Tuesday 17 March 2020

Feathered Friends

Early morning and the Rooks were gathered in the rookery at North End. When I first looked up there were just two rooks present, sitting very close to each other. They then made a very clumsy attempt at copulating (it can't be easy when you're balancing in a treetop on a breezy day!). Almost immediately several more Rooks arrived and started making an incredible din. Whether they were offering praise, advice or mockery was hard to tell.



Rook nests may look like haphazard heaps of twigs, but these have been here for years and survived the recent gales with minimal damage, to which their occupants soon made the necessary repairs, stealing material from each other's nests; somehow it never occurs to a Rook to pick up twigs that have fallen on the ground.



Regular readers of these pages will have noticed an increase in the number of birdie-pictures on this blog since Christmas. That's because I bought myself a "bridge-camera" with an absurd 83x zoom on it (Nikon P900, for those who want to know). See that crow on the branch in the photo above - no, I thought not.



Well, here it is! Actually both pictures have been cropped a little, but you get the general idea. The quality's not that brilliant when you push everything to its limit, but at least you can see what it is. 



Here's an often underrated and overlooked member of our avian family, a Dunnock. Despite their unspectacular plumage and quiet habits they are familiar to many people as they often frequent our gardens. In Spring they sing prettily, though quietly, from the hedgerows.



The bird above, pictured through my porch window, is what we in Britain call a Goldfinch. A few decades ago you only ever saw them when they were feeding on thistles in fields, but now they are everywhere: one of the few beneficiaries of human interference in nature. They have thrived since they discovered the feeders that we hang in our gardens, particularly if they contain nyjer seed (also known as niger, nyger or niger seed; noog or nugg; ramtil or ramtilla; inga seed; and blackseed).



This Green Woodpecker struck a rather inelegant pose on top of a fencepost. Unlike our other Woodpeckers (we only have two others in the UK, The Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers) it spends a lot of time on the ground feeding on ants.



On a recent trip to Welney WWT reserve we found the floodwater on the Washes was so high and the wind so strong that there were few birds to be seen from the main observatory. However the café provided a warm place to scan the birds out on Lady Fen and to watch the comings and goings on the bird-feedrs.



These feeders always attract many Tree Sparrows, a far from common bird elsewhere. They can be picked out from the more familiar House Sparrows by their smart chestnut caps and black and white cheeks.



The Mute Swans at Fen Drayton Lakes are also preparing themselves for Spring. At first glance I thought this might be a male and a female, but looking closer it's probably two males having a quietly civilised face-off, perhaps a territorial dispute about a possible nest-site.



And finally, in these difficult times for many, who can resist a chirpy little Robin. Their singing, though, is not an expression of joy but a warning to other Robins to keep well away from their territory. No problems with "social distancing" when it comes to Robins! And look, there are leaves just appearing on the branch behind him!


Take care.


36 comments:

  1. LOVE the birds, most of which I know by name but have not seen.
    Thank you.

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  2. Came here via Weaver (Pat) Technical data ? Loved the pics which reminded me we need to stockpile on the bird food if I can find room in the pantry (full of toilet roll) I jest! Haven'tblogged in a while but idealtime to catch up!

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  3. I have always found Rooks very interesting birds and look forward to seeing them when I visit Europe. They have endured more than their share of persecution historically.

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    1. Yes, indeed, David. I read recently that the "four-and-twenty black birds baked in a pie" may well have been Rooks as country people often ate them. Add to that the scarecrows and small boys employed to throw stones at them and you'd think that Rooks were universally despised. However there's also a lot of weather-lore around here which relies on the behaviour of Rooks (my father always took notice of what the Rooks were doing, though he thought most folklore was utter rubbish) and it was considered to be very unlucky if Rooks deserted a farm's rookery.

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    2. My family name is Rook.....

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  4. That's a lot of zoom John, very cool! Love your small birds, I would welcome your sweet wee Dunnock into my garden anytime, the robin also 💙 Always surprising to see your white swans, totally opposite of our black beauties.

