Dunnock
Sunday 15 April 2012
There are two bird feeders at Brockwell Community Greenhouses, and the birds flock to them as soon as they are filled with seed. The first bird is usually a robin, and there seem to be about four or five hanging around, then we see great tits, and chaffinches, and the bluetits follow, as they are a bit less brave. There is usually a blackbird keeping an eye on what is happening, and he comes to eat the seed that has fallen on the ground. We sometimes see a pair of nuthatches at the feeder as well, and we hope that they are nesting nearby.
Nuthatches nest in ready-made holes, which they reinforce with a mud rim. The young are fed mainly on insects taken from bark and leaves. Nuthatches are able to climb up and down the trunks and branches of trees, and we saw them doing this at the tree where the bird feeder is hanging. The nuthatch sings and calls in clear ringing whistles.
Tuesday 10 April 2012
An exciting time at the bird feeders at Brockwell Community greenhouses today.
We saw the usual suspects, robins (about 4 or 5) great tits, male and female, chaffinches, male and female, blackbird, male, and we were really excited to see the nuthatch.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/falconquester/5364366675/
The nuthatch is an infrequent visitor.
And also a sparrow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hitchedhiker/3756753201/
I am sorry to say that the photos are for reference. They were not taken at our site, and not
taken by me, but they are stunning photos from the flickr site.
Sunday 8 January 2012
The bird boxes have been scrubbed with boiling water and are ready to be put up on the trees. Birds are busy, sorting out their territory. One robin was so aggressive, that it had a stand off with one of the visitors to the site!
We have moved the bird feeder, as the squirrels were able to get access to it where it was placed against the wall.
It is now hanging on the elder tree near to the lower greenhouse, and the birds found it within about 3 minutes. Visitors included robins and great tits. A blackbird was loitering in the vicinity, waiting for seed to fall to the ground. Also seen today were a dunnock and two long-tailed tits.
Sunday 6 November 2011
Pamela and Tim took down the bird boxes that are around the site.
We opened them up, and found the nests inside. The nests were made of natural materials, moss, twigs and leaves and also things that had been found around the park, including string, green fluff from tennis balls, and woolly lagging material.
We were rather sad to find that some nests contained bodies of little birds that did not make it, and one nest contained only eggs.
The RSPB notes that it is quite common to find dead birds in nest boxes, and notes that birds lay large clutches of eggs, as not all the chicks will survive.
Our next job will be to check the measurements of the boxes, to make sure that they are the proper size for the birds that use them, and to clean them with boiling water and nailbrushes. Some of the older boxes will need to be replaced.