Chiltern Birder

Yet more snow overnight burried the ground feeder tray and once retrieved it seemed to be of more interest to the tits that to dunnocks or the robin who insisted on using the hanging feeder. Don't these birds ever read the feed catalogues? In the front garden we had a mistle thrush perched on the quince taking from the fat feeder which made a change from the regular blackbird. Since the snow came the starlings seem to have moved elsewhere.

Thursday night's heavy snow made access to the village difficult to say the least and I didn't brave the journey to the station. Unlike many though the wonders of the internet meant that I didn't have a day off but I could keep an eye on the bird feeders which are visible from the laptop. I think we had a full house with regard to the regular tit population. Blues, greats and coal definitely came to the feeder, long tailed were in my neighbour's tree and as I turned to look once something flew away which I think was a marsh or willow tit. On the ground the dunnocks were out in force and there always seemed to be a robin around and there was the occasional small group of starlings and the odd chaffinch. So far neither the goldfinches nor the woodpeckers have returned. In the front the fat feeder in the quince was frequented by a cock blackbird as well as regular great tits. With a clear sky today, but too cold to start a thaw, the clarity of every possible view was amanz...

I was working at home this afternoon and at lunchtime I noticed that the starlings had discovered the fat feeder at the front of the house. They had it spinning like a top on its hanging chain as they tried to get at the last pieces of fat on the bottom. When the finally moved on the coal tit was back pretty promptly. They are lovely neat little birds and now that they are coming to the front I get a far better view from the kitchen that I have ever had before. The great tits have also been attracted at the front although I didn't see any there today. At the back blue and great tits have been coming to the feeders as well as chaffinches and dunnocks, robins and wood pigeons to the ground feeder.

With the seed feeder and a small peanut feeder now in use at the back and the fat blocks at the front the birds are returning to the garden. At the front a blackbird perches beside the fat block, takes a peck, then has to wait for it to stop turning before taking the next. At the back blue tits, chaffinch, robin, dunnock and wood pigeon are in evidence although I think most of the seed is going to the squirrel. I think the expression "a rat with good PR" is very apt. Out and about I saw a kite over Ashridge Common for the first time. Driving up towards Milton Keynes there were a lot of black headed gulls and an unidentified hawk flying alongside the railway by the Linslade by pass. I am afraid that bird identification from behind the driver's wheel is confined to the really obvious specimens .

Driving to work this morning it was sad to see two dead badgers between Ley Hill and Latimer. Once was close to the site where I saw a live one on 16 October. With the earlier evenings I imagine that they are coming out during the evening peak although I haven't seen any myself at that time. With the mild weather in October the tulips that I planted earlier in that month are already visible and I suspect that they won't last the winter. I will have to put something over the bed to protect them from frosts.

Suddenly there are a lot of fungi around. My neighbour's front lawn is full of small "fairy ring" type fungi plus a crop of common ink caps. Driving into Chesham yesterday I spotted a large clump of shaggy ink caps ( coprinus comatus ). That is a mushroom I haven't eaten for a long time. I recall it as being very difficult to cook as it required very fine judgement to catch it before it turned into mush. The far block in the front garden is still unfinished but going down and I am seeing more birds around. I don't know of there are more or if it is just that I can see them now the leaves are falling. I decided to fill the seed feeder yesterday but so far it is untouched. Peanuts from last season had been left in an open bag and were unusable.

Not for long fotunately. I was walking though the village this afternoon and noticed a lot of birds in the air. After paying attention to where I was walking for a minute I looked up again and the sky was empty. Suddenly a red kite came into view and circled alongside Botley Road for several minutes. Once it moved away to the north other birds were quickly taking to the air again.

Walking over the Town Bridge the river was looking very sluggish with a pair of moorhens walking through it and much of the bed blocked by weeds. There was still enough, however, to attract a grey wagtail. There was no flow above Water Lane with all the water coming from the spring by the car park. It shows how little the water table has really recovered when you remember that once the river had sufficient flow to drive a mill at this point.

