Wings

Another sad-but-interesting addition to my frozen menagerie - a Redwing that had died after flying into a window.

Before I put it in the freezer (for later study - not eating), I stretched out its wings and wondered about

the night-time journey on which the same feathers, muscles and bones carried it across the North Sea
where did it make landfall? Scotland? Yorkshire? Suffolk?
where it hatched last year - Sweden or Russia, perhaps?
and saw how it still had fragments of soil stuck to its toes.

I suppose it must have been foraging amongst the leaf litter until a few minutes before it died. It's really quite sad.

photo taken with Canon EOS 30D

The doves from above

It may seem amazing to you, dear reader, but to see Collared Doves in the garden is a rare treat for me. We're just that bit too far out into the sticks for them to consider our garden suitable habitat. They turn up occasionally but never stay for long.

These ones (well, I assume they're the same ones) have been visiting the garden sporadically for two or three days now, so maybe 2010 will be the year they colonise this remote outpost. It's only 54 years since they first bred in the UK.

I am actually enjoying watching them.

photo taken with Apple iPhone 3GS + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Big Garden Birdwatch

Did my Big Garden Birdwatch this morning. It's bitterly cold today, clear and breezy, and I went out first thing to top up the feeders, scatter seed and oats on the ground, and put out some water.

I was thrilled to count a whopping SIX Reed Buntings hopping around with the Chaffinches. One of them was [presumably...] the bird we ringed last weekend. So that was good, but where were all the Great Tits? And why didn't any of our Marsh Tits turn up?

The totals...

• Chaffinch, 16
• Jackdaw, 11
• Reed Bunting, 6
• Blue Tit, 5
• Greenfinch, 4
• Great Tit, 3
• Robin, 2
• Blackbird, 2
• Dunnock, 2
• Pheasant, 1
• Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1
• Carrion Crow, 1
• Magpie, 1
• Coal Tit, 1

Annoyingly, I've just seen a Marsh Tit. Too late now...

Sunset

photo taken with Canon Powershot A640

Wot no Marsh Tit?

Did a bit more ringing in the garden this morning. With a total of 37 birds caught (of which 8 were ones we'd ringed before), it wasn't one of our most impressive sessions.

A tactical error (of leaving a fat block out in the bush where the birds hang out) meant we had a slow start. Moving the fat block over to where the others feeders were sorted that out.

We even failed to catch a single Marsh Tit, when last time we'd caught one before we'd even finished putting the net up!

So the adult male Reed Bunting we did catch helped to make up for that disappointment. He's a nice example of feathers and how their wear affects a bird's appearance. See, all those browny-buff bits on his head will wear off in time for the breeding season. Like this. Weird as it seems, the Reed Bunting will look dapper once his feathers have worn away a bit more.

People get confused when they see birds that don't match exactly the illustrations or photos in their books. But feathers are constantly changing and wearing away, so birds hardly ever match the books. After all, nobody's told them what they're supposed to look like.

The scores on the doors:

• Blue Tit, 10 (+ 7 we'd ringed before)
• Great Tit, 8 (+1 retrap)
• Chaffinch, 5
• Greenfinch, 4
• Dunnock, 1
• Reed Bunting, 1

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D

What colour is your pecker?

Fantastic, but very noisy and wriggly birds.

photo taken with Canon EOS 30D

Fantastic Mr (or Mrs) Fox

A fox came into the garden this morning to eat some of our birdfood. It stayed so long it seemed stupid not to sketch it. So I did.

When it arrived, it was only just getting light outside. It's horribly foggy today as well. I watched through the telescope and it looked like a black and white fox.

The fox sat down and ate, and watched Darren making his cup of coffee in the kitchen. And stayed and ate some more. Its luxuriant white-tipped tail brushed the ground. And eventually, there was enough light to see that it really was red and - of course - very beautiful.

I got my sketchbook and a pencil and started work. Fortunately, foxes have vaguely triangular faces, and triangular ears. So I'm quite pleased with the sketches, since I haven't done much drawing for a long time.

Just when I was embellishing one of my fox-doodles, I looked up and it had gone.

photo taken with Canon EOS 30D