Nearly every morning so far this December, I’ve been stuck whistling that familiar tune ‘Twelve days of Christmas’ – and why? Because a red-legged partridge has become a familiar sight on a morning in our wildlife garden outside the visitor centre! Red-legged partridges aren’t native to the UK, having been brought over from continental Europe as a game species. They are however quite pretty, and very distinctive, with white cheeks and throat, bold black flank stripes, and yep - you've guessed it – red legs.
Red-legged partridge artwork by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Although I’ve seen red-legged partridges around Yorkshire a fair few times over the years, I’ve never seen our native partridge – the grey partridge. The grey partridge has suffered serious declines in the UK in recent decades, thought to be due to losses of breeding habitat and food supplies because of changes in farming practices. Although you’d be highly unlikely to see one in a pear tree (as they’re strictly ground-based birds), there aren’t many other places to see them nowadays either.
Grey partridge image by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
On a slightly cheerier note, one of our resident and rather special birds, the water rail, has been putting in frequent appearances around the discovery trail over the past couple of weeks. These highly secretive inhabitants of freshwater wetlands are difficult to see in the breeding season, but luckily for us, easier to spot in the winter. Even then, they’re heard far more often than seen, with their high-pitched squeal cutting through the air like a water rail’s beak through butter.
Water rail image by Mike Richards (rspb-images.com)
Another commonly sighted bird lately has been the pintail. The males of these attractive long-necked and small headed ducks have a very long and tapering tail, hence their name. Although we do have a few resident and mainly coastal breeding populations here in the UK, a large number come from Europe to spend their winters here.
Pintail image by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
A more unusual sighting comes in the form of a glaucous gull seen over main bay on Friday. As these birds usually occur in small numbers mainly around the coast, it’s likely that Thursday’s gale force winds brought it inland. Glaucous gulls are large and pale with white wing tips, and are bigger and bulkier than herring gulls, with fiercer expressions so I’m told!
Glaucous gull adult in non-breeding plumage