After commenting on badger sets at the weekend I was a little late home on Monday and driving back in the dark I was lucky enough to see a badger trotting rapidly into the hedgerow. It was quite a surprise to see one actually running, on the rare occasions when I have seen a live one it has been snuffling around quite slowly. Looking back over the blog this seems to be my first sighting since April 2006

Today, taking care of the damanged tendon in my knee, I took a very gentle stroll down Broomstick and Bottom Lanes and back across the fields. What was very striking was the badger sets. They had all been clearing out old bedding. At first I thought somebody had been fly tipping garden waste but the heaps were sheltered by undergrowth and mixed with earth. There wasn't much to variety in the way of birds but the jackdaws were making a lot of noise and on the open field a skylark was singing. At home the fat block hanging from the quince tree in the front garden is getting a little attention. This afternoon a dunnock was perched on the branch regarding it suspiciously. After a while it finally hopped onto the top of the feeder which, as it hangs from a single chain, promptly sun round. The dunnock clearly didn't like this as he promptly hopped back onto the branch and then flew away. Being October there are a lot of cobwebs in the garden. One magnificent one links the curently u...

Its strange how kites will be so common for ages and then suddenly vanish for weeks. When I came home from holiday on the August Bank Holiday weekend there was one circling over my house which was a lovely way to be welcomed home. I didn't see another for a full month when, heading home from the dentist, I saw one over White Hill in Chesham. Travelling to work yesterday a large bird of prey flew low across the road being mobbed by several crows. It was too quick for a firm identification but the lack of forked tail or bright russet plumage has me putting it down as a buzzard. I have seen them around here a number of times although they are nowhere near as common as the kites. Having overstocked on fat blocks at the end of last season I have put one out in the front garden, although I would not normally start feeding for several weeks yet. I haven't seen anything on it and it isn't going down very fast but there are a few beak marks. It certainly isn't prompting me to pu...

When in Chesham today I took a stroll across the Town Bridge to see how the river had stood up to the summer. The flow was slow under the bridge and while the flow from the springs by the car part was strong there was very little water flowing from higher up. In terms of bird life there was a solitary moorhen. Not much in the way of bird life although last week I was lucky enough to see a little owl perched on a telegraph pole between Ley Hill and Latimer.

I had a pair of partridges waddling down the road in front of me as I drove to work this morning, walking quite calmly away from me until they finally decided to take flight, which wasn't much of an improvement as they carried on down the road at windscreen height until we reached a bend. It isn't that common to see them, I think every occurrence is logged here. Seeing a pair is certainly unusual. It was a bright morning which really showed up the plumage on a yellowhammer on the phone lines. Curiously for the last week I have been seeing a large party of crows perched on an electricity supply line (the sort with three parallel wires).

The only reason that I continue to feed is because I don't want the seed hanging around until the winter. This morning I had a juvenile chaffinch and a house sparrow in the garden. Still no sign of the M10 kites but near junction 25 of the M25 I did get a glimpse of a large bird of prey, I didn't get a clear look but I am 85% sure that it was a buzzard. I used to see them quite regularly a near J23 but that is the first that I have seen in Hertfordshire for a while.

A big suprise today was the return of greenfinches to the garden, well one anyway. After being absent all year it was nice to see one back on the feeder to provide some variety from the goldfinches and chaffinches. After commenting in my last post about the lack of red kites recently I saw two circling over the village today. Apart from that the sightings have been pretty routine. I am still getting the occasional house sparrow on the feeders and at least one juvenile robin is around. Yesterday I saw him flying at speed straight for the living room window, I was braced for a sickening thud when at the last munute he dropped onto the window sill, gave be a beady eyed look, then flew back the way he came.

I haven't been commenting so much on the state of the River Chess as the year when it dried up fades into memory. I was reminded this week, however, when I was stuck in a queue of traffic near the swimming pool while a heron stalked along the river beside me. I didn't see what it caught but it pounced three times and ate something each time. There was also an article in the local paper recently about trout being released into the river. At home everything is very quiet. The recent hot weather melted a lot of the fat bar in the back garden and it is taking about a week for one of the blocks on the quince tree to be eaten. A far cry from the three hours earlier in the season. The goldfinches stay regular visitors and blue and great tits are also coming to the feeders. Chaffinces are less common than earlier in the year and I am seeing occasional house sparrows. Starlings have become infrequent visitors now and I haven't seen a woodpecker for quite a while. Driving down the fo...

