10 February 2021

Wildlife Blog by Ron Allen – 5th February 2021

Friday 5 February 2021

Saturday and Sunday was the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch weekend and also the week our pond came to life.

We had moved all of the bird feeders down to the very end of the garden to reduce the risk of wild birds bringing Bird Flu to our various neighbours chickens. I did a one hour watch on both Saturday afternoon (overcast and light rain) and an hour on Sunday midday (dull but dry) with eight bird species and two mammals on the Saturday and with ten bird species and one mammal on the Sunday. Common to both days were nuthatch (image 1), blue tit, great tit (image 2), robin (image 3), dunnock (image 4), blackbird and coal tit (image 5). Saturday had the wonderful addition of a male great spotted woodpecker (image 6) and Sunday had the addition of chaffinch, long-tailed tit and treecreeper (image 7). On both days up to three little bank voles (image 8) and on the Saturday we had a squirrel.

At the shallow end of the pond we had our first frog of the year (image 9). This frog had a pale blue chin and so would have been a male. Males usually appear first and wait for the females to return to the pond. This end of the pond is 4 inches deep which is ideal for frogs. Palmate newts have been active for several weeks now. Down amongst the leaf litter in the bottom of the pond shallows, I spotted a number of leaf clusters moving slowly about (image 10); these were the cases of caddis fly larvae that had joined leaf portions together to make protective shelters.

Looking at our garden list, I see that we have recorded 47 bird species over the past 40 years that we have lived here.

1 The nuthatch is a regular in the garden and has used one of our nest boxes in the past. Always good to see them taking peanuts up to a tree and push them into a bark fissure before feeding on it.

2 Great tit males like this one have a broad black stripe down their chests. This stripe is present in the female but much thinner.

3 Robins may be common and most are resident but some immigrants reach Hampshire from northern Britain and some even from Scandinavia.

4 Dunnocks in our garden tend to skulk below the bushes and scrub venturing out to feed when they feel it is safe.

5 Coal tits are pretty little birds with a white strip at the back of their heads. Although common and small, they are easy to mistake for other tits.

6 Great spotted woodpeckers are frequent in the garden and come down to peanut feeders. They must breed nearby because we often see juveniles later in the year

7 Treecreepers are common woodland birds and we see them regularly climbing up (and flying down) trees in our garden. Small birds with a bright white chest, mottled brown and black plumage a long down-curved bill.