Bird Notes - Winter-Spring 2005

Every year is different and this year has been no exception. The winter brought very high numbers of Waxwings to Britain, first in the north and later to the south. I was told of one bird ringed in Yorkshire that was seen in Pembroke and later in the southeast. Very large numbers were reported in the Bracknell area. On 16th January Kath and I did our regular winter monthly waterfowl count at Thorpe Park. This year numbers have been well down on previous years and this month was no different. We needed cheering up and one of our friends told us that the Waxwings were still at Bracknell and described the place. We eschewed lunch and went to look, and were rewarded with a memorable sight of these spectacular birds. Two trees were literally covered with Waxwings weighing down the branches; I counted 110 but there could have been many more. My one regret is that I did not have a camera with me.

Our garden feeders have been dominated by Greenfinches and Goldfinches and we have the impression that tit numbers have been down. Two Jays have discovered how to get peanuts: with good timing, learned through many a failure, they hang momentarily upside down on the feeder, grab a nut and then fall away. Siskins have been very rare, both in the garden and elsewhere. We had both a male and female on 1st March but they did not return. The dawn chorus is well under way and a thrush wakes us at four in the morning, soon followed by a Green Woodpecker and all the other common birds. We had not seen a Wren for some time but one is now singing lustily everyday from deep within the bushes. These secretive birds are very common and this becomes apparent when they sing in the Spring. Kath and I walked along the towpath from Walton to Bushy Park last week and it seemed as if one was singing every hundred yards or so, but we only saw two. We had gone to look for a Tawny Owl reported in the park; we found the tree but not the owl!

We saw our first Swallows on 8th April in South Wales and another on the 16th in Surrey. Kath saw a Blackcap on 20th March and heard Chiffchaffs singing on 15th April. Nowadays it is not possible to say whether these are returning migrants or birds that have over-wintered.

We have been doing a BTO Breeding Bird Survey for the last ten years. This is carried out on two visits in April and June along the same route in a kilometre square in Walton. Over the years we have noted the dramatic fall in House Sparrow numbers. On our April visit this year we were surprised and pleased to record a considerable increase in the population. We also noted many sparrows on our towpath walk; it is possible that the decline in our area may now be in reverse.

Early April weather has also brought out the butterflies, although we have only seen Peacock, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell.

CHRIS BRADING