Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)

Sedge Warbler

This is a common summer visitor to Britain. It is well worth stopping and spending a bit of time watching this bird if you come across one. They are extremely lively characterful little birds that sing very powerfully. The one in the photograph taken in Hertforshire let me get very close whilst he belted out powerful, virtually non-stop song for five minutes or more. They migrate from Africa, where they spend the winter and may be found in Britain from around mid April to mid October. They feed mainly on insects and their numbers are healthy, in fact The inhabit a massively extensive range of countries from Asia through Africa to all over Europe.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Lee Valley canal system

This picture was taken on the canal between Ware and Hertford on Sunday morning. There was one chick and a mating pair, which I watched for sometime. According to a passing cyclist there had been two chicks initially, it could have been taken by a number of predators including Pike. This bird is no stranger to adversity in the mid 19^th century the population was hunted to around 40 pairs because the skins were so coveted by the fashion industry. They are interesting birds; their displays of spring courtship are one of the spectacles of the mating season. The pair I saw was still mating and the male was displaying after completion which was rather entertaining as the head shaking and feather ruffling is such a blatant show of pride. The young are patterned rather like a zebra and will keep that plumage until the winter by which time they will be about the same size as the adult. When the chick is fully fledged the parents will either drive the juvenile away or the family will just split. It seems like a sharp contrast from the first few weeks of life when the parents carry the chick round on their backs.   

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Male Chaffinch - Barnes

I particularly like this bird as it is one of the most colorful of the common species that you’ll see all over the countryside and in London parks. There are millions of breeding pairs in Britain whose numbers are swelled each year by winter migration. Usually the British based birds stay with in a few miles of their nest and are quite territorial but the migrating Chaffinches have been recorded traveling over 1000 miles to reach their winter destination. They eat a mixture of seed and insects but the former makes up the entirety of their diet outside the breeding season. They are one of the hardiest of our small birds and may live for 12 years or more.  Cats and traffic are their main nemesis.  Females, are as usual are a little duller in colour, less pink breasted.

Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Male Pochard - Barnes Wetland Centre

 

The male is unlikely to be confused with any other species of duck but the female may require a little more study, both species have a dark bill marked with a grey band. The Pochard is a very common duck especially during the winter when it’s numbers are highest. They like well vegetated ponds and gravel pits as they are diving ducks as most of their food intake is plant material. There are infact comparatively few nesting Pochards in this country, most of those are found in Suffolk and Kent. They nest on the ground and may lay between 8 and 10 eggs. The Red-crested Pochard is quite different and is unlikely to be confused. The male Red-crested has an entirely red bill and the female a partially red bill.

Black-Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Black-Headed Gull

This photo was taken yesterday within minutes of the Common Tern photograph, in approximately the same location; Amwell nature reserve in Hertfordshire. The Black-Headed Gull is slightly bigger than the Common Tern, a few centimeters. They were flying together in similar patterns with similar wing beats as if the Black-Headed Gull’s were mimicking the Common Tern. I have seen the Common Tern’s feeding like this before on the canal but it was the first time I’ve seen the Black-Headed Gull feeding there as well. As you can see from the photo the Gull was surface hunting as well. Note the insect in beak. Black headed gull’s do not always have black heads the juvenile is white headed and brown winged. Mature, they are the whitest, snowiest species of gull which is a good way of identifying them. Note the several obvious differences between yesterdays picture of the Common Tern which would make it quite difficult to confuse the species. They are very common, happy to nest by sea, upland moor or island.

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Common Tern

I photographed this Common Tern today at Amwell Nature reserve in Hertfordshire. Very close to the tern, I also photographed a Black-Headed gull which I will write about tomorrow. It is a possible to confuse the Common tern and Black-Headed Gull with but hopefully with the close photographs I’ve got you will see several clear differences. Only half the Common Tern’s head is black from the crown down, similar to the Arctic tern but you are incredibly unlikely to see one of these in London or the Home Counties. The Common Tern arrives in April and leaves in October. It is usually found on the coast but also in land around reservoirs. The Barnes Wetland centre in London has had sighting recently. Note the forked tale, like the Swallow, the Common Tern’s arrival is a sure sign spring has arrived. These birds will feed on surface fish in their sea colonies but the 3 or 4 I was watching today were skimming the canal surface for insects with turns and dives that made very good viewing.

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Dulwich Park pond 11/4/11

As the name suggests this duck derives from the east, Russia, China and Japan to be specific. The population in Britain derives from escaped captives and is currently estimated, by the RSPB to stand at about 7,000 pairs. These ducks are quite common in Britain and don’t attract much attention from birders but actually Britain’s Mandarin population may actually prove quite important as numbers in the east are low. As you can see, this pair were mating or as the imaginative mother standing next to me replied when her child asked what they were doing; ‘He’s keeping his wings dry’. I think the male owns some of the most spectacular plumage you’ll see on a bird in Britain. They are quite common in ponds in South England and London

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Everyone should know this bird as it’s massively common in cities and in rural areas, my Collins guide says their numbers in mid winter swell into tens of millions when the European Starlings come to Britain. They are intelligent characterful birds well known for their ability mimic other birdcalls as well as other sounds like car alarms. They are easily identifiable. At this time of year as they’re very glossy and in flight they dart around raising up and down and to me they look as if their wings are triangular. The eat mainly insects, a lot of garden pests like leatherjackets, the larvae of  crane flies/ daddy-long-legs which is one of their plus points but to counter that positivity, large flocks have been known to decimate fields of corn. There are plenty of them about, you should have no trouble spotting them, this picture was taken yesterday in Brockwell Park.