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This is an interesting time of year for birdwatching in the school grounds. Most of the summer visitors have now left and they are being replaced by other species. Also,the task of locating birds is now easier because many trees have lost their leaves and the birds are not as secretive as they were during the breeding season. Fieldfare numbers
have increased markedly during the past week and groups
of them can be seen, and heard, flying over the school,
especially during early morning. Last As I watched the fieldfares, I heard a high-pitched peeping sound, characteristic of a kingfisher. A second later I caught sight of a flash of metallic blue through the bushes as the bird shot down the Went at top speed, flying, as usual, low over the water. Despite all this activity, the most interesting sighting of the week was of two redpolls feeding in a sycamore at the end of the cricket field. They were with a group of bluetits and it was the black face of the male that first caught my eye.This is the first time that I have found this species in the grounds and it represents the 55th species of bird that I have identified within the area covered by the gardens and the cricket field. (One or two other species can be found just beyond the boundaries.) |
week, I located a group of about fifty of them as they
fed on haws. The berries always look too large for them
but they gulp them down whole with ease. Accompanying the
fieldfares, there was a single redwing, the first of the
year. As usual, the pale stripe above the eye was a much
more noticeable feature than the red flash beneath the
wing.