What birds (are you/have you been) watching? What birds have been watching you?

[jayne lee wilson]

I hadn't realised that the wren is Britain's commonest bird - can you believe that?? It came up on one of those irritating pre-ad break questionnaires yesterday.

That looks a little dubious to me, despite some BTO Estimates in support. The Wren never comes very high on the RSPB Annual watch....

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/results/

Despite seeming shy and skulking they allow close approach in some locations, or don't seem to notice if you are nearby; but I never see more than two pairs here - more importantly, never hear more than two or three singing males, here or in a given area of local woods (no, still can't back get to them yet...)

In Winter they can form surprisingly big communal roosts. 10 or 20 can cram into a single nest box or loftspace sometimes, for warmth; I think the biggest recorded was 61! (Norfolk 1969).

[cloughie]

That looks a little dubious to me, despite some BTO Estimates in support. The Wren never comes very high on the RSPB Annual watch....

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/results/

Despite seeming shy and skulking they allow close approach in some locations, or don't seem to notice if you are nearby; but I never see more than two pairs here - more importantly, never hear more than two or three singing males, here or in a given area of local woods (no, still can't back get to them yet...)

In Winter they can form surprisingly big communal roosts. 10 or 20 can cram into a single nest box or loftspace sometimes, for warmth; I think the biggest recorded was 61! (Norfolk 1969).

I would believe it - they are very small and though I see one regularly in the garden I often wonder - is it the same one? Their size has the great advantage of hiding without being seen.

[Serial_Apologist]

In Winter they can form surprisingly big communal roosts. 10 or 20 can cram into a single nest box or loftspace sometimes, for warmth; I think the biggest recorded was 61! (Norfolk 1969).

You've reminded me that another of those ad break questionnaires that came up was: what is the record for the maximum number of people to be crammed into a Mini? I didn't bother to finish my ad break ablutions in time to find out.

[Bryn]

Are wrens still as persecuted by children in Ireland at Christmas as they traditionally were?

[ardcarp]

I'd not heard of this barbaric 'Wren Day' before Bryn.

Here's a Wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Day

It is with some relief that I read a 'fake wren' is used nowadays. One hopes.

[jayne lee wilson]

I think we all prefer them alive.....and how alive, pulsating with song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP7TepK7eAs

The songster deftly steps aside to allow the beetle to pass by unhindered.......

[LezLee]

'My' wren woke me up at 6.30 this morning! Where does that big voice come from?

[oddoneout]

During my morning wander round he garden just now I heard a lot of gull noise and looked up expecting to see one of the small peripatetic flocks we have here, but it was just a pair. The reason for the noise was a cruising buzzard which they were determinedly and loudly mobbing. It eventually cruised off 'their' patch and they shut up.

[vinteuil]

Don't suppose anyone's seen one of these in the back garden?

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-last-sighting

... nor yet one of these?

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/26/strange-pale-penguin-rare-yellow-and-white-bird-discovered-among-king-penguins-in-atlantic

.

[LezLee]

During the recent snow my sister had 11 red kites overflying her small container garden in Harrogate. There were about 6 inches of snow. How do the birds know there's any prey there?

[jayne lee wilson]

During the recent snow my sister had 11 red kites overflying her small container garden in Harrogate. There were about 6 inches of snow. How do the birds know there's any prey there?

In very cold weather many birds, from Winter Thrushes to Birds of Prey, do move around the country quickly; as you imply, frozen winter landscapes offer little nourishment. Those Kites may have found the area fruitful in warmer times, or could have been hoping to scavenge off human waste...

[oddoneout]

During the recent snow my sister had 11 red kites overflying her small container garden in Harrogate. There were about 6 inches of snow. How do the birds know there's any prey there?

As carrion eaters they don't need prey as such, and may have learnt that human habitation is a possible food source. 11 at once would do a pretty good job of clearing snow away to get at anything on the ground I would think!

[LezLee]

In very cold weather many birds, from Winter Thrushes to Birds of Prey, do move around the country quickly; as you imply, frozen winter landscapes offer little nourishment. Those Kites may have found the area fruitful in warmer times, or could have been hoping to scavenge off human waste...

Yes you're right, it is their normal hunting ground.

[ardcarp]

About skylarks:

Certainly earlier than last year, ardcarp. This morning I actually managed to see two of them flying in the sky, singing away - cheered the soul

Seen and heard on Dartmoor yesterday by one of my daughters. Obviously the recent cold snap didn't set back their routine! And it's fabulous weather in the SW now.

[Dermot]

Are wrens still as persecuted by children in Ireland at Christmas as they traditionally were?

In the mid-nineteen fifties, on St. Stephen's Day on the South Circular Road in Dublin, local boys went collecting from door to door as wren boys. There was no wren, either live or artificial, involved. We dressed-up in our Christmas presents, which were invariably either a cowboy outfit, replete with six-shooter, or a Red Indian costume. When the woman of the house opened the front door, we chanted this refrain,

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze
Although she was small, her family was great
Come out young lady and give us a treat

We hoped to receive a penny, or at least a half-penny, from every house. We were the last boys to do this. By the start of the nineteen sixties, the tradition had died out.