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Tag Archives: birds singing

A Warbling Whitethroat

23 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by theresagreen in birds singing, Birdwatching on North Wales coast, Little Orme, Nature of Wales, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

birds singing, Llwydfron, sylvia communis, whitethroat

I saved this treat from the end of my walk on the Little Orme as I thought it would be better enjoyed on its own.

I heard the Whitethroat singing from somewhere in front of me, obscured from immediate view by gorse bushes and a bend in the track. I walked forward slowly and there he was, at the top of another bare stem, this time of Elder. A perfect, close, unrestricted view of him warbling away, declaring himself king of all he could survey, which is a great deal from where he was perched, to whom-so-ever it may concern.

The Whitethroat is a summer visitor and passage migrant to Britain that may be seen in all parts of the country and most frequently choose arable land, scrub and reedbeds as nesting sites.  They arrive during April-May and leaving in late September-early October to winter in Africa, some heading as far south as South Africa.

Whitethroat- Sylvia communis Welsh: Llwydfron

A medium-sized, long-tailed warbler, the male is grey, dusted with rust brown above, with bright chestnut-brown fringes to the wing feathers, the head is a pale grey, the breast pinkish-buff and the throat a bright white. The bill is greyish-brown and the legs are pale brown. The eye is pale brown with a white eye ring. Females are similar but brown on the head and nape where the male is grey.

Whitethroat singing

Warblers in general are often described as ‘skulking’, but the Whitethroat is not quite as secretive as some; the male will perch in full view to deliver its brief song with gusto.

I could see flies in the air around him, but he made no attempt to catch any of them, he was far more intent on singing although he did take a few short breaks to do a bit of preening. I think he had a bit of an itch.

I watched and listened for some time and took a few photographs before risking taking this short video, which is not the most professional you’ll have ever seen, but it gives more of the bird’s personality than a still. It’s better on full screen too.

The song is variously described as sweet, ‘scratchy’  and having a jolty rhythm. They are also very inquisitive birds and will venture to the top of a bush to investigate any intruders, before scolding them with a rapid churring call.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. You even got to share the atmosphere of the sunny, windy day!

 

 

 

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Not a trip to Skomer but a great day out

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by theresagreen in birds singing, coastal habitat, coastal walks, Nature, Pembrokeshire coastal path

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

barn swallow, birds singing, common dolphin, cormorants flying, gannet, grey seal, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, marloes peninsular, martin's haven, meadow pipit, Northern Wheatear, razorbill, stonechat, wooltack point

The Saturday following the Friday of the terrible weather dawned bright and sunny and apart from a few lurking clouds the sky looked innocently down upon us as though nothing had happened. We were still hoping for a trip over to Skomer Island, so set off to drive the hour or so that it takes to reach Martin’s Haven, from where the boats depart. We were not too hopeful of being able to get to Skomer today; Saturday’s are popular anyway and as no boats would have gone out yesterday, we expected it to be busy. A first sight of the car park, already overflowing onto adjacent land brought that sinking feeling, compounded by the attendant informing us that all 150 of the day’s landing ticket allocation had been sold by 9.30am. We were somewhat taken aback to learn that some people had begun queuing for places at 5.30am; the first boat for the island leaves at 10am. So, no Skomer for us today.

We had made some effort to get here though and determined to make the best of our situation decided to explore the area around the headland instead. The headland is known as the Marloes Peninsular; the land is owned by the National Trust and for some reason we have not managed to establish is named “Deer Park”, although there are no deer here. There are however spectacular rocks, sea views that take in most of the Pembrokeshire Islands, wildflowers and, we were fairly confident, there would be birds.

We set off to walk up to the highest point of the peninsular, Wooltack Point, distinguished by the small white building on the top that is now an active coastwatch point operated by the National Coastwatch Institute.

We were soon distracted by the small birds we began to see around us almost immediately: Stonechats, Linnets and Meadow Pipits, all species that can make homes in this rather bleak windswept habitat, carpeted with grass and heather and furnished only with low-growing tangles of gorse bushes, brambles and generally scrubby vegetation.

The first bird we had a good view of was this little Stonechat female (Saxicola torquata), who was very shortly joined by a male.

The Stonechat male perched just a short distance away from his mate

There were several Linnets flying around and one beautiful male landed quite near us on a bramble and began to sing.

