Monday 9th October 8.30 – 9.30 a.m.
A beautifully mild start to the week – 19C, sunny with light winds.
The birds are singing loud and clear as I arrive. There is much bickering today as the autumn song picks up tempo and the new younger birds find their place in the hierarchy.
Three Mistle Thrushes can be seen and heard having a real set to high up but close to the cabin. Their alarm call is very distinctive and resembles a football rattle or machine gun. As shy birds this was a rare sighting.
Nuthatches, on the other hand, are plump birds about the size of a Great Tit and resembling a small Woodpecker - with a distinctive blue-grey on top and chestnut on the sides. Agile with a beautiful call they are very much at home in both of the reserve woods. This morning their call is ringing out from high up in the trees as they dart from tree to tree digging insects out of the bark. They have a fondness for nuts (of which there is a plentiful supply this year) so there is every hope they will continue to thrive.