With the warm weather the last few days the starling bar has started to melt on the side that gets the sun. I have one more in stock and that will be it until the winter. There is still a decent stock of other foods and I will continue to feed these until they run out. Starlings have pretty well vanished now with only one or two juveniles from late broods coming to the feeder. I have been seeing the occasional house sparrow and now that the starlings have gone the blackbirds seem to be hanging around more, including at least one juvenile. I have also had occasional visits from a song thrush. I saw a collared dove in the street outside the house this morning which was a suprise as I haven't seen one in the garden all year, probably longer. I haven't seen the woodpeckers for a week or so as well now.

On Thursday night I refilled both fat feeders and then went away for until tonight (Saturday). Half the fat block at the front of the house is still in place and the fat bar at the back is about a third of the way down. Only a week or so ago the fat bars were going in a day and the fat blocks by lunchtime. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered with a bulk reorder of both earlier this week, I think that will be my last order for the season now.

Today I came home to find nearly half a fat block in the feeder at the front of the house. At the back about a third of the fat bar in the starling feeder had been consumed. This is a very sudden but about the same time as last year for the starling chicks to start moving on. The pied woodpeckers are regulars at the moment, both the male and female of the pair. Not much else to say about the garden. On the drive home from work the yellowhammers are in evidence perched on the telephone wires.

The juvenile starlings are now feeding themselves and making a lot of noise about it. I put a fresh 1 litre fat bar out just now and one sat on top and defended it against all comers. The great tits have returned and I have seen both the blues and greys feeding their chicks during the last few days. I have also seen the blackbird carrying away raisins from the ground feeder. While looking up woodpecker identification I realised that I had been writing "greater" rather than "great" spotted woodpecker for all these years. Perhaps I should stick to "pied", with the added advantage of fewer key strokes. Whatever you want to call him the cock bird has been putting in an appearance for the last few days and taking on the starlings for a share of the fat feeders.

Waiting for a delivery today I was able to get a better look at what is going on. The woodpeckers are around, one came briefly to the feeder while I was watching and at another time I got a glimpse of one flying off. It was nice to see a song thrush in the garden picking up the pieces of fat that the starlings had dropped. There were also visits from blue tits, goldfinches, wood pigeons, dunnock and chaffinches. The feeder at the front of the house is more popular with the starlings than the dedicated feeder at the back. This is probably because there is a nice expanse of freshly mown grass.

The starlings are still going through the fat bars as if there was no tomorrow but are spending time on the ground feeders as well now. The wood pigeon takes the odd peck at them if they get too close. This evening I had a blackbird on the starling feeder. I looked around for the camera as he was posing nicely and turned back in time to see him fly off with a beak full of fat. I put the camera down again and turned back to the window to see a greater spotted woodpecker land on my next door neighbour's leylandii hedge. Reach for the camera and he or she (I didn't get a clear view of the head) is gone of course. I think into the hedge rather than flying away. As I thought there might be a chick there I didn't investigate.

In the current hot spell one of the fat blocks melted yesterday. Curiously the starling in the position that I thought would be warmer is in one piece. I think a different fat is used, presumably with a higher melting point. The starlings are still around in numbers while wood pigeons, blue tits, goldfinches, chaffinches, blackbirds, robins and dunnocks are all regular visitors. I did see one cock sparrow in the garden recently but great tits, coal tits and greenfinches are all absent. On Sunday morning I saw a kite west of Hemel again, over the A414 between the M1 and the woods. From posts on various forums I suspect that they may have nested in that wooded area.

It is a curious morning, one minute the starlings will be waking the dead, the next there will not be a bird to be seen at the front or the back. During one of the quiet spells I did hear a single call from a greater spotted woodpecker and managed to get just a glimpse as it flew away from the quince tree in the front garden. I had thought that the starlings had driven him off entirely, luckily not. Apart from the starlings the goldfinches now seem to be the most common visitors to the feeders. The chaffinces and tits are far less common that I would expect.

