Going for a song (thrush)

It’s been a week of Turdidae, what with the Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) arriving in our gardens and the Blackbirds (Turdus merula) chasing off Redwings (Turdus iliacus). Then, a quick stop at Wimpole Hall to check in on the Hawfinches (none seen, this time) led to my witnessing and recording a tussle between two Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), I assume with all this aggression it was a fight rather than courtship.

Funny-looking Thrushes

What are all these funny-looking thrushes that have turned up in our gardens looking fed-up and fluffed up. Well, regular readers will know they’re Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris). I’ve put together a very short and simple documentary based on some footage of the Fieldfare that is using our firethorn like Airbnb with benefits. It’s hardly Attenborough’s Life of Birds, but hey…this is Sciencebase not BBC America!

Sound recording of Fieldfare by Mikael Litsgård, XC375213. Accessible at http://www.xeno-canto.org/375213.

Why feed the birds?

A friend asked me why we should feed wild birds, especially given the harsh weather conditions, wouldn’t it just be natural to let them fend for themselves, he suggested.

Well, isn’t it kinder to help? But, more to the point, it’s human behaviour (intensive farming practices, pollution, industrialisation) that has meant that so many species face extinction, surely we have an obligation to assist where we can? I spoke to an experienced birdwatcher not too long ago who told me of the flocks of birds that he used to see as a child, species that rarely make an appearance these days. And, yes, while there have been increases in numbers and some species have bounced back from extinction, the figures are not pretty overall.

For a nation of bird/animal lovers, we don’t have a good record. (Perhaps not as bad as nations that trap birds illegally in nets or on limed trees like so many aerial fish nor those places where shooting birds for sport or out of sheer malice (which also includes this country) is regarded as acceptable.

So, I will continue to break the ice on our birdbath, fill the feeders with expensive nijer seeds and sunflower hearts (as opposed to the cheap mixed bags of seed that are mostly filler that the birds discard anyway). I will keep adding suet pellets to other feeders and scatter meal worm on to a tray under a refuge that small ground feeders, but not rats nor corvids can enter.

This week, we have had a small influx of Fieldfares coming in from the cold fields, there is a pair of Pied Wagtails flitting about and seeking shelter under our lean-to, and a Song Thrush turned up recently, not seen one of those in the garden for a while. There are also the dozen or so Goldfinches that enjoy the nijer seeds, one Redpoll, the usual Blackbirds, Robin, Starlings, overwintering Blackcaps, Greenfinches, and Tits – Blue, Great, and Coal – in the garden on and off, as well as the Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons.

What else? Oh, yes, a few Jackdaws, Magpies, and Rooks. And, hopefully, any time soon, seeking out our berry bushes (Firethorn, pyracantha) Waxwings (I can only hope). No Bramblings nor Hawfinches yet, although they’re not far away according to bird reports.

Many bird species have gone extinct in recent decades, you are very unlikely to see a Bluethroat in the UK ever again, but there are many others. Most of the decline is our fault, it’s not a natural decline, it is farming, industry, and transport that have removed the natural world the birds previously inhabited, so, yes, we should feed the birds, even it is no longer “tuppence a bag”.

Look into my eyes Columba

I’ve taken a few fairly close snaps of Wood Pigeons (Columba palumbus) and noticed that the pupils of their eyes do not seem to be perfectly round. Same with a few other birds, I assumed it was just an aberration, however, I wanted to be sure.

It didn’t take much web searching to discover that other people have noticed this too. Someone asked about it recently on the RSPB website and got a reply from Hein van Grouw, who is apparently Senior Curator, Bird Group at the Natural History Museum:

“Yes, wood pigeons seem to have non-circular pupils. The pupil, however, is circular but due to a spot of dark pigment in the iris the pupil seems to be non-circular. I have no idea what the reason (advantage) is for this. What I do know is that several other (tropical) species, mainly Fruit Doves, have it too.”

