There are two species of thrush resident in the reserve: song thrush (Turdus philomelos) and mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus). Here is how to tell them apart:
Thrush
Cheryl Cronnie asks if this is a house sparrow (Passer domesticus) or a tree sparrow (Passer montanus) that she has photographed in the reserve.
Read on to find out
In response to yesterday’s fledglings, somebody sent me a link to a YouTube video of great tits leaving their nest. The screen is split so that you can see the inside and the outside of the nest box at the same time.
LBJ
The reserve is full of little brown birds. Small and brown seems to be some kind of default programme for birds and accurate identification can depend on an extra millimetre in a brown tail feather or the exact shade of a brown eye-stripe. Until they are otherwise identified, the RSPB calls them all LBJs: Little Brown Jobs.
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Meet the Robin Family
by Cheryl Cronnie
There’s a little story behind the robin in this picture, whom I’ve called Rocky Robin. I’ve been feeding him since the end of August 2021.
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Record holders
The record breaking swifts are back from their winter feeding grounds.
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A willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) photographed in the reserve by Cheryl Cronnie.
Audio: Willow Warbler by Stephen Barlow (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) xeno-canto.org
Great tit
Clive Knight has photographed a great tit at its nest site in one of the reserve’s oaks.
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Park photography
by Simon Knight
There’s not a huge amount of easy-to-spot insect life at the moment. There will be the odd butterfly or two about: speckled wood, peacock, brimstone, small white, comma, green-veined white and holly blue. I managed to photograph this perfect male green-veined white in the picnic area whilst deliberating over whether to continue to feed the birds in the picnic area.
Continue readingSong thrush
A song thrush singing from its perch right at the top of one of the reserve’s oak trees, photographed by Ian Bushell.
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) recorded by David Bisset (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) xeno-canto.org
Swallows, swifts and martins
The swallows, house martins and swifts have all returned now and are hunting for winged insects over the reserve. Here is a short video to help you tell the three species apart.
The house martins are back
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Pica pica
The Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is the only species of bird to have passed the mirror test.
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Long-tailed tit
by Simon Knight
This past weekend I had an amazing afternoon in the park watching a pair of hardworking, caring and protective parents. It was one of the best wildlife moments that I have had this year. As you can see from the pictures, the parents were long-tailed tits who, in my opinion, win the award for ‘cutest bird’.
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Identifying small brown birds
Sun 24/04/2022 09:39 From Suzanne to Ali and Ian
Good morning,
This is another of the pictures sent by Cheryl Cronnie, who is a photographer rather than a ornithologist. Is this a twite?
Grey Heron
Email from Clive Knight – Mon 25/04/2022 21:32
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Wren
The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is tiny, only the goldcrest and the firecrest are smaller among British birds, but it has an enormous voice, apparently ten times louder, weight for weight, than a cockerel.
Audio: Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) by Lars Edenius from xeno canto.org
Images: taken in the reserve by Cheryl Cronnie
Blackcap
A Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) photographed in the reserve last week by Cheryl Cronnie.
Audio by David Bissett from xeno-canto.org
One of the reserve’s greater spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) photographed by Cheryl Cronnie.
Chiffchaff or willow warbler
Every spring our readers report the arrival in the park of a small grey green bird with a pale eyestripe and cream underparts. This is either a chiffchaff or a willow warbler and it’s very hard to tell the difference.
Continue reading “Chiffchaff or willow warbler”Good news
The latest results from the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch are in and there is good news: greenfinch numbers are up.
Continue reading “Good news”Bullfinch
Bullfinches are regular visitors to the park. Despite the male’s glorious colouring, they are quiet, retiring types, rarely seen. DKG took this picture in April 2019 early one Saturday morning when the park was pretty much empty of visitors.
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Nesting
At this time of year, the reserve’s blue tits are building nests in holes in our old trees. The ash tree at Fiveways harbours a nest every year and the fenced oak near the bottom of the Arboretum seems to have attracted more than one pair already.
Here is a video of a female blue tit building a nest while, outside, the male guards the site from marauders and thieves.
Video from The Nest Box
Header picture by Simon Knight
Our chiffchaffs are back
This week has see the return of our chiffchaffs!
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Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 