The starlings are as noisy as ever. It is difficult to assess numbers as they seem to have divided themselves between the fat feeders at the front and back of the house. This seems to have frightened off the Greater Spotted Woodpecker who was visiting earlier in the year. I haven't seen any greens recently but hear them regularly. This morning I had a juvenile goldfinch on the seed feeder, which is a first, at least when I have been around. Its hardly worth logging kite sightings locally these days but, as a driver, I found the one circling low over Ley Hill cricket ground rather distracting as I drove home.

On Bank Holiday Monday, driving between Ducklington and Aston in Oxfordshire I had my most westerly sighting of a red kite so far. I have seen buzzards often enough west of Oxford but never a kite. There was a deer carcass beside the road about a mile further on. I don't know if it was intentionally heading for it but it was flying steadily in one direction not circling as they usually do. I had a better look at the carcass driving back that evening and it had been well picked over with the ribs showing. A few miles down the road in Bampton the swifts were very noisy but it seemed to be the same small party of about eight chasing each others tails around the village.

Just after uploading the previous post I opened the front door and heard a cuckoo for the first time this year. Considering that I heard him about a fortnight earlier last year I suspect that I just haven't been listening at the right times.

The starlings are working through the fat bars at quite a rate now. Last night I put in a 1 litre bar in the back garden and a 300 gram cake in the front. The cake was gone by 10am and the bar by late afternoon. Some of the chicks are feeding themselves but some stand on top of the fat bar with their mouths open! Luckily this season is short although intense. From previous years blogs I see that the chicks arrive about this week each year. I will spend a fortune on fat for about three weeks then they will probably move on during late June and early July.

The first starling chick has appeared at the feeders. For a change this has been at the fat block hung from the quince in the front garden. The starlings have really taken to this and seem to have driven off the woodpecker. At the back the usual birds come and go with beaks stuffed with food. I imagine that in a few days the starling chicks will turn up and start waking me up well before the alarm goes. I had to drive down to Burnham near Slough yesterday morning. The kites were in evidence in the vicinity of the M40 at Beaconsfield. Not unusual these days but it had me thinking of the difference since I worked on the Trading Estate at Slough 12 years ago. It was nice to hear a few swifts in the air at Burnham. I may just not have been looking in the right places but I don't seem to have seen as many swifts, swallows or martins as I would expect normally.

Once so common but now a remarkable rarity where I live, I had a pair of house sparrows come to the seed feeders today. When I first started regular bird feeding nearly 30 years ago I never thought that I would be considering a goldfinch or a red kite as more commonplace than a sparrow! Another nice site yesterday was seeing a lapwing in flight from the M25 near Clacket Lane Services. From the way it was flying I think something had disturbed its nest.

I made a trip to the Gower last weekend. Not primarily for birding but with a few interesting sightings all the same. As I didn't have a field guide with me it also revealed the gaps in my knowledge primiarily about warblers and pipets. We saw quite a few but as to which species that's another matter. Among the dunes there were a lot of skylarks and also some lapwings, obviously close to a nest. On a more rocky shore there were some ringed plovers. One confusing sight was a pied wagtail perched on a wire. With the tail hanging down the whole look of the bird is different and I had to look twice to make an identification.

There hasn't been much variety in the garden lately but the starlings are getting more active and the blue tits are taking fat away from the feeder. In the front I was pleased to see an orange tip butterfly this morning. With a hot day on Sunday we drove over to Long Crendon. It was striking that there were no kites visible over the hills but once we were out on the vale they seemed to be everywhere. Long Crendon apparrently has a resident pair nesting in a tree in one of the larger gardens.

As well as the usual suspects the last couple of days have given us visits by long tailed tits and coal tits. The real treat, however, was a house sparrow in the tree at the bottom of the garden. They come to that tree very occasionally but I never see them on the feeders. I had to make a trip to Bristol today. Being behind the wheel of a car isn't the best location for birding but on a long journey there are a few that can be recognised. Kites were in evidence between Great Missenden and Oxford as usual and I also saw swallows on a phone wire. I know that they have been around for a while but somehow I seldom get to see them until later in the season. In the Cotswolds I saw two buzzards, curiously both were being attacked by a single crow. On the return a lapwing flew across the road between Oxford and Thame, and a few minutes later a grey hawk like bird which I would put down as a possible cuckoo.