I must say though, it doesn’t look like pigmentation in the iris, it looks like a distortion of the edge of the pupil itself, at least in the photos I’ve taken. Oystercatchers have a pigment fleck too and you can tell what sex they are from this, apparently.

Wood Pigeons do seem to have really good eyesight regardless of the shape of their pupils, and perhaps partly because of them, they will veer off their flight path if they spot you walking below their course even through trees and can definitely see you from trees in the garden when you’re inside the house. That said, they will also completely ignore you if you don’t look at them and then take flight when they catch your eye. The eyes have it. (Hat tip to my Ladybird Farmer friend Simon for pointing that out).

Fieldfare on the firethorn

Having invited the Waxwings to feast on our firethorn (pyracantha) berries, it turns out that a solitary Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) has found the supply and a snow sanctuary in our front garden. Looking rather fed-up it has fluffed up its feathers against the cold and is rapidly working its way through the fruit of the firethorn.

Presumably, driven into more sheltered area because of the chills and snow out in the fields, those downy feathers are as fluffed as they can be.

Those nictating membranes (protective eyelids) are down much of the time in between snacks to protect its eyes from the snow flurries and the wind.

Fieldfares are true Thrushes along with Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, and Ring Ouzel (the ones you’re quite likely to see in the British Isles, there are dozens of other Turdus species around the world. Turdus is Latin for Thrush as is the other half of the Fieldfare’s scientific binomial, pilaris. So its name is basically Thrush thrush. At least its compatriate the Redwing gets “flank” as the second half of its name Turdus iliacus, to indicate the prominent red markings on its flanks when it is perched with wings folded back.

Here’s my video about the Fieldfare.

Photographing the Cambridge Peregrines – Part 1

A couple of people have asked me about the Peregrine photos I blogged a few days ago, specifically, what camera, lens, and settings I used to get the shots.

Well, first off I was standing at street level on the opposite side of the road to the church, it was a dull and overcast day. The female Peregrine was perched on a corner spire of the church tower about 34 metres above street level when I arrived, I used shutter priority to get a few shots of her and then tested aperture priority. When the male arrived and they mated I was in aperture priority mode and had to be quick to tweak settings as events unfolded.

Canon 6D, Sigma 150-600mm zoom. For what I consider the clearest and best shot I got, I had optical stabilisation switched on (to compensate for hand-held camera shake. I’d set aperture to f/11 to get some depth of field, centre-point focus and left the camera to choose the shutter speed (1/500s) and ISO 1600. I had also nudged the EV up at various stages and for this shot it was +3 to compensate for the camera reading the brightness of the sky, which would otherwise under-expose the birds.

The original photo was snapped in portrait orientation 3648 x 5472 pixels, cropped down to an approximately 1500 square for posting on social media, on Sciencebase it’s a watermarked 768 square. A few PaintShop tweaks included, bringing the blacks in, lightening shadows slightly, turning up the vibrancy a touch, and applying a relatively gentle unsharp mask.

Visiting RAF…sorry, RSPB Lakenheath

They’re setting up a new hide specially designed for bird photographers, naturalistic environment, camouflage, feeding stations. So, with that in mind and the possibility of seeing beardies, Great White Egrets, Cranes, and Marsh Harriers, that was today’s trip. We saw no Bearded Tits, although sunny, it was far too windy for them to show, but there were lots of Reed Buntings, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lapwing and  Tits other than Bearded (Blue, Great, and Coal), and Goldfinch around. Cetti’s Warbler were heard but not seen and there were a few Kestrels and Stonechats around too.

Mrs Sciencebase sited Great White Egrets and Cranes as well as Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis inermis) while walking the river bank with the dog as I flitted from hide to hide on the reserve itself seeing Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Red Kite, and a few more Reed Bunting, and the occasional Wren and very little else, unfortunately.

