Well here we are now, its New Year’s Day and a fitting time to write my final blog for the last few weeks of 2006.  Inevitably, we don’t get out and about as much in the winter months, so I have to rely largely on what I can see from my kitchen window.   

October

    Towards the end of October, on a bright Sunday afternoon, I decided I really had to do something about the garden which was in need of a good tidy-up.  So, armed with secateurs and wellingtons I went out to see what I could do.  I’d only been out around half an hour, when I heard the familiar call of a large flock of long tailed tits.  Throughout the year, we get frequent visits from these pretty little birds, and the flocks usually number around 15 – 20 individuals.  If you keep still they don’t tend to be bothered by a human presence, and some of them come quite close.  They are very skittish though and flit quickly around the trees in search of grubs and insects.  On this occasion, I spotted one little bird without a long tail, and as I focused my (not so good!) eyesight, I could see it was a goldcrest – Europe’s smallest bird apparently.  I’ve only seen a goldcrest on three occasions now, so it was lovely to have one in my back garden.

November

  In November, Mr Mole and I went to visit some old friends of ours, who live a stone’s throw from the beach at Sutton-on-Sea.  We set off late in the afternoon, so it was dark before we reached Sutton.  The Lincolnshire country lanes were long and winding, and not far from our destination we were startled by the white ghost of a barn owl which flew suddenly across our path. 

  We had a fabulous weekend, walking their little dog on the beach, seeing three types of gull (black headed, herring and black backed), plus two tiny sanderlings which scuttled at great speed through the pools left at low tide.  At midnight, walking back from the pub, we saw shooting stars in the pitch black sky, and tried to work out the constellations – no light pollution there.

  The following morning, we all squeezed into our friends pick-up, and headed up the coast to a place called Donna Nook.  This area of land is owned by the Ministry of Defence, but they suspend all exercises during November to January, when the seals come in-land to have their babies.  This year, the seals were a little late arriving due to the unusually mild weather and on the day we visited, there were hundreds still to arrive.  Although the tide was way out, it was possible to see them emerging from the water’s edge, and starting to heave themselves up the beach to the shelter of the sand dunes where they would give birth.  It was a spectacular site – the whole beach was populated by grey seals and their newborn pups – some only hours old and close enough to touch, but kept safely away from the public by a picket fence.  Mother seals can be extremely dangerous if they feel their little ones are being threatened and can move surprisingly fast when they want to.

  Of course there were birds there too – a huge flock of brent geese in the distance, too far away to see with the naked eye, but clearly visible with my binoculars.  Also darting to and fro amongst the seals two turnstones on the wet send, and a large flock of little brown birds which kept rising and falling on the beach. At first they were two far away for me to get a proper look, but gradually they came to land closer, and I was later able to identify them as a flock of twite, when I got home and referred to my book

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry_20061111.shtml

“Finally, it’s back up the top of the moors with RSPB  Conservation Officer Tim Melling. Tim sees himself as the PR champion for the twite, a dull brown bird with a rather unique call that’s become quite rare in the UK. He tells Richard how the Upper Worth Valley is one of the few places the birds can be seen as well as why the valley itself is so special for birdlife.”

  It was a fascinating afternoon, but eventually we were driven away by the cold.  Despite this the seals lay on their backs in the shallow pools smiling and basking for all the world as if they were sunbathing.  As we drove away, we saw a field of lapwings, and the unmistakable brown silhouettes of curlews.

December

  As we moved into December, I was keeping a look-out for the pair of black cap warblers that have visited our garden every winter for the past six years (maybe more, but that’s when I first saw them.)  Last year they arrived in the second week of December, but this year – probably again due to the warm weather – it wasn’t until Christmas Eve that I first spotted the male bird in next door’s garden.  And then on Boxing Day, there was a brief spell when our garden was full of birds; another big flock of long tailed tits, a robin, a dunnock, blue tits, great tits, the male and female black caps, plus two more male black caps (less well marked so possibly this year’s offspring?)  It was wonderful to see them, and maybe this means that we’ll have more black caps visiting in future winters.

Till the next time, Rutland Road Bird Blogger