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Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds
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| FACTS |
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Garden
Bird Watch
Organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, the Garden
Bird Watch scheme relies on volunteers to keep a record of
birds seen in their gardens
The
data is sent in the BTO who are building up a mass of information
about the state of our common garden birds
Anyone
interested in information about this scheme can write to the
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk,
IP24 2PU – or find out more from www.bto.org
The
latest report produced referred to the Spring 2003 and the
top ten birds recorded are blackbird, blue tit, robin, dunnock,
collared dove, greenfinch, house sparrow, great tit, chaffinch,
woodpigeon
Birds
are watched more than any other type of wildlife – they are
visible, interesting and entertaining and can be seen virtually
everywhere
From
mountain tops to the centre of cities and from wetland nature
reserves to garden bird tables, birds depend on, and are an
indicator of, a healthy environment
Birds
today face a wide range of threats - habitat destruction,
pollution, climate change and persecution… all can have adverse
effects
The
patchwork of lawns, shrubs, bushes, trees and flower beds
which make up the UK’s gardens supports important wildlife
populations
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Scandinavian
Invasion
Pouring into England like modern day Vikings are those attractive
members of the thrush family, the redwings and fieldfares.
They
mostly arrive from the north east, having summered in the beech
or coniferous forests of Scandinavia - but a few arrive from Iceland.
The
likely arrival time is from October onwards, often coinciding with
a cold snap of weather or a north easterly wind.
They
come in increasing waves as the autumn progresses, and if food is
available they tend to stay around.
But
eventually they move on or get pushed, further west.
Generally
seen in flocks, redwings and fieldfares can be seen together although
they have slightly different taste in food.
Redwings
are easily distinguished by the red patch on the flank and by the
light, whitish eye stripe, whereas fieldfares have a black tail
and grey head and rump, and are much bigger than redwings.
They
feed on grassland on insects and worms in mild weather.
This
is especially true of fieldfares, which are more characteristic
of open meadows.
They
are very partial to apples.
Redwings
are especially keen on berries and can strip a holly tree in a day
or two - so gather in the holly for Christmas in good time, before
the redwings get on to it.
Having
survived the winter in Britain, they tend to depart in March or
April, but there is a period of spring when they overlap with the
early summer visitors, notably the chiffchaff.
In
the fields
Out in the countryside a variety of birds are to be seen searching
for food, but this month is still a rich month for fruits and berries,
especially in any hedgerows which have not been scalped by mechanical
hedge cutters.
Although
the holly berry crop is not good this year, perhaps because of the
dry summer, other hedgerows foods are abundant.
Hawthorn
berries are particularly numerous and in our local counties of Herefordshire
and Worcestershire many orchards and old crab apple trees are popular
feeding areas for the winter visitor thrushes as well as local resident
song thrushes and blackbirds.
Sometimes
seen in large flocks, redwings, fieldfares and blackbirds are often
feeding together, and the same popular locations attract the tits
as well as finches notably chaffinches and greenfinches, but also
an occasional pair of bullfinches or linnets, or a small flock of
goldfinches. |