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  5. wow!!Beautiful Pictures!Ilove them all :))))

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  6. Whenever I see sparrows I think of Richard Mabey's description of them being like 'Rubber bullets' as they shoot across the hedgerows.
    Briony
    X

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  7. Hi John - your new camera is working wonders ... when you told us there's a bird there ... I could see the black splodge - up close: it's much better! There's a little brown job round here ... I didn't stop to take too much notice (while I can, before the leaves come out ... I should take a close look at 'it') - but it makes one 'hell' of a noise ... I walked past thinking if I'd been singing like that I'd have been exhausted! It wasn't a robin - though they do 'shout' a lot ... delightful post - thank you ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Probably a Wren, Hilary. Their normal song can usually be picked out by a distinctive rattling trill about two-thirds of the way through.

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  8. I love Dunnocks John, they are such smart, dapper little birds.

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  9. Wow, some beautiful birds photos.
    Thanks for sharing, John.

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  10. OH my, we call different species by the same names, Goldfinch and Robin are entirely different here! But I do enjoy your zoom lens! Keep on posting!

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  11. Love seeing all the birds there. It's nice that they're busy building nests and eating all the yummy stuff they can find. I had no idea how much I am like the Robins there. Absolutely telling others to keep their distance... chirp chirp chirp. LOL!

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  12. I always love to see your cute robins!

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  13. Congrats on that new camera! It's rewarding to finally zoom in on distant birds and checkout identifying characteristics. I often have to do that to be sure I've called them properly.
    I love seeing your birds and comparing them to those in my part of the world.

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  14. Wondered how you got your photo's, I rely on a DSLR with 100-400 zoom or my zoom compact

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  15. Your photos are absolutely stunning John. Love the Goldfinch, I think I spotted them maybe once or twice here.

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  16. Looks like you're having fun with your new camera. Great to have so much zoom.
    I like the Green Woodpecker.

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  17. I enjoy seeing the bird species you have there, John. Great photos!

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  18. I think you'll love that new camera - and so will we or at least its results.

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  19. These are brilliant. It is interesting to see the different British birds, esp those with the same names as some here, but looking so different.

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  20. I LOVE your guys' little Robin...or maybe I should call it the true Robin. All the birds are interesting to me. Love the Mute Swans.

    Do you use the viewfinder on your new camera, or use the LCD screen to compose your photos? I would love to know if with the electronic viewfinders if you can get on a bird and track it like with a regular DSLR. It is near impossible with the LCD screen.

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  21. I had to look up information on rooks which are similar and in the same family as the crows we have here (NH). Also your robin and goldfinch are quite different looking than their counterparts here. Those facing off swans were great to see and I was trying to think of a good caption.
    Thanks for sharing the output of your Christmas gift, John. I also had a couple of those bridge cameras with absurd zooms, but rid myself of them and now have a digital camera with a single fixed lens (no zoom at all). I'm still not familiar with all its functions, but it's a throw back to the old 35mm film cameras. A future post of mine will give more details

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  22. It looks like you are putting that new lens to good use. My favorite is the English robin. The light you caught is so lovely. We are having a good birding spring, too, but I can’t do it justice with my camera.

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  23. oh John, your photos are beautiful. I love birds, I notice some of them singing in the mornings now when I walk the dogs, I can't identify them though.

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  24. P.S. Meant to add that I think your daffodil post is gorgeous, and stay well.

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  25. That is one mighty camera, my friend, but you certainly have an eye (and the talent) for the birds! Delightful to see them all here today.

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  26. Lovely lovely lovely lovely!
    I like the fact you post a pic of a bird then name the bird underneath, so I can scroll down to the pic, try and recognise the bird, then scroll further to see if I am right or not. Being right is 50/50. After many years living in Canada I'm no longer familiar with British birds.

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  27. Super photos with your new camera. I love the Dunnocks and the chirpy Robin:)

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  28. That new zoom is amazing. Love the photos.

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  29. Thanks for sharing your little friends! They are gorgeous to see :)
    I've had a P900 for several years and love the photos it takes! My head spins when I think of all the things it can do!!!


    Feel free to share at My Corner of the World

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  30. Ah I had noticed you had lots of good bird photos! I love the Nikon bridge cameras purely for the zoom!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'll try to answer any questions via a comment or e-mail within the next day or two (no hard questions, please!).