Tags
Bird feeders, Birds at Ninewells Wood, Birds in Ninewells wood, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Monmouthshire woodlands, Ninewells Wood, Species seen at Catbrook Wood, Woodland birds
In the last week we have had sub zero temperatures virtually 24/7 Maybe just getting above zero for a couple of hours on some days and then down to minus five or more every night. This has preserved the snow which fell about a week ago and with the addition of hoar frost it has remained very pretty all week.
I now have two feeders up at the wood, one has a mix of bird seed and the other has peanuts, I am also putting out various goodies on the log pile some of which seems to interest a few species. This is what I have seen and photographed, some have been more obliging than others!
Commonest are probably the Blue Tits, and they are relatively easy to photograph as they are less nervous than some of the others.
Coal Tits are almost as common as the Blue tits and I sort of like them more it is the slight brown to rust colour on their flanks that appeals. These are probably the quickest in and out chappies and as such difficult to get a good shot of.
Great Tits come next and they are fine but a bit contrasty with the almost black colour and the bright yellow. All of these are very common and it is a non stop parade of these chappies.
Robins are around, often chasing one another about, they also sit and pose quite a lot almost asking you to take their picture, Usually they feed from what is on the logs or the ground but occasionally they will take bird seed from the feeder. I hav not seen them on the peanuts.
Similar to the Robin is the Hedge Sparrow but less bold and more subtle colours.
There are a reasonable number of Blackbirds about, never on the feeders always on the ground or logs. The contrast with the snow makes photographing them more difficult. Also for some reason males seem to vastly outnumber females? Why?
Less common but seen every day is the Chaffinch, I have only seen one at a time and it is always a male, I suspect it is the same one every time, I thought they went round in small flocks why is this one Johnny no mates?
Since putting up the feeders I am now getting a few Nuthatches, one is very recognisable as it has a scruffy hair do, well several feathers out of place on the top of its head, his mates are better groomed. They prefer the peanuts.
Not yet seen on the feeders or logs are Woodpeckers, The Great Spotted Woodpecker has several times flown close by the feeders but not landed whilst I have been watching. There is also a Green Woodpecker about, more often heard than seen but I did get a blurry shot of it on a distant tree obscured somewhat by closer young Silver Birch trees.
Buzzards are regular overhead but one did make use of one of the tall straggly Oaks, which survived the felling of the Pines and are now slowly filling out a bit. The Buzzard stayed put for some time before flying off, I have seen Red Kites but not last week.
To complete the list I have also seen Magpies, Jays, Woodpigeons, Crows, Bullfinch and Redwing.
I am looking forward to more Chaffinches perhaps accompanied by Bramblings, maybe a greenfinch and wouldn’t a hawfinch be nice.
Ninewells Wood 
We only see black blackbirds in the garden in the winter, male I presume. Where are the females? Amelia
Yes I see predominantly black male blackbirds and only rarely a brown female one.