Dawn chorus walk

We were lucky with the weather for our sixth annual dawn chorus walk round Filnore Woods this morning.

 Blackbird

It started off at 5.00 am with blackbirds, robins, herring gulls and a tawny owl (4)

There were a couple of song thrushes although they were a bit difficult to separate from the rest (5)

After that we heard wrens, a pheasant and a wood pigeon as we climbed up the steps away from the footbridge over the stream (8)

There were several chiffchaffs and a blackcap in the valley woodland plus a great tit or two and a jay (12)

and we heard Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Carrion Crow back at the car park (making 16 species all together)

Chaffinch

Elusive thrushes

If the link to the song thrush video didn't work, search for it on youtube using this title. 

Know your thrushes - song and mistle

Greenfinch

Another fairly easy bird to recognise by its voice is the greenfinch.  They tend to wake up a bit later than blackbirds and thrushes, because their food of seeds, berries and insects is easier to find when daylight is stronger.

The song is a tuneful mix of ping-ping-pings and trills at different speeds but the tell-tale sound is the long fizz, which is sometimes included in the song and sometimes just fizzed on its own.  In this BBC 'tweet of the day' David Attenborough calls it a sneezing call.

tweet of the day - greenfinch

The yellow stripes on the wings and tail show up when it flies.

They like to nest in hedges and woodland edges.  There are usually a few calling in the hedge between the car park and the skateboad park on your way to Filnore Woods.  Come and listen on our Dawn Chorus Walk:  5.00 am on 29th April.

Greenfinch populations have been hit by a disease called trichomonosis but also by changes in farming practices such as autumn sowing of winter wheat, which means no stubble fields to glean, and late summer hedge flailing, which destroys autumn berries.

Song thrush

Like the blackbird the song thrush is an early riser and one of the first to sing at daybreak.  The song varies from bird to bird but the one thing that distinguishes the song thrush is its tendency to repeat phrases two or three times.

Here's a video by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), describing the song thrush first, including its song, and then the mistle thrush.  

We have mistle thrushes at Filnore too, but their song is more like a hesitant blackbird.  As the narrator says on this video its as if it starts singing like a blackbird and then forgets the words. 

Come and hear them for real on our
Dawn Chorus Walk, 29th April, 5.00 am.

A row of beeches

This row of young beech trees, alongside the path between posts 14 and 15 in the old tree nursery, is one of many postponed decisions.  For the trees to thrive they really need thinning out, taking out alternate trees.  On the other hand they form a distinctive half-avenue which is quite a feature.

Ummmmmm?  

In summer they look a bit different

Blackbird

One of the first birds to start singing before the sun comes up is the blackbird.  Each male proclaims his territory so that no other blackbird couples trespass on it and steal the worms.  Worms that are essential for feeding the nestlings when they hatch from eggs like these. 

found in a grubbed out hedge

The flutey song is very attractive and familiar to many but try this youtube video if you would like to hear it.

Many thanks to hebrideanwild

Better still come on our 

Dawn Chorus Walk, 29th April at 5.00 am.

Meet at Thornbury Leisure Centre car park 

by the field gate on the far side.

Planting Elms

There has been little planting of elm trees since the outbreak of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s.  However we were given three young plants grown from seed produced by large, mature and possibly disease-resistant elm trees.

So with a little help from Jacob and Harry, we have planted them up by post 6 near the viewpoint.

After carefully digging the hole each tree was carefully placed in position

And soil firmed in round the roots to make it nice and cosy.

We shall need to water them through the summer as they settle in to their new homes.

Interestingly there is one rather rare butterfly, which declined drastically in the 1970s, because the caterpillars must have elm to feed on.  Maybe these young elm plants will be visited by a female White Letter Hairstreak butterfly itching to lay her eggs.

photo: Butterfly Conservation

By the way there is a large Wych Elm tree in the hedge between the car park and the skateboard park.  Come on White Letter Hairstreaks; we are waiting for you.

Chiffchaff

All this week there has been a chiffchaff singing at Filnore Woods.  A few chiffchaffs over-winter in Britain but mostly they are summer visitors, so when you hear the distinctive 'chiff chaff chiff chuff chiff chiff chaff' song, it sounds as though spring is really here.

Filnore Woods provide ideal conditions for chiffchaffs: low scrub for nesting and tall trees to perch and sing from.

Come and hear chiffchaffs and lots of other birds singing their early morning songs on our Dawn Chorus Walk on 29th April.  We start at 5.00 am by the field gate on the far side of Thornbury leisure centre car park.

spot the leaves

Can you spot the different leaves?  There are four.  Scroll down for the answers.

1. The heart-shaped leaves of Lesser Celandine

2. The darker green leaves of Ivy with three points and lighter veins

3. The circular whorl of narrow leaves, which is Goosegrass or Cleavers or (locally) Sticky Willy

4. One shoot of Dog's Mercury, in the middle of the picture