Early winter roundup

So it looks, although we've had a few cold days and a once very brief dusting of snow, to go down on record as another wet, warm winter. The wet weather doesn't seemed to have dampened (see what I did there?) the feeding activity, as the Siskins turned up in January and have been regular ever since. Goldfinches are visiting in good numbers, more Coal Tits this winter than any previous, a regular Chiffchaff (or two), more Goldcrests than you can shake a stick at and a Firecrest back again today. Just one Brambling sighting this winter again. With all this activity, it's no wonder the Sparrowhawks have been visiting regularly too, once or twice stopping for photos and I'm sure a Blue Tit or two falling prey to these magnificent birds. Since David, our previous ringer, moved on, it had been a while since any had taken place here, but Chris has filled in his spot now and she is looking to undertake sessions more frequently, so it will nice to get some info back on birds ringed in previous years. Here are a few photos from the last month or so:

Sussex snow - 17/01/16

Male Brambling - 28/01/16

Blue Tit with beak deformity

Still managing to feed by bending sideways

Firecrest (17/02/16)

Signs of Spring

The general trend in recent years is for the mean egg laying date of most birds getting earlier and earlier. This trend is believed to be caused by climate change, with warmer weather allowing for better food availability earlier in the season. Last year's warm, wet winter provided almost no frosts at all in Sussex, leading to a particularly early breeding season, an anomaly that was opposite to the breeding season of 2013, where a cold winter which held on until April led to very late broods. To give you an example; according to data from the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, the 2013 average laying date for Blue Tits was 12.3 days late (relative to the average from the previous five years) whereas it was 5.9 days early in 2014. It will certainly be interesting to see how 2015 sits in the table, with what has been a typical British winter, laced with cold snaps and warmer periods alike.

The Bullfinches, which had been resident for so long here recently, have moved on, as well as the Treecreeper which hasn't been spotted for a while either. The Goldcrests however are frequent visitors, often spending a long time searching for food in and around the yew tree over the road.

Still the Siskins remain a 'no-show', with just one male turning up on my feeders at home (Staplecross) on a few occassions between late Feb and early March.

On the 27th February we had our highest count ever of Buzzards as 8 graced the blue skies together. The pair of Kestrels have been bonding and inspecting the nesting site in the Church where they have nested in previous years, though we're not sure what stage they are currently at. It's most likely they haven't laid any eggs yet. One Blackbird was spotted this morning collecting nesting material, they are one of the earliest 'garden birds' to breed. We haven't heard them singing yet, though I'm sure they may well have started in the warmer climes of towns and cities. The Chaffinches have certainly started singing, their colours becoming increasing bold too as they attempt to lure a female. As the temperature progressively increases, the feeders begin to quieten down, though there is still a fair amount of activity, especially with the good size charm of Goldfinches. Here's a composite photograph put together with a few snaps of the same feeder in use in our Nature Area.

Just to follow up on the Blue Tit with a deformed beak (see post) spotted on the 27th January, the same bird was back again yesterday afternoon in the Nature Area unfortunately looking a little worse for wear.

Allan had a rather amazing Blue Tit in his garden on the 17th Feb, with a curved lower mandible and highly elongated, decurved upper mandible crossing over. This particular bird looked in pretty good nick given its condition but how it continued to feed one can only imagine!

Visting Treecreepers

Every February for the past few years we have visiting Treecreepers to the area outside the shop and low and behold they have turned up again. Late in January we spotted one high up in the oak tree in the car park (the first sighting in months), then yesterday one with a ring on turned up on the wall outside the shop. Though I couldn't get the ring number, we've only ever had one ringed here (2 years ago) so it's almost certainly the same bird, though there have been more ringed within the village a few miles away. Today, what we initially presumed was the same bird arrived again, spending the best part of the early afternoon in between the shrubs and the wall outside, though we soon realised this bird didn't have a ring, confirming we have at least 2 of these beauties visiting.

30/01/15

Ringed Bird - 03/02/15

04/02/15

04/02/15

04/02/15

The Long-tailed Tits are also visiting regularly as are the Bullfinches, which are spending most of their time on the flowering cherry. The latter is quite a unusual bird for us here, though it's certainly a good time of year to spot them.

We often get Buzzards here as they breed in the woods of the house up the road, though most of the time we spot them high up in the thermals. On the 29th January I spotted one in the far field in front of the hide, not the usual 'mewing' call but rather a different call that I have heard in the past. This bird was searching for insects on the ground, occasionally picking up before coming back down again. A bit far away for decent shots but still interesting to watch!

Finally a couple more notable sightings, both on the 27th January, a Red Admiral butterfly on the roof and a Blue Tit with an elongated lower mandible in the Nature Area.

Beak deformities in garden birds

According to the BTO, fewer than 1 in 200 adult birds suffer from a beak deformity. Arriving at a figure like that can't be easy as a large scale survey would need to be undertaken. Fortunately for them, many members, volunteers and enthusiastic nature lovers are all at hand to participate in such a survey (which is ongoing) called the Big Garden Beak Watch.

There are many different types of beak deformities, affecting either or both mandibles, in a manner of different ways. This Great Tit was first spotted here on the 3rd September, with what seemed at first to be just something stuck to his beak. In the time he was around on that day, it couldn't seem to shake it off (though it did seem to try). The (presumably) same bird was back again earlier this week, with the same object stuck, again trying to shake it off. This leads me to think it's not a beak deformity as such, though I'm not certain we'll ever be sure either way.

We have, however, spotted a few confirmed (and recorded) beak deformities here over the years:

Blue Tit with decurved (and slightly crossed) upper mandible

Rook with decurved upper mandible

Blue Tit with elongated mandibles

We have had a few reports and photos brought in to us of beak deformities in Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Blackbirds too, though a total of 36 species have been recorded through the Big Garden Beak Watch. Please do record your sightings to the BTO - this survey, along with many others they undertake, including the Abnormal Plumage Survey, help them to gain a greater insight in to the causes of irregularities in birds.

Goldfinch with leucism

Chaffinch with leucism