This beautiful male Linnet was singing from atop a dead bramble stem

It was sunny here, but windy too, so it was some consolation to think that those on the boats travelling across to Skomer would probably be feeling the combined effects of the cold wind and choppy sea in a not-too-pleasant way. Yes, very immature, especially as we have actually made the journey in even rougher conditions, survived and gone on to have a spectacular day. Anyway, onwards and upwards to Wooltack Point. The views out over St.Bride’s Bay are truly spectacular, but the sea around this point can be treacherous with concealed rocks and strong currents, hence the presence of the Coastwatch.

The incorrectly marked compass (click to enlarge)

We attempted to work out the layout of the islands we could see, picking out Skomer easily as it was close by and Ramsey Island as we recognised the shape of St. David’s Head, but were guessing at the others. I spotted a compass of sorts on a plinth outside the door of the stone hut and as I leaned in to take a picture of it the coastguard popped out to tell us that its directions are useless as all points are wrong. Apparently even the North marking is incorrect. He was quite amused by the fact that “there is nowhere in the world from which that plaque would be correct” and has no idea why it has never been replaced.

The nearest we got to Skomer Island today, just 2 miles across the Sound

Ramsey Island, 9.5 miles away is located off St David’s Head

Dropping down onto the cliff in front of the hut we discovered it to be sheltered from the wind and much warmer. We sat there for at least an hour watching the array of seabirds flying back and forth or swimming and diving around the rocks below us.

Razorbills were the most numerous birds on the water, but there were a few guillemots and cormorants too.

Razorbills swim on the surface then suddenly make a synchronised dive and disappear underwater for ages, eventually reappearing some distance away

Cormorant flying close to the rocks, low over the water

Herring Gulls passed us by very closely

Lesser Black-backed gulls were another frequent sight

We were delighted by the appearance of Grey Seals in the sea just below us, and even more thrilled when we realised there were dolphins too. The first dolphin we picked up on was following the Skomer boat on its return trip to Martin’s Haven, but soon realised there were at least three in total.

Grey Seal

The island of Grassholm is occupied by an enormous colony of breeding Gannets (another highly recommended trip to take) and although it is 10 miles away from where we were today we kept a hopeful look out. We were rewarded with an initially distant sighting of a number of the birds circling and diving, but over the course of twenty minutes or so they gradually worked their way towards us, clearly following the progress of a shoal of fish. This is why the dolphins were there too. It would have been lovely to have had closer views, but both they and the birds were near enough to be seen well through binoculars.

One of a number of Gannets closely following a shoal of fish

The spot we had chosen to settle in seemed to be within the territory of a Pipit. He made several tours of the rocks immediately around us, making some rather disgruntled noises, clearly not happy with us, but otherwise undeterred by our presence.

I think this is a Meadow Pipit, but going on its location, it could be a Rock Pipit

The Pipit demonstrating his ‘parachuting’ display flight whilst singing

This is undoubtedly a tough environment for wildflowers, but there was thrift and sheep’s bit flowering and almost squashed into the short grass several tiny specimens of pretty blue spring squill.

There were bumblebees visiting most of the available flowers

Leaving our sheltered viewpoint we continued our walk around the remainder of the headland then cut back inland towards the car.

Rocky coves with sheltered beaches such as the one below the cliff here on the far side of the peninsular are perfect places to see grey seals and their pups. The land in the top right of the picture is the tip of Skomer.

Next on the agenda was to seek out another sheltered spot in which to eat our lunch. With hindsight we did consider that perhaps if we had not stopped at M & S in Haverfordwest for decent sarnies we may have squeezed onto that boat … ? (Normally we would have made our own, but pinned in by the tree we couldn’t get out to the shops yesterday and had no suitable supplies.) But, on the bright side,  it was more than pleasant here and we had had some very fresh air and some wonderful sights. We located another likely spot to enjoy our food in and settled down. We soon realised we were being watched; a baby bunny was peeking through the grass at the top of a sandy hillock close by that we could now see was above the entrance to a warren.

