Dunnock
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DECEMBER 2024
Hooray ... we have passed the Winter solstice shortest day at last. Only incremental .. but we can look forward to extra minutes of daylight into the New Year. As I write there are flocks of Redwings and the odd Mistle Thrush in the adjacent paddock with parties of Titmice .. Blue, Coal and Great .. busily searching for insects in the bushes. I have been slow in cleaning and filling the bird feeders in these cold conditions and our local friendly Robin is very grumpy; I need to get started! A Dunnock ("Hedge Sparrow") is often seen on our terrace picking off any remaining seed heads. I have deliberately inserted inverted commas as this wonderful little bird deserves some further explanation. It very much is NOT a Sparrow .. a Dunnock is a member of the ACCENTOR family .. completely separate from the House Sparrows (Photo attached). The Victorians .. bless them .. saw it in a hedge and immediately it became a hedge sparrow. Sadly there are many other examples .. the Dartford Warbler .. yes you have got it .. found in Dartford, but just obviously on passage when sighted. To be fair nineteenth century birders did not have the benefit of good optical equipment and could only make a guess as to its proper classification.
Get the binoculars out and look carefully.... It is not at all like a House Sparrow ( Passer Domesticus)
Hooray ... we have passed the Winter solstice shortest day at last. Only incremental .. but we can look forward to extra minutes of daylight into the New Year. As I write there are flocks of Redwings and the odd Mistle Thrush in the adjacent paddock with parties of Titmice .. Blue, Coal and Great .. busily searching for insects in the bushes. I have been slow in cleaning and filling the bird feeders in these cold conditions and our local friendly Robin is very grumpy; I need to get started! A Dunnock ("Hedge Sparrow") is often seen on our terrace picking off any remaining seed heads. I have deliberately inserted inverted commas as this wonderful little bird deserves some further explanation. It very much is NOT a Sparrow .. a Dunnock is a member of the ACCENTOR family .. completely separate from the House Sparrows (Photo attached). The Victorians .. bless them .. saw it in a hedge and immediately it became a hedge sparrow. Sadly there are many other examples .. the Dartford Warbler .. yes you have got it .. found in Dartford, but just obviously on passage when sighted. To be fair nineteenth century birders did not have the benefit of good optical equipment and could only make a guess as to its proper classification.
Get the binoculars out and look carefully.... It is not at all like a House Sparrow ( Passer Domesticus)
Mistlethrush
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Redwing
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The mention of the Mistle Thrush above also merits some detail. I noted a pair flying together over my neighbour's garden on the 14th of this month. Exactly what I would expect from a bird that has a nesting period starting in January .. the earliest of all the UK bird species. A pair breed here regularly and they were obviously looking for a suitable nesting site. There are many photographs of nestlings being fed in the month of February with a ring of snow actually on the rim of the cupped nest! Mistle Thrushes are much bigger than the common Song Thrush and difficult to photograph well. I have attached a shot taken from the bedroom window with a long lens .. it will not win any prizes but I hope you can see enough of the bird to assess the size difference with the Redwing to the left. The call is distinctive .. a very loud abrasive rattling sound. I have also added a shot of a lone Redwing .. again at a distance of some 85 metres .. to hopefully show the difference with the Song Thrush despite the poor focus.
Tawny Owls are still calling strongly and will go on until well into January .. particularly in the early dawn and I am already expecting the first sight of Snowdrops pushing through .. with climate change .. earlier every year.
For a day out remember the Pink Footed Geese in Norfolk .. particularly Holkham Freshmarsh .. the numbers now up in the thousands .. an extraordinary sight and SOUND!
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year
Brian Taylor
Tawny Owls are still calling strongly and will go on until well into January .. particularly in the early dawn and I am already expecting the first sight of Snowdrops pushing through .. with climate change .. earlier every year.
For a day out remember the Pink Footed Geese in Norfolk .. particularly Holkham Freshmarsh .. the numbers now up in the thousands .. an extraordinary sight and SOUND!
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year
Brian Taylor