Small Birds' Winter

Looking back to last July, when this picture was taken, gives a reminder of what a grim time our small birds have through the winter. When seed is put out on the front wall now, we see four or five coming at a time, yet in this picture there are no less than twenty-one birds and seven species represented.

It hasn't been a particularly cold winter, but the rain, gales, and activities of a sparrow hawk have all taken their toll.

Chaffinches, as in the top picture, still dominate those that come for seed and peanuts - there are probably as many chaffinches as there are all the other birds puts together. The only species which can outnumber them is the goldfinch, when a 'charm' of them arrives and takes over the peanut feeders; but they don't stay long.

The dunnocks, which take seed only, have survived well. Most of them seem to spend their day in the bramble patch the other side of our boundary wall. They're usually first on the scene in the early morning, and are learning to be very tame.

We've had an unusually large number of robins spend the winter with us. They're usually very argumentative birds, chasing off any rivals, but the four that we see must have signed a truce, perhaps as a strategy to survive the winter. One of them has a very distinctive white flash on his wings.

We have a small group of resident blackbirds, perhaps those that are left of the family which nested with us last summer, the occasional greenfinch, a few house sparrows, and a passing pair of yellowhammers. The blue tits and great tits have survived quite well.

It's been a bad year for two of our favourite species. We like siskins because they're such a tiny bird yet very unafraid, allowing one to walk up to within a few feet before flying off. The other species that hasn't been much in evidence this year is the coal tit.

Despite their fallen numbers, these birds have cost us an arm and a leg in food, but it's well worth it just for the sheer pleasure of sitting by the window on a winter's day and watching them go about their tiny business.