Baby rabbit on the roof of the family home

We were thoroughly enjoying our lunch sitting on a grassy bank in a warm and sunny spot, appreciating our beautiful surroundings and reviewing the wealth of sights we had enjoyed, when another bird appeared in front of us. This was a handsome jaunty male Wheatear and once again we seemed to have settled ourselves in the middle of his territory. He seemed to be making a point of travelling around us, settling on rabbit hills, brambles, rocks and the like. We did feel a little guilt but carried on enjoying the sight of him quietly, staying as still as is possible whilst yielding a hefty camera lens.

A female appeared too from the same direction and made a similar circuit, so we surmised that they had a nest located somewhere behind the bank occupied by the rabbits. Beautiful birds.

The very handsome male Wheatear asserting his territory from the top of a rabbit hill

The female Wheatear with her browner plumage is also a very attractive bird

Arriving back at the lane leading to the beach we headed for the loos to find there was an unusual queue to enter the building. A number of Barn Swallows were waiting for people to leave, taking their opportunities to swoop in to their nests built in various places inside.

One of a pair of Barn Swallows waiting to get into the toilet block and back to their nests

Although they are a familiar sight swooping and gliding over the countryside, it’s not often you get such close views of these elegant birds and to appreciate their very glossy plumage.

This bird was taking advantage of the waiting time to thoroughly preen its feathers

I was listening and watching for a sight of a Whitethroat, as we have always seen them here in the past, but not so today. As we made our way up the hill towards the car park we did see another Wheatear and had a quick glimpse of the back of a Dunnock singing from a bramble patch.

A quick glimpse of a Dunnock that was singing from a bramble patch

Not the outing we had planned, but a thoroughly enjoyable few hours spent in a beautiful place and still with a bit more to come….

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Bird study : A Chiffchaff’s year

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, woodland birds

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

birds singing, Chiffchaff, Fairy Glen, Gibraltar, migrant birds, migrant birds, Phylloscopus collybita, warblers

I spotted my first returned migrant Chiffchaff of this year about three weeks ago, flitting about in low vegetation by the side of the river Colwyn. Since then I have heard the unmistakeable call several times in various places, but didn’t have a good sighting of one until last Thursday in the Fairy Glen. They may not be the most colourful or tuneful of our woodland birds, but their return and the sound of their repetitive and cheerful chiff-chaff  is, for many of us, confirmation that spring has truly arrived.

19/4/12 -Chiffchaff singing. The song is unmistakeable, a cheerful repetitive chiff-chaff. Call is a short 'hweet'.

The Chiffchaff, or Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) is a common and widespread leaf-warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia.

April to August – North Wales

Chiffchaffs are insect eaters, so most of the chiffchaffs we see in Britain are migratory, arriving here during late March and April, remaining throughout the spring and summer to breed, then leaving in late August/September to winter in the warmer locations of southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa.

The chiffchaff is a small bird with olive green/brown upperparts, buff/off-white underparts becoming yellowish on the flanks and an off-white supercilium (eye-stripe). The beak is fine, generally dark and legs are always dark-coloured.

Habitat and breeding

The male Chiffchaff returns to his breeding territory two or three weeks before the female and immediately starts singing to establish ownership and attract a female. When a likely female is located, the male shows off his considerable aeronautical techniques, performing a slow butterfly-like flight as part of the courtship ritual. It is considered unlikely that chiffchaff select the same mate more than once, even though males and females return to the same areas each spring; but once a pair-bond has been established, any other females will be driven from the territory.

The birds’  favoured breeding habitat is open woodland with some taller trees and ground cover for nesting purposes. The preferred trees are typically at least 5 metres (16 ft) high and have an undergrowth that is an open, but consisting of a poor to  medium somewhat scrubby mix of grasses, bracken, nettles or similar plants.

The construction of the nest is carried out by the female who selects a site on or near the ground that is concealed amongst brambles, nettles or  other dense, low-growing vegetation. The outer layers of the nest are constructed from coarse materials such as dried grasses and leaves with inner layers woven of finer materials and finally an insulating layer of feathers. The nest is built in a domed shape with a side entrance and is typically 12.5 centimetres (5 in) high and 11 centimetres (4 in) across.

The male has little involvement in the nesting process, but he becomes  highly territorial during the breeding season and will fiercely defend his space against other males. Inquisitive and fearless, the feisty little male has been known to attack  even dangerous predators such as the stoat if they approach the nest, as well as large and notorious avian egg-thieves such as magpies and jays.

