Since the beginning of the year I have been posting daily bird photos on my social media channels. You can find them under the hashtag #DailyBirdPix.
Each week I will collate the posts made into a blog post.
This week, photos posted between 11th and 17th January are included, and these are all birds that have visited my garden.
Have you seen any of these birds in your garden or local park?
Carrion Crow
Day 11: Carrion Crow Corvus corone
A large bird, with strong bill and glossy black plumage.
Until recently, Carrion Crows were very rare visitors to my garden. Any that occasionally came in were nervous and would scare very easily, flying away if they saw movement at a window. But that seems to have changed recently.
I have been putting out peanuts in shells on my bird table and over the past few weeks a Carrion Crow has stopped by to eat them.
I first realised they were doing so when I heard a constant tapping noise outside. Peeking through my curtains I saw a Crow on the bird table, holding a nut between its feet and pecking the shell open. I noticed that it also removed the brown outer covering of the peanut before eating it - a very precise activity.
Day 12: Rook Corvus frugilegus
This large corvid could be mistaken for a Carrion Crow. Both are large black birds with strong bills and a similar demeanour. However, Rooks can be told by a whitish area of bare skin around the base of the bill (although this area is black in juvenile Rooks).
Rooks live in large colonies, usually in stands of tall trees, and often associate with Jackdaws. The calls of the flock when going to roost, or in the morning, can be incredibly loud if you are close by.
Apart from the loud cawing, Rooks have a song that is a mix of sounds including rattles, clicks and coughs.
When displaying dominance, Rooks fluff their leg feathers, giving the impression of wearing pantaloons.
Rooks have only started visiting my garden in recent years. For most of last year one particular Rook became friendly and would visit for suet treats, calling out its arrival to alert us.
Rook
Great Tit
Day 13: Great Tit Parus major
The largest of our Tits, the Great Tit is a regular in gardens, parks and woodland, and readily use garden nest boxes.
Both sexes look alike: glossy black head, white cheeks, olive green back, and yellow breast with a black central stripe. In males, this stripe is wider and more prominent.
Male Great Tits have a large repertoire of calls and songs, but can be recognised by a two-tone durr-durr which reminds me of old-fashioned British police sirens. They also have a 'pink' call that sounds like the call of a Chaffinch.
Aggressive towards smaller Tits at food sources such as birdtables. They join mixed flocks of Tits during the winter to search for food. Great Tits eat seeds, nuts and, during the summer, insects.
Day 14: European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
A jewel amongst birds! The European Goldfinch is the most colourful bird in British gardens, and also has a beautiful song.
They readily come to feeders containing sunflower hearts and black thistle seed. However, they are nervous of bigger birds in the garden, and will leave the feeder almost without being challenged if a Great Tit or Greenfinch turns up.
European Goldfinches are a great bird for the casual birder to look out for - their colours make them look so exotic. It feels like a real treat to see them.
European Goldfinch
Eurasian Collared Doves
Day 15: Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Smaller and more delicate than the ever-present Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves are a welcome, but infrequent, visitor to my garden.
They have pinkish-grey plumage and a half-collar of black, edged with white. Their call sounds like it has three syllables (u-ni-ted) and in flight (or when coming in to land) they sometimes call a sighing 'aaah'.
Collared Doves only started breeding in the UK in the 1950s, and they were an uncommon sight during my teenage years.
Day 16: House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Native to Europe and Asia, but now found around the world, the House Sparrow is one of the first birds I learned to identify. When I was a child, House Sparrows were an extremely common garden bird to see, but over the years their numbers have dropped in the UK.
Elsewhere in the world they are considered a nuisance species, particularly in the United States, where they compete with their native Bluebirds for nesting sites.
House Sparrows adapt well to living in both urban and rural locations. They have featured in literature and folk history, often characterised as being chirpy and optimistic.
They are gregarious, and listening the sound of a flock chatting away before roosting for the night is one of my birding joys. They often visit garden feeders and I feel fortunate to see a pair in my garden most days.
House Sparrow
European Starling
Day 17: European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
The European Starling is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced around the world. This species has proved itself adaptable to living in urban environments, where large flocks may be considered a nuisance. They may also displace native birds.
At first sight, Starlings may appear as though they have a drab dark plumage, but seen in bright lighting, the wonderful iridescence of their glossy feathers is evident. In winter their plumage has pale spots that resemble arrowheads.
Before roosting at night, Starlings gather in large numbers and the flock wheels through the air, creating clouds of wispy shapes that coalesce and disperse in a seemingly magical way. This is known as a murmuration.
They are gregarious, and the calls of a roosting flock can be incredibly loud. I recall hearing a roost as a child, and thinking I could hear loud machinery rather than birds. They have a wide vocabulary and are known to incorporate the calls of other birds.