I headed back to the photography hide after we hit our own in-car feeding station and chatted to on of the Daves (White as opposed to Rogers, I think it was) who are wardens on the sight. He explained the plans for the hide and while we chatted the Reed Bunts, Tits, a Pheasant and a Kingfisher all passed through.

Meanwhile, over his radio someone had spotted a Rough-legged Buzzard (as opposed to the many Common Buzzards over the reserve). Turned out it was Mrs Sciencebase who had seen it and asked another warden to identify it. No photos though. Mrs Sb is bins only.

The Cambridge Peregrines

Usually, a trip into Cambridge on a weekday is an urgent shopping trip for whatever reason, with maybe a half-decent coffee on the market or a pint in the Mitre or Maypole to take the edge off, oh and a few hastily snapped shots of college finials and what have you, but today I was on a mission.

Mrs Sciencebase dropped me near the University Library so I could go scouting for Peregrines. The hints had been that the male was caching prey somewhere on the library tower and shuttling his time between that site, other tall buildings in town where his missus is hanging out. Anyway, I photographed the library from a few arty-farty angles and just caught sight of the male leaving the area and heading in the direction of King’s Chapel.

So, I hoofed it in that direction, bumping into an old contact of mine, chemist Sir Alan Fersht, who was on the bridge also pointing a camera skywards. I asked him whether he’d seen the Peregrines at all, nope, but he knew they’d nested on the library building years ago. We had a nice chat about the pros and cons of various lenses for bird photography and I then legged it towards King’s and the URC. Another stop when I spotted someone else with a big zoom lens, a photographer stringing for the local paper and hoping to catch the beautiful people under blankets in punts on the Cam (it’s about 5 Celsius out there). So, quick chat with him and then through to King’s Parade. En route, I did a quick photo call with the university lecturers picketing classes in support of education and their pensions. Power to the people, and all that. There was nothing doing hawkwise at King’s, so I met up with Mrs Sciencebase for a spot of lunch before we separated again – she to shop, me to mope.

However, the Peregrine was immediately visible on a high spire. So I got a bunch of record shots quickly. I guessed it was the female and this was confirmed as she shook her tailfeathers and the male arrived for his 20-second nuptials. He headed off immediately after mating and then I spotted him circling, but her tailfeathers were not shaking this time. He went into a stoop over Fitzbillies and disappeared. I think I caught sight of him again a few moments later.

Interestingly, nobody spoke to me while I was standing in the shadow of the church (apart from our next-door neighbour who just happened to be passing), although I heard a few hilarious muttered comments such as “ooh, that’s a big one” and “is it a hawk?” and one man walked up behind me shouting “testing 1, 2, 1, 2, testing…” In between those kinds of comments I think I heard the words “quantum, “capitalism”, “Pavlovian” and a few other choice morsels. You don’t get much of that where I grew up, but it’s par for the course on the cobbled streets of Cambridge. A couple of people smiled as they cycled past either thinking of quantum capitalism or amused at my staring at what would’ve seemed like nothing more than a brick wall from their perspective.

Anyway, I’d pretty much got the money shot of the Peregrines and was just about to take a call from Mrs Sciencebase when a gent stepped up and suggested that he thought I was watching the bird on the church and had I got any good shots. Turns out he runs the Cambridge Peregrines twitter. It’s such a small town is Cambridge, full of coincidences, knights of the realm, and bird enthusiasts.

Barely a whisper of a murmuration

Once again, I headed to our neighbouring village of Rampton armed with various lenses, tripod, camera etc, but there was barely a whisper of a murmuration this evening. A few small flocks and one half-decent one but quite a distance from the roost site that featured in my murmuration video on Sunday. There was definitely an Owl around but the Starlings seemed to favour the Cow Lane side of Rampton this evening. So, just a few scene-setting photos from today’s dusk chorus and one of mini-murmuration.

Here’s the video montage I did of the Starling Murmuration on Sunday in which there were probably 5000 birds in total. You can view it on Facebook or Youtube.