Dare to Steal a Crust are Ruthlessly Pursued 

Garden Bird Videos

Garden Birds - January 2023

Here are a few videos of some birds that visited the garden recently.

 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2023

Quite Beautiful

Watching the antics of garden birds is always fun, a good way to spend time on a cold winter day. Great then that this humble pastime can be used for positive gain and become part of a nationwide citizen science project. The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is just that, perhaps the most popular and well known such activity in the country. I always take part, and this year managed to record 42 individuals of 16 species.

I thought I would compare the results of this 2023 survey with that of 2005 (the earliest record I have).

                                    2005 List                                2023 List

Blackbird                    5 (3 males 2 females)              5 (3 males, 2 females)

Blue Tit                       3                                              2

Chaffinch                    2                                              1

Coal Tit                       1                                               0

Collared Dove            2                                              3

Dunnock                     2                                              3

Great Tit                      2                                             2

Greenfinch                  5                                             8

Goldfinch                    0                                             4

House Sparrow          15                                            0

Long-tailed Tit            2                                             0

Magpie                         1                                             2

Robin                           1                                              1

Starling                        8                                             1

Woodpigeon               2                                             4

Redwing                      2                                             0

Wren                            1                                             1

Song Thrush               1                                             0

Blackcap                     0                                             2

Carrion Crow             0                                             1

Jackdaw                      0                                             2

Totals                         55/17                                       42/16

So what conclusions can we draw from this? In overall terms the picture is quite stable, look at Blackbirds for example. However, I've highlighted in red the most obvious absences or notable decreases (the others are simple day by day anomalies). No real surprises, rather an affirmation of declines already well documented. House Sparrows are now totally absent and have been for well over a decade. There was a regular flock of up to 20 chirping away in the garden hedge until we were forced to cut back an invading guelder rose. The sparrows disappeared and have never returned. Similarly Starlings, a once common visitor, are now just the opposite, although breeding numbers appear stable. So sad that the Song Thrush, again a once regular feature, has now evaporated entirely with none being seen in the garden for well over a decade.

It's not all bad news though. I've highlighted in green those species that seem to have profited from the conditions pertaining in 2023. Goldfinches are the most obvious addition, and we regularly have a small flock around the feeders or in the alder tree. Their tinkling notes are a pleasant, ever present background noise. Corvids are doing well (but interestingly don't seem to be having much effect on the populations of the other birds), with Magpies, Carrion Crows and Jackdaws always around. Jays were once present, but they seem to have disappeared recently - local hiccup or something more systemic? And then those Blackcaps which appear now every winter. These are birds from Northern Europe that choose to overwinter here in the UK instead of flying south to Africa. They prosper because we feed them, enabling them to return earlier to their breeding grounds, select prime territories and raise more young. These offspring are genetically programmed to follow in the adult footsteps and so spend their winters here as well. And so it goes on. Lovely to see them, and long may they find a safe haven amongst our shrubs.

Greenfinches Are Good Value in Photographic Terms

The Male Blackcap is Quite Aggressive 

 Water Pipits

On a cold, dank January day with the expectation of rain in the chill air, an excursion to RSPB Minsmere was greatly enlivened by watching Water Pipits from the Island Mere hide. These small winter visitors were taking advantage of the spoil left over from dredging work along the adjacent channels. The detritus from this essential maintenance activity had been piled up on the edges of the open water where these birds could probe around looking for snails and small insects, themselves now deprived of deep cover.

There was at least 2 birds stalking around the shallows, using their long slim beaks to prise morsels from the roots of reeds and other water plants. They strutted around coming quite close to the hide before generally being seen off by an aggressive female Pied Wagtail. 

It is not very often one gets the opportunity to have a prolonged look at a Water Pipit, thus many photographs were snapped and scrutiny made of the key features: overall pale look, white outer tail feathers, broad white supercilium, quite dark brown/orange legs, white throat bordered by spots that fade away as they reach the flanks, pale wing bars and so on. As with just about all small birds, there is quite a bit of variety in plumage, and the photographic images also show how a single pose can easily mislead. Even a series of images of a single bird can show, in each split second, a surprising change of features. From head on, the prominent supercilium is obvious, yet from an oblique profile shot it almost disappears. In some photographs the bird seems quite brown in overall tone, yet in others much paler. Just goes to show that reliance on a single image for identification can be very confusing and misleading. A video is a much better medium for conveying the totality of appearance.

Other birds on show today from this sparsely populated vantage point were a pair of delightful Whooper Swans that eventually came quite close, an elusive Water rail that would scurry out of cover, walk across the ice probing for titbits before swiftly disappearing into thick reed, and a Bittern that flew into the edge of the reed bed where it completely disappeared from view. A couple of Bearded Tits pinged, a Song Thrush briefly tried its luck on the strand line and a perky little Goldcrest zipped around amongst the tangle of fallen branches on the edge of the wood. In overall terms not a vast quantity of birds, but the quality was pleasingly high.