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Vulnerable: Wrens suffer when the cold snap bites
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Walk on the wintry side for all wildlife

By Adrian Lawson
January 08, 2010

This harsh weather has been great if you want to enjoy the countryside. Having plenty of time off and spectacular views wherever you go is appealing.

The wildlife has suffered though. It is too cold for many birds and they have been forced south. Ducks can’t live on frozen lakes and ponds and have headed for the coast. Many birds have succumbed to the cold, little wrens often the first to die in freezing temperatures when food is inaccessible. But a lot of birds move to the edge of town, or even into town, where it is just a little bit warmer.

The obvious and noticeable bird in town is the small flock of starlings that have been roosting rather noisily in the holly tree in Minster Street. There are nowhere near as many as there used to be but even so there is still a flock of a couple of hundred birds.

On the pond at Emmer Green a rare pintail duck has been visiting, tempted by the small patch of ice free water and the company of a few dozen mallards.

On the edge of town I spooked a few woodcock, a rare woodland wading bird. They had found shelter and food in a patch of marshy woodland in the shadow of the Coley High rise flats, the first time I have ever seen woodcock there.

On returning from an extended walk I found the snow in my front garden covered in seed from the silver birch tree. There were no seeds lying there when I left, and I knew it could only be one thing, redpolls. Looking up there were several of these tiny little finches gorging themselves on the hundreds of catkins. Over the next few days they stripped bare the four trees growing in my garden, and left the ground covered in seeds, which they then started on.

They also discovered the seeds in some of the feeders and seem now to have taken up residence.

While watching them I noticed a wren fly in to a bird box on the side of the house, followed by another, then another. This cold weather has been hard, but it is not all bad!

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I had Redwings and Fieldfares in my garden, and I spotted a Snipe in prospect park, where there is a warm wet muddy patch in the middle of all that snow.

szegerely, reading
14/01/2010 at 10:53

Not sure why the wren caption is under a picture of a Song Thrush but fascinated by article nevertheless - I am looking out for those Redpolls and may take a stroll over the meadows to take a look for Woodcock. My favourite sight has been seeing the flocks of Redwings coming into the town assumedly to find berries. I have seen at least 5 or 6 flocks of 20 more and a flock of at least 50 where my mum lives in Whitley Wood on Sunday. One flock was camped out on the junction of Berkeley Avenue and Rose Kiln Lane last Friday and I spent ages trying to get a good picture.