10-JUL-2005
Blackbird
Turdus merula
AKA: Common blackbird
The males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds one of the most striking garden birds. One of the commonest UK birds, its mellow song is also a favourite. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
04-FEB-2005
Blackbird (f)
Turdus merula
AKA: Common blackbird
The males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds one of the most striking garden birds. One of the commonest UK birds, its mellow song is also a favourite. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
07-MAY-2006
Blackbird (fledgling)
Turdus merula
AKA: Common blackbird
The males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds one of the most striking garden birds. One of the commonest UK birds, its mellow song is also a favourite. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
09-JUL-2005
Black backed gull
Larus marinus
A very large, thick-set black-backed gull, with a powerful beak. Adults are blacker than the smaller lesser black-backed gull. It has a heavy flight and can look quite hunched when perched. It will fight off other gulls and chase them to snatch food.
13-DEC-2005
Blue tit
Parus caeruleus
Its colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green make the blue tit one of the most attractive resident garden birds. Almost any garden with a peanut feeder will attract them and they readily breed in nestboxes. In winter they form flocks with other tit species and a garden with four or five at a bird table at any one time, may be feeding 20 or more. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
14-DEC-2005
Bullfinch (male)
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
The male is unmistakable with his bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back, black cap and tail, and bright white rump. The flash of the rump in flight and the sad call note are usually the first signs of bullfinches being present. They feed voraciously of the buds of various trees in spring and were once a 'pest' of fruit crops. Recent declines place it on the Red List. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
NB: The copyright for this image was purchased from me by Deluxebase Ltd but they have granted me permission to still use it here on a personal use basis.
14-JAN-2006
Bullfinch (female)
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
The female is less colorful than the unmistakable male with his bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back, black cap and tail, and bright white rump. The flash of the rump in flight and the sad call note are usually the first signs of bullfinches being present. They feed voraciously of the buds of various trees in spring and were once a 'pest' of fruit crops. Recent declines place it on the Red List. (Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
16-JUL-2005
Buzzard
Buteo buteo
AKA: Common buzzard
The commonest UK bird of prey, it is quite large with broad, rounded wings, and a short neck and tail. When gliding and soaring it will often hold its wings in a shallow 'V'. It is variable in colour from all dark brown to birds with pale heads and breasts, all have dark wingtips and an unbanded tail.
(Info from www.pbase.org.uk)
08-APR-2005
Chaffinch (male)
Fringilla coelebs
The chaffinch is the UK’s second commonest breeding bird, and is arguably the most colourful of the UK's finches. Its patterned plumage helps it to blend in when feeding on the ground and it becomes most obvious when it flies, revealing a flash of white on the wings and white outer tail feathers. It does not feed openly on bird feeders - it prefers to hop about under the bird table or under the hedge. You’ll usually hear chaffinches before you see them, with their loud song and varied calls.
(Info from wwww.rspb.org.uk)
30-MAR-2005
Chaffinch (f)
Fringilla coelebs
The chaffinch is the UK’s second commonest breeding bird, and is arguably the most colourful of the UK's finches. Its patterned plumage helps it to blend in when feeding on the ground and it becomes most obvious when it flies, revealing a flash of white on the wings and white outer tail feathers. It does not feed openly on bird feeders - it prefers to hop about under the bird table or under the hedge. You’ll usually hear chaffinches before you see them, with their loud song and varied calls.
09-JUN-2006
Curlew
Numenius arquata
AKA: Eurasian curlew
The curlew is the largest European wading bird, instantly recognisable on winter estuaries or summer moors with its long down-curved bill, brown upperparts and long legs. There have been worrying breeding declines in many areas largely due to loss of habitat through agricultural intensification. It is included on the Amber List as a bird with important breeding and wintering populations in the UK. (Info from rspb.org.uk)
27-APR-2005
Dunnock
Prunella modularis
AKA: Hedge sparrow, Hedge accentor,
A small brown and grey bird. Quiet and inobtrusive, it is often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving with a rather nervous, shuffling gait, often flicking its wings as it goes. When two rival males come together they become animated with lots of wing-flicking and loud calling.
(Info from www.rspb.org.uk)
