Where are all the hirundines?

This year there seems to be a real shortage of swallows, house martins and swifts across the county (and maybe Country?). Here at Feathers we used to have dozens of pairs of house martins nesting between the old vicarage and the farm house, whereas now we are lucky if we see any at all. Swallows have bred on the farm in years gone by, but again we now only see them occasionally. Fortunately, the swifts that call the church home still seem to be stable, with about 8 birds back again this year. Other birders in the area and plenty of customers have noted the lack of hirundines this year and it would be interesting to know whether this has been a trend for the whole of the UK.

Swift at Feathers, 25/05/19

On a more positive note, we have had a firecrest present for at least a month now. Throughout the day I can hear it singing somewhere just over the road. For the most part, owing to their protected status (Schedule 1 species), we haven't been even trying to look for it, but just knowing it is here and potentially breeding is great news for us. However, we were afforded wonderful, albeit very brief, views of it earlier in the month.

Firecrest at Feathers, 02/05/19

It seems to have been favourable weather for the breeding season, if anything perhaps a bit too dry! Hopefully it will mean great success for many species. So far we have seen young starlings (although the boxes weren't used this year), sparrows, great tits and blue tits. No doubt the blackbirds, robins and dunnocks have fledged but we haven't been introduced by the parents yet. The great spotted woodpecker parents have almost been a fixture for the last couple of weeks, taking food away but back within minutes. Perhaps there is more than one pair. No sign of the juveniles yet but I hope it won't be long.

Male great spotted woodpecker

Juvenile and adult starling

Adult and juvenile blue tit

Where to watch birds in Sussex: Feathers Nature Area

Our Hide / Nature Area is perfect for watching and photographing garden birds in East Sussex. In the last couple of weeks we have spent a bit of time tidying and reshuffling the plants, feeders and perches, making for better photographic opportunities. The Siskins are very regular now and are one bird in particular which use the perches a lot. Here are a selection of recent photographs:

Other highlights since the last post have been a female Brambling, back very briefly in the Nature Area on the 27th Feb and a Firecrest (or possibly 2) spotted and photographed yesterday (9th March) by a customer in the yew tree just over the road.

Feathers Optics: www.shop.featherswildbirdcare.co.uk
Feathers Bird Food: www.featherswildbirdcare.co.uk

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)

Feathers Firecrest

Between Christmas and the New Year, Allan photographed a Firecrest outside the shop, taking our list to 94 species. It was the only new species added in 2015, and one we always thought we should have on there, but a very welcome addition none-the-less!

December and early January were very wet, though we have been lucky in the south east considering the floods elsewhere in the country. The weather looks to be settling down next week as the colder weather draws in, with temperatures set to plummet to around 5° and freezing at night. The birds seem to be anticipating it as the feeders in our Nature Area have become very busy, with countless amounts of Blue Tits feeding. 4 Siskins arrived on Tuesday and have been visiting on and off since, hopefully they will stay. Allan got a photo of a female today and though I haven't managed to photograph them yet, the other birds certainly kept me busy until the male Sparrowhawk came in.

With all the fields flooded, I chanced a quick trip down Redlands lane to see if anything unusual was about. A Little Egret picked up as I drove past, landing again to allow me a few distant pics from the car.