Jackdaw.

A gentle stroll through Bushy Park today provided an opportunity to grab some images of our smallest corvid, the Jackdaw (Corvus monedula).

Wildlife around Heron Pond.

A very mixed week weather wise so here is a small selection of the wildlife seen during my visits to Heron Pond in Bushy Park.

As usual one of the very approachable Grey Heron was waiting near the car park.

Black-headed Gulls, in various stages of their winter plumage, waiting for a handout.

Ducks on the water included the bright eyed Tufted, Gadwall with its finely vermiculated grey body and a single (Northern) Shoveler all slowly changing into their full breeding plumage.

A surprising find this week was a juvenile Herring Gull in its mottled plumage resting on the remains of a floating nest.

 The pond also supports a small but healthy population of Red-crested Pochard.

Large numbers of Jackdaw frequent the park. They are fairly friendly and always willing to pose.

The local residents also include these two introduced species, Canada and Egyptian Geese. 

At this time of year one is never far away from a Red Stag wandering through the bracken on the lookout for hinds or protecting his existing harem often resting and hidden deep in the vegetation.

During the rut the general advice is to keep at least 50 metres from any of the deer, especially the stags but sometimes they just appear and let everyone know their intentions!

And then he sauntered away to be camouflaged once again by the autumnal hues of the ferny landscape.

All these three images are cropped so I wasn't that close and always respect the boundaries when photographing any wildlife. FAB.

Linking to Camera Critters, Saturday's Critters and I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'.

Wildlife in the Park.

Bushy Park is the second largest Royal Park in London covering an area of around 1,099 acres and there is an incredible range of wildlife and habitats within its walls. It has a distinctive landscape, shaped in part by its history as a royal hunting ground,  but also by its many ponds and streams. I often take a stroll around its largest expanse of water and here is just a sample of what I usually encounter at this time of the year.  FAB.

For the time being this female Pigeon is ignoring the attention of a broody male.

A juvenile Grey Heron chilling out.

Mute Swan creating waves.

Mr Mallard keeping an eye on everything.

A Fallow Buck looking for a snack.

Magpie, a little damp after the rain.

Jackdaw drinking some recent rainfall.

Red-crested Pochard trying to sleep.

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday.

Jackdaw.

For this weeks edition of Wild Bird Wednesday I am featuring the [Western] Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) the smallest of the UK's corvids. Often very vocal but definitely a very sociable species.

Within a flock or "clattering" there is a distinct social hierarchy and it is often very noticeable that these birds fly around in pairs. These small crows are extremely faithful and once a pair have been together for over six months they almost rarely divorce even when breeding is unsuccessful otherwise they would forfeit their nest site and slip down the social scale.

Very occasionally amongst a flock you might find one leucistic bird. Leucism is a fairly unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in a bird fail to develop properly and this can result in unusual white patches appearing in varying degrees of density or, more rarely, completely white (albino) birds. I saw this individual happily feeding with lots of his colleagues three years ago.   FAB.

Early Morning Bird Song.

A week ago I set my alarm with the intention of catching the 'Dawn Chorus' but overslept by half an hour by which time the sun was just beginning to lighten the sky at Bookham Common and the bird song was not as vocal as I'd expected. However in the first 20 minutes I heard two Nightingales plus 2 Lesser Whitethroat singing deep within the scrub and a distant calling Cuckoo to add to my year list.
Click here to hear the delightful song of a Nightingale.

The first photo call was a Blackbird in full voice, silhouetted against the western sky. 
Click here for a song recording.

 

Slowly the cloudless sky lightened and I headed in the direction of the calling Cuckoo but failed to find its perch within the wooded area but added Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant and Stock Dove to the list.
 
Returning to the open 'plain' I snapped a perched Kestrel just before it flew away. 

 

The next obvious chorister was a Song Thrush, initially just enjoying the early morning rays on its high perch and then it promptly turned away to utter its repetitive song.

Click here for a song recording.

 

As expected I saw and listened to numerous Robins as they all confirmed their presence from their lofty song posts.

I also saw and heard Willow Warbler , several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, and Dunnock.  

With the warmer weather the green clothing on the trees and bushes continues to intensify day by day so very soon many species will become more difficult to find. Above are a female Blackcap and a male Bullfinch taking a rest.

A cropped view of a silent Chiffchaff perched amongst the blossom.

Birds flying over the common included Jackdaws, a lonesome Greylag Goose and a Common Buzzard slowly soaring upwards. Others not photographed were Mallard, Collared Dove, Crow, Magpie, Canada Geese, Ring-necked Parakeets, Sparrowhawk, Grey Heron, Starling and a single Swallow which passed over the common heading northwards.

Wrens were also very vocal during my walk but failed to perch long enough (or I failed to operate the camera quick enough!) for a decent picture. 

I saw several species collecting nesting material including this obliging Robin.

