Standing up for Nature
I guess there is usually a Dunnock in my garden, but I certainly don’t see them all the time. Even when they are picking up scraps under the bird feeders, and are in plain view, they seem to be more inconspicuous than other birds. Dunnocks don’t draw attention to themselves and are often described as…
You can imagine how I felt seeing this cover of Birdwatch magazine – it’s a Linnet, and one of those very ugly males at that. Time to turn the pages quickly. Luckily, there are more attractive images inside the magazine. For one thing, there is a spread of ‘local heroes’. Maggie Wilcox was the worthy…
This is a rather prosaic subject but, here goes, what’s the difference between a song and a call? Like many things, it seems pretty straight forward until you get into the depths of the subject. So let’s rise above the detail. Consider the farmyard fowl. A cockerel, cock or rooster crowing is an example of…
OK, this is a serious matter. There has, for the first time, been a serious difference of opinion on strategy between factions of Wild Justice and its legal team. The strategic matter under dispute is how to write the name of the group of birds in which pheasants and partridges are found. Are they game…
Yesterday morning, I filled the kettle but paused, before turning it on, to listen. Outside the back door I could hear a Song Thrush singing. Opening the door, and taking a step outside, this single bird’s song was almost the only sound. About 100m away I could see the bird in question near the top…
Can you recognise the bird above – it’s already on my list although the examples I have seen were all in fresher plumage because this is a 46,000 year old bird found preserved in Siberian permafrost. It’s actually a Horned Lark (or a Shore Lark, or maybe something a bit different and earlier than either…
I caught Tweet of the Day this morning just before making the tea and listening, briefly, for bird song (a lovely Song Thrush). Today’s presenter was Michael Morpurgo and his bird was the Magpie – listen here on BBC iPlayer. It was a refreshingly different take on things, unless it was meant seriously. While looking…
The Great Tit is a familiar bird on our bird feeders and in our gardens and woods, and its song is pretty familiar too. If you aren’t already familiar with it, then if you keep your ears open in the right sorts of places you will hear its song at this time of year and…
At about the time that this blog post is published I will probably be making the first cup of tea of the day – at 6am. That would be normal in my house. Today it will still be dark, but if I take a step outside the back door, as I often do, then there…
I’m doing a fun bit of research using Birdtrack. If you are: a regular Birdtrack user have a few (30?) minutes to spare feel reasonably confident about using the ‘Explore my records’ function on Birdtrack and have any complete lists of birds seen at the following sites Minsmere (RSPB) Titchwell (RSPB) Cley Marshes (Norfolk Wildlife…