Ahhhhhh. The start of a new year. 2018. New beginnings, new possibilities, new resolutions. Must join that gym, eat better, don't eat the cake. Finish the project, be more productive, start that project I once thought about thinking when I thought of things way back when...
...or something?
Hey, it’s great to have goals, however, we too often set solid goals that are more like chores, rather than allowing ourselves to devote more time to doing the things that we truly enjoy. You may already know that a good stroll in nature is pleasing to the brain and good exercise for the body. Perhaps it is also a good time to start learning more about the birds of the UK, especially birds that come to settle in this specific area. Birding (or nature watching in general) doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby. The RSPB has you covered should you need anything from a pair of binoculars to books on identifying birds. And you can’t get the wonderful fresh air into your lungs when you’re crammed into a gym full of other ‘resolutioners’.(As a side note. If you still want to sign up to the gym, maybe wait until February. That’s when most of the ‘resolutioners’ will have started to fall off the wagon. Thank me later!)
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is coming up on Saturday 27 January - Monday 29 January and this is a excellent opportunity to whet your appetite for identifying birds and getting the family involved. It’s super easy to do. You pick an hour that you can sit and birdwatch in your back garden (or local park) on any of these dates and then send in the results of what you saw. This information is crucial to the RSPB who use the data for bird conservation purposes and you can pat yourself on the back knowing that you’ve done that little bit to help. You can read more about it and get the downloadable pack here.
Plus, if you take part, the RSPB is offering 20% off purchases in their store! Bonus!
And once you’ve mastered every species that comes into the garden by call and/or sight, you can then move onto identifying birds here at Burton Mere Wetlands. Equipped with your new binoculars, who knows what you may see. Waders? Birds of prey? The elusive and beautiful kingfishers that everyone loves to see here? Maybe a new and rare species never seen before? The possibilities are endless. How exciting! Don’t forget, it’s not only birds that you will see. Foxes, otters, badgers, stoats, bats and many more often make an appearance too.
And this ties in nicely to my next subject: ‘boring birds’.When I go for a wander around the reserve, one of the most frequent things I hear is “oh it’s just a blue tit/goldfinch/crow/dunnock/robin (insert yawn-inducing bird here)”. I often think it seems odd to overlook them, because birds that were once prevalent in the UK have occasionally become rarities over time, often compelling people to travel miles to try and find them once again. I absolutely hope that this doesn’t happen again to our common birds, although with the recent decline of some of our most-seen species, this could eventually become a reality. So, in celebration of our most ignored birds, I have decided to dedicate this half of my post to them and to provide some brief but interesting factoids, in the hope it will encourage people to look at them more than once. Maybe.Without further ado: did you know?Blue tit – The yellow colour of the male’s breast is an indication of how many yellow / green caterpillars he has eaten. The brighter the chest, the more likely he is to attract a female. The prospective female looks for this as evidence of how well he will be able to feed the family.Robin – The friendly and approachable nature of a robin is something that is only observed in the British Isles. On the continent, it is very secretive and shy. The robin will build its nest almost anywhere. One recorded site was in the body of a dead cat!Dunnock – Possibly the most promiscuous of birds, the female will often mate with more than one male to ensure that her chicks get a constant food supply. The male bird will help raise her chicks regardless of who the actual ‘father’ is. A dunnock nest is often a target of the cuckoo and the oblivious dunnock will quite happily raise the giant cuckoo chick.
Nothing new to see here! Dunnock by Tim Kinch
Goldfinch – A striking member of the finch family, this bird makes a nest out of twigs and attaches them with spider silk. Its beauty is so revered that it has been depicted in many famous paintings.Crow – A group of crows are referred to as a ‘murder’; the origins of this are rooted in different folklore tales. Some people say that a crow will bring presents to those that feed it. It is certainly known for having a caring nature, particularly towards others of its kind.Magpie – Possibly the UK’s most despised bird due to its predatory nature, this very misunderstood corvid is highly intelligent. It is the only bird able to recognise itself in a mirror and some studies have shown that it can feel complex emotions, including grief. Despite popular belief that a magpie will steal shiny objects, it is apparently frightened of them.Jackdaw – The smallest of the corvid family, the equally intelligent Jackdaw is a social bird, choosing to mate for life with its partner. Studies have shown that the Jackdaw can recognise different human faces and they are the only non-primate species who are able to communicate with their eyes.
Super birdbrain! Jackdaw by Tim Kinch
Wood pigeon - Like other dove and pigeon species it can create a milk-like substance in its crop (a pouch located above the oesophagus) that it feeds to the young through regurgitation. While the crop is normally used to store food, this changes during the lactation stage. This happens in both sexes.
Just a quick note that one of Britain’s ‘most overlooked bird’ has been missed off this list on purpose. The house sparrow, is a rare visitor to Burton Mere Wetlands and is probably more likely to be seen busying itself around your garden. Feed them well though - the species is in decline.I hope that these small factoids that I’ve provided will help make our everyday birds appear a little more interesting. I know that I have become a lot more interested in the behaviour of corvids since I started researching them for your reading pleasure. Another point that may be worth considering is: the birds that we may see in abundance here are not always seen as much in other countries, and could be viewed as rarities that are worthy of being ‘twitched’ by foreign birders, so we should consider ourselves lucky to have so many of these ‘boring birds’.