As I returned to my starting point around 9am (some three hours later) the male Blackbird was in the same place and still belting out his territorial song. The final tally for my morning stroll was 34 species.  FAB.

Wonders of Witley Common.

A foggy start to the day as I headed south-west to carry out some much needed garden maintenance for my parents ..... hedge trimming!

Knowing that I had time to spare before my expected ETA I paid a visit to the sandy heathland at Witley Common where a Jackdaw was patiently surveying the scene as the sun slowly began to break through and burn off the fog and eventually lift the temperature to simulate a summers day!

The common comprises a mixture of dry heath with Common and Bell Heather plus Gorse; wet heathland where you find Cross-leaved heath and ponds that often dry outin the summer; grassland and rich woodland consisting of Scot's Pine, Silver Birch, English and Turkey Oak, Willow, Sweet Chestnut plus Hazel, Elder and Aspen. A rich habitat that promises much in the right conditions. Check out this link or more information on Lowland Heath.

During my 90 minute stroll across part of the open dry heathland and surrounding woodland edge I logged the following species; Jay, Carrion Crow, Cuckoo, Linnet, TREE PIPIT, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Common Redstart, Blackbird, Wren, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Woodpigeon, Nuthatch,  BRAMBLING, Stonechat, Common Whitethroat, Swallow, Pheasant, Kestrel and Yellowhammer. Most of my sightings were fairly distant so the following image have all been cropped.

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

Obviously not the clear shot I would have preferred but sometimes you have to accept what is on offer. I watched this individual perform its distant display flight and parachute down to another lofty tree top perch unlike its close cousin the Meadow Pipit that generally lands on the floor at the end of its flight. 

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

I am usually alerted to this chat's location by its repetative throaty clicking call and today was no exception. As soon as I lined up the distant shot it moved to another favourite perch ... ah well, patience I say to myself, it will probably come back in a few moments ... and it did.  

 Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)

For once there were far more Willow Warblers around the heathland singing their descending verse than the Chiffchaffs on my local patch.

Three for the price of one ... Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer and Chaffinch.

Plenty of Brimstone on the wing in such lovely sunny weather.

So that was the easy part of my day, the following three hours wielding a hedge trimmer has left its mark on my arm muscles but tomorrow morning will hopefully be another relaxing few hours as I reconnoitre the landscape at Hatchlands Park in preparation for a 'Dawn Chorus' walk in two weeks time.   FAB.

For more WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY images, please follow this link. 

Inside Isabella

It has been a while since I explored the Isabella Plantation within Richmond Park but the weather was sunny and bright on Tuesday morning so I thought I would take a stroll around.

Just after leaving the car park I stopped to watch a small group of Red Deer stags grazing in the shade beneath the tree canopy. 

These beasts are fairly tolerant of humans providing you don't directly invade their space and as usual I was watched very intensely by one individual while another youngster just showed his displeasure by giving me the 'bums rush'! 

 They soon returned to grazing but still keeping a wary eye on the 'watcher'!

Before entering the plantation I checked the map with the intention of planning out a route but then decided to just follow my nose and ears listening for birdie sounds ..... the repeated phrases of a Song Thrush singing from high in the oak canopy; Parakeets squawking as they moved from perch to perch; next was the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker; the sharp "tui - tui - tui" of a Nuthatch who I located with the bins but it wouldn't drop lower for a close view; plus a couple of Redpolls high in the Birches but indistinct amongst the branches to ascertain if either was a Mealy!  

When I eventually arrived at Peg Pond the first sight was a pair of Egyptian Geese in the company of their close relative, a Shelduck.  

 (Common) Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna).

 

The star turns had to be the exotic and colourful male Mandarin Duck together with his partner. (A separate post on this species will follow in due course as I took quite a few shots).

This small pond contained quite a varied selection including a male Pochard, Mallard, Shoveler, Black-headed Gull and a few Tufties but what I wasn't prepared for was the sight of 2 Northern Pintails .... obviously pinioned as they were far too trusting but again I got some close ups to share later.

 Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Once the human activity around the pond died down the Jackdaws arrived to pick up any left over scraps.

On my route back through the plantation I stopped close to a pair of feeders watching Blue, Great and the occasional Coal Tit dash in for a quick feed before returning to a nearby branch to consume their tasty tit bits. What I wasn't prepared for was the fast, dashing flight of a male Sparrowhawk who appeared from his hiding place within a Rhododendron bush some 30 feet away .... dropped onto the feeder and then took off, empty handed, returning to his hideaway .... and it all happened in the blink of an eye ... but not just ONCE ... I watched this episode repeat again and again with interludes of anything from 5 to 15 minutes.

Despite trying to focus on the feeders I only captured him partially stationery on just one fly pass! In between this activity a Grey Squirrel also monitored the feeders and eventually got up the courage to drop onto the floor to pick up some scraps.

As I made my way out of the plantation I passed under a large canopy of fragrant Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) in full bloom. I then headed off through the park towards Penn Ponds ..... to be continued.   FAB.