The chiffchaff is insectivorous, moving restlessly though foliage, constantly flicking the wings and tail, occasionally darting out to take insects on the wing. Its diet consists mainly of flies, along with other small and medium-sized invertebrates. It will take the eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths, particularly those of the Winter Moth.

After breeding has finished, this species abandons its territory, and may join small flocks including other warblers prior to migration. At this time the birds also go through a  prolonged and complete moult.  A newly fledged juvenile is browner above than the adult, with yellow-white underparts, but moults about 10 weeks after acquiring its first plumage. After moulting, both the adult and the juvenile have brighter and greener upperparts and a paler supercilium.

Etymology

The bird’s common English name is onomatopoeic, derived  from its simple and distinctive ‘chiff-chaff’  song. The Welsh common name is very similar, being ‘siff-saff’.

The binomial name, Phylloscopus collybita, is of Greek origin; Phylloscopus comes from phyllon, translating as ‘leaf’ , and skopeo ‘to look at’ or ‘to see’, presumably referring to the fact that the species spends most of their time feeding in trees, where they pick insects from leaves: collybita is a corruption of kollubistes, or ‘money changer’, with the song being likened to the jingling of coins.

September to March – Southern Spain

Although there is an increasing tendency amongst the species to winter in western Europe, well north of the traditional areas, especially in coastal southern England and the mild urban microclimate of London, the majority of chiffchaff  breeding in northern Europe migrate to the warmer climes of western and southern Europe, southern Asia and north Africa.

One of the joys of living in the south of Spain is to have the privilege of the company of some of the migratory bird species that breed in the north of the continent at the other end of their journey, during the autumn and winter months. Chiffchaff are one such species, arriving in great numbers from around the middle of September. Many are just passing through on their way to north Africa, pausing in their journey to take advantage of local feeding opportunities, but for others the area is their winter home and they can regularly be spotted in a wide range of habitats from gardens and woodland to reedbeds, scrubland and even on beaches where they are backed by  vegetation.

11/9/06-Chiffchaff on fennel plant picking off small insects; Manilva, Southern Spain

The appearance of newly arrived individuals often varies considerably; some have noticeably more yellow in their colouration, particularly in the underparts, but in general all appear sleek and well-fed.

October 09-A chiffchaff, most likely a juvenile. My garden, Sotogrande, Southern Spain

The behaviour of the birds outside the pressurised breeding season is quite different; in my garden they will readily leave the trees and cover of shrubs, venturing down  to pursue insects at ground-level. This is delightful to watch as they skip and flutter across the grass in an almost butterfly-like manner.

November - A particularly 'yellow' chiffchaff on the lawn in my Spanish garden

I have also been entertained by as many as 9 or 10 of the little birds at once that have perched on palm leaves then launched themselves off to pursue insects demonstrating their considerable aeronautical skills. Clouds of gnats are another target for them and they fly at the tightly packed circling insects, hovering in the air to pick them off.

They are keen bathers too, regularly using the bird bath in the garden as well as any available puddles. In shallow water they drench themselves, flicking and fluttering wings and tail, but if the water is too deep for them they flutter delicately across the surface, splashing themselves as best as they can. After their ablutions they sit on a nearby perch to dry themselves and preen meticulously.

30/1/08-Chiffchaff come to the birdbath regularly to drink and to bathe; Sotogrande, Spain

The local reserve, where an extensive reedbed backs the beach, is always  popular with chiffchaff . Many roost here amongst the reeds and use the area as a ‘staging post’ before making the relatively short flight across to North Africa. It is impossible to tell whether the birds you see regularly are on passage or here for the winter, but the spots I see them in are pretty consistent.

1/1/08 - Chiffchaff on Sotogrande beach, perched on debris washed up by a winter storm

Migration

The flow of migration is spread throughout the autumn months as birds in no particular hurry take feeding opportunities as and when they are presented along their route. Many of the birds leaving northern Europe at the end of August or beginning of September may not make the crossing to North Africa until November. Chiffchaff are amongst the most numerous birds to be caught and logged by ringers working at the bird observatory on the Rock of Gibraltar. The majority of those crossing the Strait to Africa on this route will have originated in Scandinavia, with maybe a few from Great Britain.

