Most of our willow warblers will have left by now; they will be on their way to sub-Saharan Africa where they will spend their winter. Theirs is the longest journey undertaken by any of the park’s migratory birds. Why do such tiny birds fly so far and take such risks to do it?
Continue reading “Willow warbler migration”
Jay Pickard has sent us a picture of a kingfisher that he took from the Decorated Bridge yesterday.
Thanks Jay.
All summer long, swallows, house martins and swifts have hawked and hunted for winged insects over the park. The swifts have already begun their migration, the swallows will leave next and the house martins will go last of all.
Here is a short video to help you tell the three species apart.
In Britain, the maximum recorded age of a blue tit is 10 years and 3 months but the world record is 11 years and 7 months.
All pictures taken in the park by DKG
Pigeons feed their babies on milk.
Continue reading “A fascinating fact about pigeons”
The honeysuckle is in flower.
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DKG has sent in beautiful pictures of a tiny green-brown warbler; does anybody know if it is a chaffchaff or a willow warbler? Neither is a rarity and both are known to nest in the park but we really have trouble telling them apart.
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ONE: Though their typical nest site is a hole in a tree, blue tits have been recorded nesting in all sorts of places: letterboxes and street lamps, inside a crack in a wall or a drainpipe, under a cast iron drain cover and, of course, in garden nest boxes.
Continue reading “Five facts about blue tits”
Common swallows (Hirundo rustica), returned from their long migrations, come hawking over our fields and ponds in search of insects at this time of year.
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Birds time their breeding period to coincide with the maximum availability of their natural foods: for example, winter moth caterpillars in the case of blue tits and earthworms for blackbirds and song thrushes. But cold or wet weather during the spring can cause severe shortages of insect food, and if the weather is exceptionally dry and the soil hardened, as it was last year, earthworms will be unavailable to ground feeding birds.
Continue reading “Bird table”
No, of course we haven’t seen vultures circling over the park; that would be silly. But…..
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The record breaking swifts are back from their winter feeding grounds.
Continue reading “Record holders”
Since 1995 the British Trust for Ornithology has collected important research data from citizen scientists via their Garden Birdwatch survey.
Continue reading “Garden Birdwatch”
DKG photographed 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”
Trowbridge and Southwick, all locked down and emptied of traffic, are full of birdsong. Here are some interesting facts about birdsong.
Continue reading “Birdsong”
Last week there was a report of a pair of goldcrests in the conifers by the path at the top of Simpson’s Field. Goldcrests are Britain’s smallest bird; a tiny flash of yellow against the dark green of a pine tree.
Continue reading “Goldcrest”
The park’s wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) are pairing up for their long breeding season.
Continue reading “Wood pigeon”
A red kite (Milvus milvus) was seen over the park on Sunday.
Continue reading “Red kite”
A blue tit feeding in an oak tree, photographed last March by DKG
Throstle is the Old English name for a song thrush. We have several breeding pairs in the park; if you visit early in the morning, wherever you go, you can hear a throstle singing about his territory and challenging competitors.
Read on for conservation status and a recording of its song
Chiffchaffs are tiny birds, no bigger than a blue tit. Most are migrants, overwintering in southern Europe or northern Africa and returning here in the spring to breed.
Continue reading “Our chiffchaffs are back”
A short video while we wait for the next sighting of the barn owls in the park:
