Lisbon

A brief winter break to Lisbon revealed some interesting bird observations. In fact what intrigued me the most was the lack of birds in the city. Given the mild weather and the green spaces that exist, I would have expected to see more. The most interesting birds, seen in the castle grounds and down by the river were the over-wintering chiffchaffs.  They spent much of their time feeding on the grassy banks of the castle foundations, so were not acting in a manner typical of the birds we see in our summer woodlands. They were very confiding, some approaching within just a few yards without apparent concern.
Besides the feral pigeons and gulls, there was a single wagtail (probably white), and a single cormorant. Otherwise, heard but not seen were some feral parakeets.

Kestrel winter hunting strategy

I see at least one |kestrel most days. What I have noticed is that there hunting strategy is very different in winter from their usual approach. I have not seen one of the birds 'hovering for months. What they tend to do is hunt from a static position, a tree, telegraph pole or even a low post. No doubt this is a way of conserving energy when there is not so much prey around and when the cold will be sapping their strength. They also fly swiftly and quite close to the ground, particularly s dusk approaches rather more akin to the hunting behavior of the sparrow hawk.

On the feeding station in the garden, there were four greenfinches, four redpolls and six goldfinches.

Early sounds of Spring

Over the last few days, the song thrushes have begun to sing. In addition, today I heard a woodpecker drumming for the first time this year.

Theer has been a mixture of relatively mild and cold days, some early flowers are out and sme summer garden flowers have survived the winter.

Yesterday at Wedgewood I saw a woodcock.

Magpie Roost

Each evening in the field behind the house, a congregation of magpies come together. I have counted as many as twenty five individual birds. As darkness falls, they fly into the bordering hawthorn hedge to spend the night. In the morning they fly down to the field prior to dispersing for the day.

Up to twelve goldfinches regularly feed on the shelled sunflowers in my feeders and there have been numerous tits joining them. Occasionally, they are scattered by the onrush of a sparrow hawk.