Wildlife December 2009

[Armin]

Anthony, interesting and always nature is surprising.

I watched today a small Robin taking a long intensive bath in one of my old pans I use as bird drink and bath.
At 1°C air temperature outside and with still some ice in the pan it felt obviously very well.
This one must have robust genes too

[mark smyth]

I've read our robins head south and the European robins come west to us.

There is a huge wagtail roost at a shopping centre near me. 10s of them roost in birch trees at the centre. Belfast has a giant wagtail roost on High Street again in birch trees. The seats, cars and ground under them is white. They look like white light bulbs sitting along the branches

Three robins were in my garden today fighting to see who owns the feeding rights below the feeders hanging on the tree in my garden

[annew]

We saw dozens of wagtails coming in to roost into birch trees in the centre of York, not caring that there was the hustle and bustle of an international market going on beneath them.

[Maggi Young]

I am quite beside myself with envy..... I have never seen more than half a dozen wagtails at once.... I had no idea they flocked to roost.... no idea at all! I am delighted to learn this new fact and now hopeful of one day seeing these great wee birds in a flock.... 

[ashley]

Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) are dominating feeders in the garden during this cold spell.  We've never seen so many here before.   

[Michael J Campbell]

Ashley, I have only one male and one female blackcap in the garden, the same as last winter. Can you chase a few across the Shannon please?

[Stephenb]

We also have a female Blackcap who's been here for the last 10 days or so. She's also suddenly today become quite aggresive today and is attacking and scaring off all the other finches and tits, but hasn't tried it on the woodpecker yet!

The temperature has not been above about -5C for 10 days or so and has been down to -15C.

[Armin]

Blackcaps do not stay here over winter.
What do you feed them?

[Stephenb]

Blackcaps do not stay here over winter.
What do you feed them?

It seems to be eating spilled sunflower seed particles. Other birds (finches, nuthatches, woodpeckers and tits) can hack into the seed but inevitably drop some bits. It otherwise alternates between the feeder and a berberis bush which is also visited by a Fieldfare and a Robin.

This article is interesting, suggesting that the large scale bird feeding in gardens in the UK has changed the migratory pattern of part of the German population which now move westwards and is even changing the birds themselves:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/6721178/German-blackcaps-the-short-haul-songsters.html

Here are all the reported sightings of Blackcaps in Scandinavia in December so far: http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=659&year=2009&month=12

[Armin]

Stephen,
thanks for your quick reply. Interesting links. Majority of observations were on the coasts due milder climate?

And I thought Blackcaps are pure insect eaters and need special insect food mix. But it seems they are more adaptive in kind of food and taste (like Robins)...

[mark smyth]

Armin in the UK they can be attracted with apple and raisins. They will probbly love to eat mini mealworms

Ashley and Michael what do they eat in your garden?

[mark smyth]

Stephen, the map is interesting. Is this the first year blackcaps are over wintering?

Maggi, I'd bet there is a huge wagtail roost in Aberdeen

[Michael J Campbell]

Mark, they were on the peanut feeder and eating scraps that had fallen to the ground from the the seed feeders.

[Maggi Young]

Stephen, the map is interesting. Is this the first year blackcaps are over wintering?

Maggi, I'd bet there is a huge wagtail roost in Aberdeen

 Perhaps, I have no idea where. There used to be good numbers of wagtails around the rivermouth and harbour area, where Ian's Yard was ..... but we never saw them in quantity or were aware of them flocking to a roost, though there would have been likely places in the areas available for them ,I would have thought.

[Stephenb]

Stephen, the map is interesting. Is this the first year blackcaps are over wintering?

No, I've seen them passing through one or two days most winters over the last 10-15 years (usually on a Berberis bush). They started overwintering in Norway in the 1980s I think. This is the first year one has stopped for any length of time. I also have breeding Blackcaps in the garden, but it's May before they arrive from South Europe.