In the two recent periods of snowy weather (The Beast from the East, over 1, 2 and 3 March) and the Mini Beast from the East (from 18 March onwards – no more snow falling but it is still heavy on the ground), we’ve been putting even more food down for the wild birds. We’ve been rewarded by some great views of birds we rarely see in the garden – and three species that are new to us.
The first new species might not seem that exciting, as they are all around us in the village, nesting in rookeries in the tall beech trees, but we have never had rooks (Corvus frugilegus) actually come down into our garden before.
Rook (Corvus frugilegus). Photo by Rafał Komorowski (Wikimedia Commons).
Rook (Corvus frugilegus). Photo by Axel Mauruszat (Wikimedia Commons).
The second new bird was a very exciting sighting, and he’s been back several times: a male hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes). This is the biggest finch in the UK, and we’ve never seen one before, anywhere, so to see one in our garden was wonderful. And he’s bloody massive. I tried to get a photo of him next to a chaffinch, the finch it most resembles, but sadly failed to get a decent shot.
Male hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes). Photo by Mikils (Wikimedia Commons).
Male hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes).
Top to bottom: Starling, blackbird, hawfinch.
The third new bird is a male reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus). This little bird looks superficially like a male house sparrow, but has a distinctive black head, bright white collar and a black streak like a tie down its chest. Its body plumage is a little streaky in appearance, reminiscent of a siskin’s or a dunnock’s.
Male reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus). Photo by Andreas Trepte (Wikimedia Commons).
We’ve also had quite a few fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) and redwing (Turdus iliacus) visit during the snowy periods. We only see these winter visitors occasionally.
Turdus overload: top to bottom Fieldfare, Song thrush, Redwing, Blackbird.
Bird species seen in our garden during the snowy spells of March 2018:
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Song thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
Redwing (Turdus iliacus)
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Great tit (Parus major)
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Greenfinch (Chloris chloris)
Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
Siskin (Spinus spinus)
Reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
Dunnock (Hedge sparrow) (Prunella modularis)
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Pied wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)
Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)
Collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula)
Rook (Corvus frugilegus)