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| Paul Matthews |
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As we enter a new year, it is a good time to review the
past twelve months to see if 2005 was a good, bad, or just
average year for birds in our area.
The year started very
well with unprecedented numbers of Waxwings throughout
Hampshire.
This Scandinavian visitor rarely reaches our
county in any great numbers, but groups of 50 or more were
seen in Southampton, Hythe, and Lymington.
Spring brought
the usual mix of migrants in reasonably good numbers, followed
by a summer with some unusual Gull and Tern species.
The
Autumn brought some very stormy weather which helped bring
a number of American vagrants to our shores, as well as
several interesting wader species.
The start of winter
has by contrast been quiet for birds. Winter Thrushes are
harder to find so far, but Brambling numbers have been
quite good.
Overall, I would say 2005 was an average birding
year. Like most Birdwatchers, I keep a year list of my
sightings, and at the time of writing this (29/12/05),
I had managed to see 175 species, mostly in Hampshire or
Dorset. This is quite a low total as it should be possible
to see over 200 birds in Hampshire each year, provided
you were willing to drive across the county as soon as
rarities were reported.
I was asked recently why we seem
to be getting more unusual birds visting our country these
days.
I guess its easy to point to global warming as one
cause, with changing weather patterns pushing birds into
new territories, such as with Little Egrets for example,
but I also think that in recent years there are far more
people actively bird watching.
We can probably thank Bill
Oddie’s TV shows
for that.
Also we now have the internet, pagers and text
messaging available, so now when an unusual bird is found
the news gets out very quickly, often creating a mass outbreak
of "twitching", when birders from all over the
country go racing to a certain spot to try and see a rare
bird.
I’m sure that with more people birdwatching
now we are bound to have more rarities found.
It is snowing
as I write this report, and with temperatures plummeting
life is quite tough for our birds. Food is hard to come
by, the ground is frozen, and if we get a layer of snow
the small amount of food that is around will be hidden.
This is the time of year when most of us will notice more
birds in our gardens and they will rely on us for the food
that we provide for them.
It is also very important that
we provide a source of clean fresh drinking water, which
will need to be replaced daily, particularly if it freezes
overnight.
Many people forget that birds need to drink
and bathe too, and with all natural sources of water frozen
solid, they will need to use whatever we can provide for
them.
During the coming month possibly the best two places to
birdwatch are your garden, and the coast.
Your garden will
be used by many species, Robins, Thrushes, Finches and
Tits amongst them.
Look out for the colourful Goldfinch,
possibly Siskin or even Brambling on your seed feeders.
January is also a good time to spot over wintering "summer
visitors" like Blackcap or Chiffchaff, which are staying
here to avoid the colder weather in Europe.
Out on the
coast we might be able to spot 5 species of Grebes, 3 species
of Divers, Eider, Scoter, and long tailed duck. Inland
water might produce Goosander or Smew, and check out reed
beds for Bearded Tit or even a Bittern.
I will again keep a year list during 2006 and will update
you each month on my progress to beat my best ever total
of 177 species.
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| Big Garden Birdwatch from the RSPB |
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And finally, the RSPB are running their garden birdwatch
survey on January 28th/29th.
To take part just watch the
birds in your garden for an hour and count everything you
see. Look at the RSPB website for full details.
(Follow
this link)
Have a good New Year, and happy birding.
Paul Matthews
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