Paxton Pits NewYear Birds

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours  yesterday afternoon in the Cobham Hide just watching the birds - the light was very poor but managed a few images of the action including this Long-tailed Tit, one of a party of 4 or 5 who landed in the bush in front of the hide. The Marsh Harrier paid 'its' (female or juvenile) usual visit. The Cormorants are coming into breeding plumage as their nesting season can start early January.

My Garden Birds

The birds were very busy feeding in the garden this morning with flocks of Goldfinches and Greenfinches visiting the garden feeders and pairs of Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, and Blackbirds all looking as if they are pairing and starting to set up territories. All three of the Dove family - Rock Doves, Wood Pigeon and Collared Dove, pair of Dunnocks, Robin, Chaffinch, Song Thrush and Wren (too fast to photograph!).. Also visiting in recent weeks Tree Creeper,  Starling, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Redwing, Fieldfare, Jay, Magpie and Pied Wagtail 

I came across my garden list for Jan - Feb  in 1968-71. It had all these except Collared Dove and Stock Dove and also included Bullfinch, Marsh Tit, Turtle Dove, Corn Bunting, Yellow Hammer (still in Hedgerows), Tree Sparrow - all declined or absence with a change in the arable farming techniques.

Wetland Birds Count

Paxton Pits along with other wetland reserves carry out a monthly count of the birds on the Pits  (WeBS). Beautiful morning for our December count though difficult for ID etc against the light. The most prominent birds for our route round Rudd, Cloudy and Weedy Lakes were the 40 or so Canada Geese plus this one Canada GooseXGreylag hybrid. Looking it up they appear quite common and very consistent in marking with just the head, neck length and beak revealing the Greylag parentage. All the usual Ducks plus a solitary Grey heron. Couldn't resist photographing the Long-tailed Tit at the end of the walk.

Rainbow Clouds and Birds at Our Feeders

Rainbow clouds have been visible for several evenings recently. They are known as “nacreous” (or polar stratospheric) clouds and are very unusual in Britain. Nacreous clouds typically form in the winter polar stratosphere, a layer of our atmosphere around 15,000 to 25,000m in altitude. The stratosphere is generally very dry and so cloud formation is rare, but it seems as though recent storms may have driven moisture high into the atmosphere and the very low temperature turns any moisture in the air into ice crystals. On the down side, these clouds enhance the breakdown of the Earth’s ozone layer, as the ice crystals in the clouds encourage a chemical reaction between the ozone layer and gases such as chlorine and bromine (giving the colours). 

Nearer home lovely to see a flock of 10 Long-tailed tits in the garden plus the usual feeder species squabbling for possession.

Long-tailed Tits Nest Building

I spent an hour yesterday watching a pair of Long-tailed Tits building their nest in a bramble patch - impossible to get clear views but such a delight to see them bringing moss, lichen and cobwebs and weaving their nest. They are about halfway there as the final nest will be a complete ball with a single small entrance.