311011-A newly-ringed chiffchaff about to be released-bird observatory, Gibraltar

The return migration begins as early as January – the following is an extract from the gonhs recent records:

18 Jan:  After a few days with some heavy rain showers the weather cleared a bit but temperatures had dropped substantially and an influx of Chiffchaffs arrived on the Rock with many birds seen in the Botanic Gardens feeding on the nectar of flowering Aloes.

Iberian Chiffchaff

It would be remiss of me not to mention that Spain is also home to a similar but distinct species of chiffchaff, the Iberian Chiffchaff. This species breeds in Iberia and has been noted quite frequently on our outings with the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society, although most of us would confess that recognition is mostly on song and  known breeding areas.

P. ibericus, the Iberian Chiffchaff is brighter, greener on the rump, and yellower below than P. collybita and has a tit-tit-tit-tswee-tswee song.  This species is found in Portugal and Spain, west of a line stretching roughly from the western Pyrenees via the mountains of central Spain to the Mediterranean; the Iberian and Common Chiffchaffs co-occur in a narrow band along this line. Apart from the northernmost section, the precise course of the contact zone is not well documented. A long-distance migrant, this species winters in western Africa. It differs from P. c. collybita in vocalisations, external morphology, and mtDNA sequences. There is hybridization in the contact zone, almost always between male P. ibericus and female P. c. collybita, and hybrids apparently show much decreased fitness; hybrid females appear to be sterile according to Haldane’s Rule. Regarding the latter aspect, it is interesting to note that the Iberian Chiffchaff apparently is the oldest lineage of chiffchaffs and quite distinct from the Common Chiffchaff.(extract from wikipedia)

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What a beautiful day

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by theresagreen in birds singing, Nature, nature photography, woodland birds, woodlands

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birds singing, blackbird, lesser celandine, miniature daffodils, river Colwyn, song thrush, starlings roosting on Colwyn bay pier

Today was officially the  warmest February day recorded since 1998, with temperatures reaching 18 degrees in some parts of the UK. These are some of my views of this unseasonally beautiful day.

8.15am - Sunlit tulips

The sky was blue, birds were singing, the sun eye-squintingly bright and the sea calm and almost lake-like.

8.35am-View to Rhos-on-Sea showing the headland of the Little Orme & Bryn Euryn

8.37am-Calm, sunlit sea beneath a blue sky

8.38am-Turnstone foraging on barnacle-encrusted rocks

During my lunch break I spent a few minutes in the small wooded area at the bottom of Beach Road.

2pm-River Colwyn at the Beach Road end just before it runs into the sea

The river Colwyn flows through the original township of Colwyn. There are many brooks of the same name in Wales. It means ‘a young animal’ or ‘a pet dog’ and was probably used to describe the playful movement of the water.

Miniature daffodils flowering in the woodland garden

Carved wooden seat alongside the path

Lesser celandines open in the sunlight that filters through the bare tree branches

A wren was singing from a low branch close to the path, a chaffinch from higher up in a neighbouring tree and a robin from somewhere within the shrubbery. I caught sight of two long-tailed tits and a song thrush as it flew down onto the wall alongside the stream.

A blue tit low in a shrub beside the stream

I thought I’d missed the opportunity of a good look at the thrush, but as I was leaving there was another on the bank very close to the path that wasn’t bothered by me being there, even when I pointed the camera at it.

A beautifully marked thrush

Thrush from the front

A successful hunting blackbird

The views on the way home in the evening light were enhanced by the pink glow from the setting sun.

5.50pm - Evening view of Rhos-on-Sea

The tide was fully out and although the light was fading there were several people on the beach walking their dogs and a man probing the sand with a stick that I thought may have been searching for razor clams (?); he was too far away to see what he was putting into his bucket.

Man collecting razor clams

As I hoped, I arrived at the old pier at more or less the same time as the starlings.  The majority had already gathered into a large flock, a smaller flock arrived and blended seamlessly into the outer edges as they wheeled around across the sea then back to the pier. They settled quite quickly this evening, showering down like falling leaves to settle beneath the floor of the pier on either side of the structure.

5.50pm - Starlings arriving at the old pier to roost for the night

Starlings shape-shifting across the pink-tinged sky

Starlings flying out over the water

6pm-A final view of the rosy pink sunset

Tomorrow is predicted to be colder, ‘freshened’ by a NW wind …..

 

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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