Chuffed by a Chiffchaff

I thought it might be an idea to feed my readers with some snippets about birds, which they may not have known or heard, and as I have virtually nothing news wise to write about, we’ll see how this goes.

I find when I am talking to children about birds, they enjoy snippets of knowledge that they can remember, and if it makes them chuckle so much the better.

Talking about speed is a good start. When I talk about a “stoop” I must explain that it describes a Peregrine Falcon going “down hill”, travelling up to 200mph in a 45-degree stoop, and that speed usually brings a “Wow!”

I like to recount the story about the time at Durlston country park near Swanage when I saw a Peregrine fly out to sea from below the cliff path, getting smaller and smaller until “wallop”, and the bird then flying back clutching a pigeon (eh, ex-pigeon), and calling to it’s young as it returned to the nest.

Oystercatchers are visually interesting birds for children (like Puffins), not least because of the large orange beak. But explaining that oysters do not move (well hardly), this has produced the question how does an Oystercatcher catch an oyster??   

…. And whilst we are on the subject, they do not eat Oysters!!   Their diet is principally mussels, limpets and ragworms. Which reminds me that a good number of years ago, I recall Oystercatchers breeding at Carsington on Horseshoe Island, and it was a frequent sight to see the parents fly across the water to the fields by Shiningford Creek, and then fly back with worms. As they flew back they called (piped!) and the young birds came out in the open, first one out getting a meal.

I caught a nice TV programme on BBC something about rivers, and last week there was some good video footage of a Dipper feeding a youngster by a fast-flowing river. From leaving the nest until feeding for itself is only 14 – 21 days.   But why is it called a Dipper?

Not for the reason you would think, that it dips in and out of running water (which indeed it does) but because of it’s bobbing/dipping up and down when it is perched (and often defecating!) on a rock. (…and that’s a tip for spotting somewhere a Dipper may frequent….look for the s**t).

Explaining the link between the largest sea duck, St Cuthbert and the Farne Islands, (which I have told before on this blog) is an interesting explanation of the origin of the name for an Eider, Cuddies’ Duck.

It might be a bit obtuse for some children to take in, so if they refer to a duvet duck you will appreciate where the confusion comes from!

Thursday March 30^th. Somebody up there does love me….just been talking to a neighbour at our front door and spotted a Sparrowhawk flying over with it’s diagnostic flap, flap, flap….glide flight pattern. Yippee …what perfect timing 127.  Well a bit slow really... it's 89 days through 2018 before I saw my first one.

As I was saying….. anyone heard about the old myth which was still believed right up until the end of the 18^th century, that Barnacle Geese came from barnacle crustaceans?  Knowing what we know now, it seems a strange perpetuated myth.

Sunday April 1^st.  The days leading up to the monthly BwB walk at Carsington were filled with doubt, with the Midlands threatened with all sorts of adverse weather, including heavy snow. 

Well actually apart from being freezing cold on Stones Island (I guess by now you will have noticed my problem with heat!), the 18 people on the walk survived on what was in fact a dry morning! We had 5 newbies in the group, and a  varied range of suggestions for BOD. But one the first of the walks' summer migrants was destined to get the award, and true to form, we spent some time searching, and ultimately finding my first Chiffchaff for 2018 (No 128).

We have the extra walk next Sunday hoping for Osprey. This morning we spotted 2 birds on the Lane End Osprey nest…..2 Canada Geese!!! Hopefully I may have better sightings to report next week.

To end, a good photograph of a Tree Creeper taken by my S I L Julian when, with our daughter Sarah, they visited the NT house at Sudbury last week.   Cracking bird.

Happy Birding