Nature Notes for January 2014

January 2013

The sparrows were making the most of the spilt seed as a flock of 15 of them hoovered it up.

A male house sparrow

I also had my first sighting of a male chaffinch pecking at the hanging suet block.

Six greenfinches were all jostling for position on a seed feeder. The greenfinches are wonderful sleek looking birds.

A male greenfinch

The GSWs made multiple visits to the garden but there isn't that much difference to tell between the males except that one appears to be more shy / cautious compared to the other. One of them was always turning up at 08:30 every morning. The female still preferring to eat peanuts.

The strangest bird sighting this month was a moorhen perched in a tree beside the garden. I have never seen this before or since.

The hour long bird count showed that the sparrows and great tits were the most numerous. The peanut feeders were the most popular.

Mammals

I spotted a very small mouse coming out from some ivy covered rocks to pick up a seed and dart back under the protection of his rocky home. I had noticed mouse holes in the soil around the base of the feeders but I had never seen any activity. Perhaps he is a harvest mouse. He certainly spent a very busy day harvesting the spilt seed. I also saw a larger mouse in the garage. I put out a line of four sunflower seeds and in the morning they were gone.

However a new cat has been spotted in the vicinity. This is a large feral looking cat but that perhaps comes from very posh stock. He (I say 'He' but it could well be a female, although it would be rather large for a female cat.) has a long crean coloured body and chocolate brown face and tail. A search on the internet makes me think that he is a long haired Siamese (LHS). He hasn't ventured into the garden yet in the day time but the car has shown paw prints on it in the morning.

I have only spotted two roe deer this month but I have seen four hares. Two were in the fields and the other two in Junk woods.

Other sightings

I saw a couple of buzzards and seven partridges on a local walk. The paths and fields are sodden now with all the rain we have been having.

There were a few tree creepers in B woods and the first signs of spring as a few green shoots were poking up through the leaf litter. In the garden the snowdrops are flowering.

Average temperature 6°C

Total rainfall 97mm