Things to look out for in November.

The weather is now becoming much more Autumnal, The winds are becoming stronger, with all of the leaves that all have fallen to the ground blowing around. Most of the leaves from the deciduous trees have now fallen. Red wings and fieldfares have now made the long journey from Scandinavia to winter in Britain. They will be seen amongst hawthorn and apple trees, Finding the remaining hawthorn berries and apples. Their have been quite a few mentions of waxwings around Worcestershire. This bird is also a migrant that Winters in Britain. The fallow,sika and red deer will be finishing their rut by now. After the ruts the males, who don`t eat during the rut will feed well getting ready for the onset of winter. The females will also stay together during winter. The females will give birth during may or June of the following year. Chaffiinches and pied wagtails,linnets,bramblings and greenfinches may be seen in mixed flock species( i will be talking about this in a later blog). They are searching for food, which could be any leftover seeds that are still  in the hedgerow or even any late surviving nuts that may still be on the ground. Blue,coal and great tits will be seen on the feeders as they themselves are eating well,getting ready for the cold months ahead as well.  Seven spotted ladybirds will be attempting to enter our houses as they seek somewhere to hibernate over winter. Late migrant red admirals  and comma`s may still be seen amongst the ivy along with queen bumble bees, as long as we havn`t really had a cold snap yet. Wood mice,yellow-necked mice, bank and field voles will still be searching for hazel nuts to eat amongst the leaf litter. Protein rich hazel nuts are important food for a variety of creatures. You can tell what animals have been around by examining the empty shells. A woodmouse will leave a round hole on the side of the hazelnut, with marks of their upper teeth evident. A bank vole will leave a round hole on the top of the hazelnut, with a clearly delineated gnawed edge. A hazel dormouse will leave a round hole on the side of the hazelnut, unlike the woodmouse the edges will be smooth. Hedgehogs will be getting ready to hibernate during November. They use a process called gluco neogenisis to enable them to hibernate, I will be talking about this as well during a later blog. The hedgehogs along with the common dormice and our seventeen species of bats are the only British mammals that hibernate. With the onset of winter food can run short for certain species, so they face the simple choice to move with the food or hibernate and these three species choose to hibernate. Starlings may be seen in large roosts during November, We are not quite sure why they roost in such large numbers, possibilities include safety in numbers, increasing their foraging efficiency or simply for warmth. Its a wonderful sight as they fly around, moving all the time like a shoal of fish in the air then suddenly all descending onto the ground.

Your sightings.

I went to slimbridge yesterday and it made me think. There were lots of migrant birds that spend their Autumn and Winter at slimbridge or use it as a stopping off point which were very enjoyable to watch. I would like you to tell me of sightings of migrant birds close to where you live or while you have been on a trip somewhere. You may see finches such as siskins or bramblings or thrushes such as fieldfares and redwings which have migrated from Scandinavia or Russia. Or you may even see a little firecrest that may winter in southern Britain. Let me know if you see whooper or bewick swans that have migrated from the Canadian artic and the artic siberia and the pink footed geese from Iceland or brent or barnacle geese that both come in from the artic as well. There are also various ducks and waders that come into Britain from their breeding ground. Go out and have some fun and tell me any of your sighting. Thank you.

The turdidae (thrushes) family.

Part one redwings and fieldfares.

By now there should be plenty of redwings and fieldfares in the country.These magnificent thrushes have flown all the way from Scandinavia(though the last couple of weeks probably felt like home).What i want you to tell me is how many of these birds you have seen and if they have been coming into your gardens?Also has anyone seen them in a mixed species flock i.e with song thrushes and blackbirds?Listen out for the 'chack-chack-chack' of the fieldfare and the 'seeeeip' of the redwing as they fly over head.These birds will stay until April/may and then head back to their breeding grounds.Redwings will eat berries such as hawthorn,yew and mountain ash,they will also eat snails and worms.Fieldfares will also eat hawthorns and will look for seeds in pastures and will eat spiders or centipedes.Fieldfares nest in a variety of habitats in Britain including farmland,woodland edges,forestry plantation's and even sometimes in your garden.Some redwings have bred in Scotland in birch,alder and pine woodlands(The nest is usually in a tree ,against a stump or in a shrub) .Dried grass,twigs and moss are what redwings make their nest out of and fieldfares will make their nests out of dried grass,moss,rootlets and lined with mud.Between five and six eggs are laid and inccubation last for between 12 and 16 days.