Faced with a beautiful afternoon and a garden in urgent need of attention I natually went for a walk instead. Cowcroft Wood nature reserve is a couple of fields away from the house and as it has been dry it was a nice alternative to my usual walk. There wasn't much in the way of bird life visible although there was a lot of song audible. The celandine is out and looking lovely with a promise of a magnificent display of bluebells later. Suddenly there was a disturbance at treetop height accompanied by a loud mewing. It took me a second to realise what it was as I have never heard a buzzard in the area although I have very occasionally seen them from the car. It flew across my line of sight and stayed in the area for quite a while as the calls were audible for quite a while. Apart from that we had a very brief glimpse of a muntjac and a brief view of a pheasant catching the sun at the edge of the wood.

This morning the fat feeder at the front of the house was host to a cock blackbird and a female greater spotted woodpecker. At the back all we seemed to get was a rather fat wood pigeon. It would have been nice to wait and see what else turned up but as usual the need to earn the money to pay for the bird food rather got in the way. Hopefully we will see woodpecker chicks again this year. Spring has definitely arrived with a fine display from the forsythia and the leaves about to break on the quinces.

Being back in Essex for a day the nice weather suggested a trip to Gunpowder Park near Waltham Abbey. The traffic noise from the nearby M25 is intrusive but it is still a nice place to wander around. Part is still farmed and mixed hedgerows have been replanted. These have been growing well and are now being properly layed. I think that the deliberate mixed planting may confuse anybody trying traditional hedgerow dating methods in a few years time. The only thing of note on the birding front was the skylarks. There were at least three in different parts of the park.

The kites seem to have taken to the woods alongside the M10. I saw one again when driving there this morning. Probably a few yards west of the last one that I saw so no new record! At home there hasn't been much change although I have been told that the Greater Spotted Woodpecker was on the fat feeder in the front garden while I was at work. I hear woodpeckers of both types in the mornings at the moment but it isn't that common to see them. At my mother's house I saw something strange in the garden and had to search my memory for a few seconds to remember what a house sparrow looked like. It really is frightening how rare they have become in such a short time.

It was striking this morning that it was light enough for the birds to be active when I got up at 6:10 this morning. There was a robin on one of the feeders and by the time I had sat down to breakfast there had been a pair of goldfinches and a dunnock in the garden.

At home today with a cold I actually had some time to look out of the window and see the food that I pay for being eaten. It was striking how the birds came fairly early in the morning but by lunch time the only thing in the garden was a pair of wood pigeons. Also a pile of black feathers a couple of weeks ago suggests that something has eaten the resident blackbird in the back garden. I still see blackbirds but they don't hang around and the raisins that I put out are hardly touched. In the back the goldfinches were in evidence as well as blue tits, dunnock, robin, wood pigeon and a passing blackbird. I didn't see any other finches which is supprising considering how common chaffinches were a few weks ago. A hint of yellow at the bottom of the garden suggests that the forsythia will be out soon.e The fat feeder in the fro nt attracted a blackbird as I had been careful to position it close to a twig for perching. Luckily he stayed around long enough for this photo. (If you clic...

While driving to Essex yesterday afternoon I was suprised to see a kite over the A414 on the outskirts of Hemel just before reaching the motorway. I remarked to my passenger that this was my most easterly sighting of a kite. A few minutes later, about a third of the way down the M10 I saw another large bird of prey. It had the feel of a kite although I have only seen buzzards around there in the past. However it came back across the road giving an excellend view of the forked tail and the plumage. For so long the kites only seemed to fly to the west of the escarpment but now its nice to see them coming so far east.

There is little change on the birding side although the winter weather has had some strange results. I would normally expect the forsythia to be a little further forward by now although there are lovely displays of catkins in the local hedgerows. In the garden yesterday I disturbed what must be the largest frog that I have seen here. He or she proceeded to sit among the dead leaves that had blown across the lawn and seemed very well camoflaged. It also gave me time to fetch the camera.

