November 2013

Stock Dove (Columba oenas)

Most of this month was spent photographing the birds coming to the feeders in my garden.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas)

The demographic of the birds visiting my garden has changed drastically in the three years I have been living in Attenborough. Over the entire winter of my first year I didn't see a single House Sparrow and, of the 20+ species visiting daily, the most abundant bird at the feeders were Reed Buntings.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

In contrast, this winter I have so far only seen one Reed Bunting and the vast majority of the birds coming to the feeders are House Sparrows with only a few Chaffinches, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits and the occasional Coal Tit and Goldfinch also visiting.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

The weather is still very mild though, so there is probably still a good supply of natural food available in the surrounding area and the birds have not yet been forced to search for food in more suburban areas yet. Hopefully the diversity of the birds in my garden will improve when the weather gets colder and the frosts become more frequent... I certainly hope so, because I have to say I am starting to get a bit bored of photographing nothing but House Sparrows!

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

For a bit of variety, I have also been spending a bit of time photographing the birds coming to the feeders on my local reserve. There the most common birds are Tree Sparrows.

Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)

Underneath the feeders a large number of Brown Rats can be observed taking advantage of the abundant grain thrown to the ground by the messy feeding habits of the sparrows and finches.

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

At the moment there are often over 20 rats present throughout the day, whenever the Woodpigeons or Mallards are not around to chase them off.

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Newly-weened rats, such as the one in the above photo, can easily be mistaken for mice but they can usually be identified by their over-sized hind feet which develop at a proportionally faster rate than the rest of their bodies.

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

October 2013 2013 Diary Index December 2013