Happy Easter and another Bird Blog!

I'm having a few technical problems with writing my blogs, and they should be more frequent in a week or two, but I'm borrowing resources for now, many thanks friends, and I had to say Happy Easter! Whatever that means to readers, but to me it certainly is a time of year where we witness birth and renewal with the arrival of Spring. Also, we usually feel very positive and optimistic around now in 'normal' times, and may those feelings continue throughout this year, fingers crossed... 

Anyway, my travels have continued across Hastings Country Park since lockdown began just over a year ago, and I have witnessed many of the birds I saw last Spring and early Summer, well, similar birds, at least. I had been particularly enchanted by a Song Thrush sitting up in the same tree in Barley Lane every day for a few weeks, singing his heart out, but recently he moved on, presumably his singing had made its mark on a potential partner: Love is in the air! But I have heard Song Thrushes all across the Park too, and still regularly hear one in Fairlight Glen, so I'm not too disappointed, yet. I thought sharing a link to YouTube and an example of the Song Thrush in full voice would be nice, indeed!

I've seen numerous birds of prey, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, and Buzzards for example, but chatting to another mature gentleman, certainly more mature than me in a couple of ways, 😉 and he made me very jealous that he's seen an Osprey in Warren Glen! I wish he hadn't told me, although I'm glad he did really, as they are seen every now and then apparently, and I'd hate to miss one, so my awareness is now pretty acute when I walk into the Glen. You never know, I may be lucky and see an Osprey one day...

As I said above, I've seen many of the birds I've talked about in 10 blogs or so over the last year, including Chiffchaffs, Robins, Blackbirds, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Whinchats, Yellowhammers and Linnets, but... I am now seeing a bird I hadn't seen for years, the elegant Long-tailed Tit, and not just the one either, but I have to admit that has been over the garden fence of a property in Fairlight, feeding off bird feeders, but great stuff!
 
Enjoy your long weekend folks, and remember our Emergency Workers, and other Key Workers, who are at work 24/7, my respect and thoughts with them, cheers!

The photograph of the Song Thrush is thanks to the RSPB and Chris Gomersall, the Osprey thanks to The Wildlife Trusts and Peter Cairns, and the Long-tailed Tits thanks to Sussex Wildlife Trust and Bob Eade. Many thanks to all, cheers!

Chats & Thrushes - Bird Blog 5

This blog has been a long time coming, apologies for the suspense, and I haven't seen the Whinchat illustrated above, but I have seen regularly on my travels across Hastings Country Park since lockdown began, a number of birds from this family, notably the thrushes. Indeed, a couple of our most familiar birds, and often seen in gardens too, are the Robin and the Blackbird. These are mostly ground-dwelling birds that find the majority of their food on the ground, and who hasn't heard and seen Blackbirds regularly foraging in undergrowth?!?

Male Stonechat

The Stonechat is the only non-thrush of this group that I have seen during this period as far as I am aware (who knows what I may miss among the fast flights across my path and in the distance?), and I have quite taken to the Stonechat too, once I knew what I was observing. Their orange-red breast, and the male's black head and white half-collar, made them stand out for me at first. They like heath and grasslands, and particularly the gorse that grows at Firehills, openly perching and taking off from the gorse and other vegetation there. Stonechats eat insects and worms, and have a distinctive 'chak-chak' call with an added whistle (YouTube).

Song Thrush

The Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush have been enchanting to see and hear, the Mistle Thrush being the slightly larger of the two. Both eat berries, worms and insects, and the Song Thrush also eats snails, and they both visit gardens as well as living in heaths, fields and woodland. I observed them more in the earlier months during the lockdown, and was delighted to see and hear a Song Thrush singing loudly from on high (YouTube) during a specific visit to the old disused Sand Quarry at Fairlight, what a beautiful sound!

Juvenile Robin

The Blackbird, another wonderful singer, and the Robin, are well known to us all, with songs written about them, and they are both great singers too, perhaps the Blackbird's song being the best known as it sings so loudly and clearly (YouTube). The habitat of both is widespread, and the Robin eats mostly insects, whilst the Blackbird also eats worms and berries. I have included an image of a juvenile Robin because I saw one a few days ago, and it took me a while to realize just what I had seen.

That's enough today for this chapter of my bird observations, and the next chapter of the book* is called Larks, Swallows, Wagtails, Wrens, Dippers, Accentors and Allies, consequently, the Birds Part VI blog will be called similar, although probably a shorter title, but please do watch out for it, and many thanks for reading the blog.

* John Gooders The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide.

All 3 photographs of individual birds are with many thanks to the RSPB, and specifically for the image of the Song Thrush singing with thanks to Chris Gomersall, and of the young Robin to Andy Bright.

John Gooders used to live in East Sussex before he died 10 years ago, sadly, and had previously been Chair of Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and the Mayor of Winchelsea.