Birdparty

Birdparty; Are you going?

Girecrest

I went to check on a male Firecrest in a local wood this morning.  I hadn't been to look at it for a few weeks but last time I did it had paired with a female Goldcrest and she was making a nest.  I'd never heard it sing, despite others telling me it did so regularly.  However, after re-finding the right spot in the wood and hearing what I thought was a Goldcrest sing close-by I locked my bins on the male Firecrest moving around the folliage.  It was good to know he was still in residence.  After a couple of minutes I heard the Goldcrest sing in the same tree - a bit close for comfort I thought, especially as I know Firecrests and Goldcrests don't really get on.  I then realised the 'Goldcrest' song was actually coming from the Firecrest!

My ears are definitely getting slowly worse with age, but I have never heard a Firecrest give a song so close to a Goldcrests before.  I recorded it on my Remembird and have created a sonogram in Ravenlite, as well as recording a Goldcrest in the same area, and I have also created a sonogram of a 'normal' Firecrests song I recorded a couple of years ago.  Take a look and listen and please drop me a comment if anyone's come across this before - it had me a bit foxed!

I do wonder if because it's paired with a female Goldcrest it has adapted its song to be more attractive?  It is certainly something I've never come across before, however I have now seen at least four mixed pairings of Firecrest and Goldcrest, several of which have made nests and at least one of them feeding young, although I never saw the outcome of that nest.  Are there any definite hybrids know about?  I may have to do some Googling to find out...

Edit - found out somre more.  See here.

Firecrest singing like a Goldcrest by Steve Blain

Firecrest singing like Goldcrest

Goldcrest singing by Steve Blain

Goldcrest

Firecrest normal song

Rumper

I had a quick trip up to Grafham Water this morning to see this lovely Red-rumped Swallow.  When I first arrived I couldn't see any birders or the bird.  A quick walk on to the dam and something flicked up from my feet - the swallow!  It flew around for a while and landed no more than around 8 feet from me.  It gave stunning views for around four minutes until a blundering cyclist came along to within a few inches of it and it flew off towards Plummer car park.  Luckily we relocated it flying over the road between the dam and the car park a while later, and still giving fantastic views.

Dogging

Prairie Dogs running wild at Broom

This wasn't a species I ever thought I'd see around Broom - Prairie Dogs!  After a tip-off the other day about these I was a little sceptical of their existence - I thought it was so unlikely, especially as I'd been down to try and see them a few times and only seen Rabbits.  This morning I ambled down and saw what I thought was a huge ginger rat zoom over the grass.  After a minute or so I spied two little heads peeping out of a burrow - blimey!

So, where are they from, how long are they going to last in the wild, and are they bad for the local environment?  I guess time will tell, but for the moment they're an interesting addition to the local fauna.

The sound of spring

Paul H and I popped up to Paxton Pits this evening to see the Nightingales.  Only a handful of birds are in already but one of them performed admirably for us.  Wonderful birds.  If you want to see and hear Nightingales then Paxton Pits is most definitely the place to go.

(Blimey - it's amazing what else you find out when Googling 'Nightingale' - my post isn't about "a care home for older Jewish people", nor a "goth rock, now progressive/AOR metal/rock band from Örebro in Sweden", or a gay nightclub, or even somewhere to go and get "classically stylish clothes for mature women in sizes 10-34 including wide fitting shoes" but feel free to follow the links in case you've arrived here accidentally)