Saturday's Times had an interesting article by Simon Barnes about the demise of the lapwing. On reading it I was struck by the memory of a large flock in fields near the M25 when I was still commuting from Essex to Berkshire about 14 years ago. The sight of a flock taking flight, looking as if dozens of chess boards had been ripped to pieces and flung into the air, seems such a normal thing that it is a shock to realise that I haven't seen more than a handful together for ages. In the same issue Derwent May wrote that it is time to start hearing skylarks again. Checking back over old posts reveals that I heard one here in late February last year, but I haven't had a chance to take a decent country walks for some time this year. I really must get out more!

It is getting quite spring like now. In the mornings the dawn chorus has become quite pronounced although there hasn't been much going on in the garden. If anything feeding has declined slightly. No interesting sightings in the garden although I am now starting to notice yellowhammers on the drive to work and the pheasants are becoming suicidal. This week one walked out of danger onto the verge then took to the air and just missed the windscreen. I did have the pleasure of seeing a kite at rooftop height today only a few doors away from my house. I haven't seen a live badger for some time but have seen a couple as roadkill in recent weeks. Also when driving through Epping Forest recently I saw a muntjac which is the first time that I have seen one so far east.

The birds are supposed to be choosing their mates today. I haven't noticed any behaviour to suggest that is true. I am seeing more in the garden however. I have had a fat feeder on one of the quinces in the front garden for the last week. This has been attracting blue and great tits, while blackbirds will perch on the adjacent branch to use it. This morning a greater spotted woodpecker put in an appearance. Hopefully we will be seeing chicks again this spring. At the back a pair of goldfinches seem to be becoming regulars again and a coal tit is also putting in an appearance. Numbers still feel light compared with previous years but are definitely picking up.

After the recent heavy snow the garden is still covered. There are two hanging feeders, a fat bar for the starlings and two ground trays, one with a proprietory "robin mix" which is enjoyed by everything except the robins and the other with a mix of kibbled sunflower seeds and oatmeal. I am now regularly getting a couple of starlings in the garden along with the other regulars and finally a goldfinch returned, the first seen this winter. It came and perched in the lilac but didn't visit the feedes. As I have only seen them on pole mounted feeders I suspect that they might simply not like the hanging ones. While out last night I was lucky to see a barn owl fly across the road at Haddenham. Again that is the first that I have seen for a while. It is just over an hour since I wrote the above and since then have had a pair of goldfinches on one of the hanging feeders.

With the second fall of snow this week I was actually at home (leave, not skiving) and got a chance for an occasional look at the feeders in daylight. The starlings have finally returned and I had three on the fat feeder which suggests that come the spring they will be providing the usual wake up call. In addition there has been a pair of robins, blackbirds, dunnock and wood pigeons on the ground feeders. Blue tits, great tits and chaffinces have been coming to the seed feeders and a solitary house sparrow posed on one of the bushes before flying off.

The garden is still very quiet. After a few wet days and frosty nights it was clear and sunny today. There was a good turn out from the ground feeders with pairs of dunnock, robin, blackbird and wood pigeon. One robin also decided to take fat from the starling feeder but rather than perching on it he hovered like a rather cumbersome humming bird to pluck a piece before flying away. This was repleated several times. A pair of blue tits also came to the feeders and a solitary hen chaffinch was on the ground under them. The starlings haven't discovered the fat feeder yet and I only saw one today, perched in the tree at the bottom of the garden.

Being out from before dawn until after dark I judge the number of birds in the garden by the amout of food taken. Since the very cold weather this has been minimal. As I am at home today I have a chance to actually look out of the window occasionally. There seem to be no tits coming into the garden at all. Ground feeders are well represented with dunnocks, robin, blackbird and wood pigeon but the only things taking from the handing feeders were a squirrel and the occasional chaffinch.

There isn't a huge amount of activity in the garden, just the usual suspects although the squirrels are more of a nuisance than usual. I will have to try the old trick of mixing chilli powder with the feed again. Away from the garden things are more interesting. I have seen my second goldgrest of Christmas in the lane behind our houses and redwings are in the area although I have yet to see any myself.