First Chiffchaff of 2014 for me

Semprempe [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Semprempe [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
I saw my first Chiffchaff of the year at Stanwick Lakes this morning. And a nice sunny morning it was too.  I was walking along a path before the sun had actually risen above the horizon.

The Chiffchaff turned up a little later on my walk, in a wet area which seemed to have a lot of birds in it – Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Reed Buntings and Redwings.  I heard the Chiffchaff call, and when I turned to look for it, it appeared in a bush close to where I was standing. This little bird, which I would expect to hear singing first of all in about eight weeks’ time, did a spot of fly-catching (although I didn’t see it catch anything for sure) and then flew off to creep around in the soggy grassland and reeds.  It was a brief delight; a reminder of the fact that spring isn’t that far away really.

This small, delicate-looking bird, that basically visits us in the summer to feed on insects, is toughing out the winter at my local patch.  I’ll never know, but I hope that he or she makes it through the winter.

Birdtrack shows me that I see Chiffchaff at Stanwick in December or January in most winters.

I haven’t yet seen a Blackcap in the garden – but I often do around the time of the Big Garden Birdwatch so I am keeping my eyes open.

 

 

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1 Reply to “First Chiffchaff of 2014 for me”

  1. Update on The Sanctuary LNR in Derby: objections (309) to the Planning Application now outnumber the ‘supporters’ (300) so a big thank you to everyone reading Mark’s blog for this great effort in passing the ‘cyclists’ (we were lagging far behind last week!) Of course the supporters will redouble their efforts when they see these figures so if anyone was thinking of objecting but hasn’t done so yet – now is the time to do it. Scroll down to see Richard Winspear’s guest blog on 7th January to learn how to do it. It is very quick and you have until end of play on Thursday, 16th!
    Thank you in advance!
    Nick

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