RANGER RALPHS BIRDWATCH – OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2009. Can you smell autumn in the air? The first of the leaves have started to fall, Robins are singing their soft song and you should begin to notice different birds to the ones you were seeing for the past couple of months. In my own garden on the edge of Dartmoor we have been visited daily throughout the summer by large numbers of Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Dunnocks, Robins and Blue Tits but in this the first week of October they have been joined by a Grey Wagtail, Bullfinches, Blackcap, Long Tailed Tits and a Marsh Tit. Out on the moor I saw a single Lapwing at Princetown, a Partridge at Sheepstor and a small flock of Crossbills at Burrator, over at Harford I saw 6 Kestrels and 5 Buzzards, all on the ground in the same small area, they had probably found a plentiful supply of Crane flies or similar insects. Remember that if you can find a good source of food there is a pretty good chance of seeing birds feeding on it!  
 
Berries, fruit and nuts are abundant at this time of the year and birds will be taking advantage of nature’s bounty while they can, either to fatten up for the coming winter or to take on “fuel” for migration. I noticed a flock of Chaffinches today that have learned to take advantage of motor cars! They were feeding on Beech mast that had been crushed by tyres, making getting at the tender seeds inside the tough hard outer casing so much easier. Remember to look carefully at Chaffinch flocks, you may spot a Brambling, a winter visitor which should be arriving soon,(if you want to attract these to your garden feeders they seem to love sunflower hearts). The first Redwings of the autumn have been seen at Stover Country Park just on the edge of Dartmoor so look out for them and the larger Fieldfares feeding on berries and fallen fruit. Have you ever noticed when watching birds feeding at your garden bird table or nut basket that whereas Blue Tits and Great Tits will stay there and eat all that they want the smaller Coal Tit will snatch a piece of food and fly off with it. The reason for this behaviour is that when foraging for food in mixed flocks the bigger and more aggressive birds will wait for the Coal Tit to find food then take it away from him! The poor little Coal Tit has learned to fly away with the food and hide it and then when the coast is clear he can go back and eat it without being picked on. Nuthatches do the same on our Bird Table taking away whole peanuts and stashing them in a big Oak tree at the bottom of the garden, although I never see anything bullying a Nuthatch, in fact quite the opposite our ones seem to regard the bird table as their private property and often chase away other small birds.
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by Ranger Paul S |
