December 2010

30 Dec At the station this morning a Blackcap was calling near the tunnel and there was a flock of about 10 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Blue Tits and Great Tits, a Dunnock, a Robin, several Starlings, 5 Woodpigeons, some Collared Doves, 2 Chaffinches and a Blackbird. Three Grey Squirrels were in the area, 1 at Station Road and 2 near the feeders at the station. 29 Dec In St Pauls Park on a murky morning there were a couple of singing Greenfinches (they seem to be very thin on the ground), a group of Long-tailed, Great and Blue Tits, 4 Blackbirds, a Robin, a Goldfinch and a Grey Squirrel. Waxwing 28 Dec Still 7 Waxwings today commuting between the birch tree in St Andrews Road and the station. I tried for Karle's Woodcock near St Barnabas but no luck, although there were a few Redwings and a Fieldfare feeding on the grass and a Goldcrest, 2 Chaffinches, a Goldfinch, some Great and Blue Tits and a few Long-tailed Tits in the trees. Nearby some House Sparrows were very noisy and squabblesome. A good flock of about 15 Long-tailed Tits were at Station Road and Pied Wagtails flew over the station and St Andrews Road. In the garden the female Blackcap showed well and a Dunnock was singing most of the day. Female Blackcap Waxwings Waxwings 27 Dec At last! Twelve Waxwings in St Andrews Road this morning, in the big Silver Birch near the top of the road and flying towards Cromwell Road. As if that wasn't enough, Karle saw a Woodcock today in deepest Montpelier - St Barnabas! a fantastic find. He has also seen a Chiffchaff in his garden in recent weeks and notes Redwings, Fieldfares and House Sparrows nearby. In the garden, the female Blackcap, 3 Blackbirds, a Robin, 15 Long-tailed Tits, a Coal Tit, 3 Blue Tits and a Great Tit. One or two Chaffinches flying over and groups of Redwings and Fieldfares but nothing like the numbers of yesterday. At the station a Sparrowhawk flying over again and a Goldfinch. Redwings Fieldfare 26 Dec Amazing numbers of Redwings (c300) and Fieldfares (c50) today between St Andrews Road, Montpelier Park and the station. At the station the birds were seen tossing the leaves near the feeders in search of invertebrates. Also at the station was a Song Thrush, 2 male Blackcaps, a Siskin (stopped briefly, calling then flew off) a Sparrowhawk (mobbed by a Carrion Crow), 20 Chaffinches, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Robin, 4 Blackbirds, a Wren, 5 Woodpigeons, 10 Collared Doves, 10 Starlings, 2 Great Tits and several Blue Tits. A Grey Squirrel was around the feeders as usual.  At St Andrews Park there were more Redwings and Fieldfares, 3 Jays together, 3 Goldfinches, a Robin, a party of Long-tailed Tits, 4 Chaffinches and 3 Black-headed Gulls flying over (a rarity here). In and around the garden today: a Dunnock, a Robin, 2 male and 1 female Blackbirds, a Magpie and 3 Woodpigeons.  25 Dec The female Blackcap showed well in the garden and there were constant fly-pasts by groups of Redwings and smaller numbers of Fieldfares overhead. I tried for the Horfield Waxwings but didn't see any. I did see a male Blackcap and impressive flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares though. 24 Dec On and around Narroways today: 20-25 Redwings, a female Blackcap, Jay, Goldfinch and Song Thrush (per. Harry) Still a few Redwings in and over the station this morning. Redwing (photo by Jim) 23 Dec People have been seeing Redwings in good numbers recently - Jim had 20-30 in his garden off and on, Katrina (see the  guestbook) had 15, Harry saw 17 on Narroways and even little old me saw a gaggle on the station this morning. Many thanks to Jim for his superb photos of the birds in his garden today - you gotta love that bolshy Blackcap! Katrina also has had Jay, Long-tailed Tits, Blue and Great Tits, Dunnock and Robin plus she's seen a Sparrowhawk on Narroways. Fergus made a pilgrimage to Horfield to see some Waxwings today - I might have a look for them too - if there are enough berries, they may stick around.  Blackcap and Great Tit (photo by Jim) Long-tailed Tits (photo by Jim) Blackcap (photo by Jim) 21 Dec This is the moment I've been waiting for - I can retire and let others do all the birding for me while I write my memoirs! First up, Jim tells me that in his garden today he had visits from a pair of Blackcaps, a Song Thrush (a good record), some Long-tailed Tits and plenty of Chaffinches. He also saw a Goldcrest on Narroways - another indication that the weather is bringing in some good birds. Lois tells me that she saw a Meadow Pipit in St Andrews Park today - this is a very unusual record, once again reflecting the fact that normally rural birds will seek food and shelter in urban areas during hard winters. If nobody has seen this website's visitor book recently, Jan left a note that she saw some fab birds in her Cobourg Road garden yesterday including a Brambling - a rare winter visitor. Other sightings: 20+ Redwings (a very good count), 2 male, 2 female Blackcaps, 2 Mistle Thrushes, 8-10 Goldfinches, 2 male, 2 female Blackbirds, various Robins, Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Greenfinch and Long-tailed Tits. Superb. Just a couple of Redwings at the station this morning and loads of Starlings, Collared Doves, some Chaffinches and a couple of Feral Pigeons on the feeders. 20 Dec Fergus tells me he had 2 male Blackcaps in his garden yesterday morning - there's obviously quite a few in and around the patch. Meanwhile, I had a Jay in my garden today - it stayed around for several minutes, at one point pecking at some material tied around a drain pipe and also trying to get at a fat ball. Also a couple of Woodpigeons were displaying - I would have thought they should concentrate on getting food and surviving in this snow rather than courting! At the station the Starling flock were still around plus single Goldfinch and Chaffinch.   19 Dec Ice prevented me from leaving the flat today, so I did some birding out of the window. The highlight was a male Sparrowhawk that sat briefly on a rooftop, a couple of Fieldfares flying over and the female Blackcap in the garden along with 10 Long-tailed Tits, 5 Blue Tits and 2 Great Tits. The Starling flock seen flying around the station area now numbers over 20.  18 Dec The snowfall in the last couple of days has increased bird activity in Monty, with a couple of Redwings in the garden yesterday and 6 at the station today. Also both a male and female Blackcap in the garden today along with 10 Long-tailed Tits and a Blue Tit. Starling numbers are slowly building at the station - now almost into double figures - and yesterday at the station there was a Collared Dove with a strange growth on the side of its face, like some kind of tumour - very strange. 13 Dec There were 2 Redwings in the trees at the station this morning before flying off over St Andrews Road. A Sparrowhawk caused mayhem among the small birds. The Starling flock is now a massive 8 (surely double figures soon?!) and other birds at the station included 2 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Blue Tits, 1 or 2 Great Tits, 4 Chaffinches, a Magpie, 4 Collared Doves, a few Woodpigeons, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Feral Pigeons, a Magpie and a gaggle of House Sparrows. A Grey Squirrel was on the bird feeders. 12 Dec A couple of Blackcaps this morning - a male at the top of St Andrews Road and a female at the station. A Jay at Fairlawn Road and a couple of Chaffinches flying over, another Chaffinch at the station and 4 Starlings also there.

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