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Birdwatching In Alice Holt Forest (Bird of the Month Archive)
August/September : Green Woodpecker
February: Great Spotted Woodpecker
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DECEMBER'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE PHEASANT(Phasianus colchicus)
>>Click here to see previous birds of the month in the archive (Gt Spotted Woodpecker, Rook, Chiffchaff, Turtle Dove, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Fieldfare)
(c) David Moore
I thought I'd avoid the obvious Robin, in favour of a bird which often appears both on our Christmas cards and on our Christmas lunch menus! Pheasants are not native to Britain or Ireland, having been introduced as gamebirds. Nobody is sure when. The Normans may have introduced them: certainly they were here by Norman times (11th Century AD) but others credit the Romans with their introduction some thousand years earlier.
Pheasant Shooting from Orme's British Field Sports (1807) The scene could so easily have taken place in Alice Holt Forest
The Pheasant's original range is accross Asia. The Romans certainly spread the bird to much of Europe, from the Caucasus Mountains (modern Georgia and Armenia) The Pheasant can be described as naturalised meaning they sustain a population of wild breeding birds, but they became quite uncommon as the preservation of Royal Forests declined in the 17th Century. Around the late 18th Century, the establishment of a large number of country estates and parks by the prosperous gnetry and the rapid development of firearms for sporting use resulted in a great revival of Pheasants as a gamebird raised annually and released for shooting. Today some 30 million birds are released annually and the original colchicus race Caucasian birds ("Old English" variety) are highly interbred with raised stock, especially Chinese birds (torquatus race "Ring-necked" Pheasants with the white collar and grey-blue rump or "Japanese Green" melanistic birds which are a darker green all over)
These pheasants are all the same species: The Common Eurasian Pheasant Phasianus colchicus but importation from different parts of Asia and selective breeding for shooting mean appearances can vary quite a bit. From L to R: "Old English" cock bird of the wild Caucasian colchicus type; cock and hen Chinese Ring-necked torquatus race, by far the commonest type bred for shooting whose genes now dominate the wild stock : Cock "Manchurian" sub-type with a lot of white on it; Dark "Melanistic" cock which is a mutation ,rather than a distinct race; Cock "Japanese Green" type versicolor which is indeed derived from the wild Kiji birds of Japan
The Pheasant is easily identified. The cock can hardly be confused with any other bird and even the brownish females can only be said to resemble the females of other introduced Pheasant species such as the Golden, Lady Amherst's, Silver and Reeve's Pheasants, none of which are numerous in Britain
Pheasants are big: a male can be 90cm long of which half is tail. Females are about two thirds the size of the male. It's a bird of woods and farmland and is to be met with all over this part of Hampshire. Most of the birds you see in the lanes and fields North of Bentley will be raised stock for sure: almost every wood and copse has the tell tale bins of feed or electrified wire enclosures where the oung birds are raised by gamekeepers safe from foxes. But Alice Holt's birds are truly wild; nowhere near as numerous ,nor as stupid as the poor chicken-like creatures which you see running along the roads elsewhere.
They feed on the Forest floor or in the little fields surrounding the Forest, generally in groups of one or two cocks and a few hens. They eat any kind of seeds and grains, insects, young green plants, berries such as hawthorn, rosehips and blackberries and (occasionally) larger items like mice or small frogs. They can reputedly swim, although I've never seen such a thing. Their preferred mode of transport is running, for which they are well adapted with their chicken-like feet (with three large toes and a tiny rear toe) driven by powerful "Drumstick" thigh muscles. As well as running at full pelt they may escape danger by squatting low and remaining still or creeping along the ground among the vegetation. As a result it's not uncommon to approach a Pheasant very close without knowing it: one may even step on one and get a heart-stopoing shock as it explodes into flight with a great squawking of the "Ko-kokk--Kokk-kokk-kokk" alarm call. At night they generally fly up into trees to roost safe from foxes which are their number one predator (After shooting parties and fast drivers who exact an almost equal death toll)
"Whirring" display
In Spring the males become more territorial, rounding up females and warning all comers off their territory with a regular "Whirring" of the wings. Two males may spar like fighting cocks ,but little damage is generally done. The male will mate with as many females as he can keep in his territory (usually three or four) and each lays beautiful roundish greeny-brown eggs in a simple scrape nest in the dense undergrowth. Again foxes are a great threat, being able to smell the warm eggs as are rats, crows and magpies. Still they manage to sustain a population by a combination of the hens' camouflage, laying large clutches (often ten or a dozen in one nest) and hatching downy, fledged chicks which, like domestic poultry are ready to run, feed and follow the mother almost immediately, unlike the helpless, naked chicks of many nest-building species.
Whether you're watching them ,shooting them or tucking into them for Christmas lunch, enjoy these remarkably "English" immigrant birds.
NOVEMBER'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE FIELDFARE (Turdus pilaris)
-Paul-Goode.png)
(c) Paul Goode
Fieldfares breed in Scandinavia and North-central Europe, including (Since the 1960's) a few in Scotland and the Peak District. We see them in winter. Arriving in late October, they're suddenly there, streaming accross the grey skies in small ragged flocks, uttering their harsh calls and alighting in the fields and hedgerows around Alice Holt Forest. The journey they make from the North is not a regular migration.: Fieldfares are gypsies that spend both the summer and the winter in widely different areas from year to year, with no great loyalty to a particular home range. So the birds we see this winter may have spent last year's cold season up to 1,000 miles away. Nor do they all migrate: some remain at home on the continent. This roving life is not without hazard: while it gives access to food supplies (especially berries and fallen apples) from far and wide, unfortunately many perish from exhaustion crossing the North Sea or arrive so weak they promptly fall prey to gulls and crows along the East Coast.
It's a large member of the Thrush family, most likely to be confused with the Mistle Thrush, which is similar in size and also has a harsh call. However the Fieldfare is boldly marked in brown and grey-blue with a distinct eye stripe. The Redwings that also come over in winter are smaller and more rotund when seen in silhouette and have the spotted front and red underwing patch when seen close up.
When not feeding noisily in apple trees and hawthorn hedges, Fieldfares often alight in grassy pastures, stubble or ploughed fields ,where they tend to stand rather alert, heads up, all facing the same way. There they look for slugs, worms ,beetles and other invertebrates with their sharp beaks. They may roost at night there too or they may fly up to the top of a hedge to rest. They're wary birds, except in cold weather when they become bold and tame, visiting gardens. They were a popular food item in Victorian times and are now an important prey species for Peregrine Falcons, Sparrowhawks and Foxes.
By now (November 9th) most of the migrations are over, and the birds roam countryside. One day you see them, next day they've moved on making their excitable noises and seemingly enjoying the cold winds and grey skies.
OCTOBER'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE JAY (Garrulus glandarius)
One of the most distinctive sounds of Alice Holt Forest is the harsh, insistent screeching of a Jay. They're found in the Forest all year, and are to be seen often flying with their distinctively weak, floating wing movements from treetop to treetop. When they're in a small flock they're even more likely to be very noisy, hence the Latin name "Garrulus" (talkative) They will often mix with other birds in baiting a roosting owl , often leading the fray until the poor owl gets bored and leaves.
Alternatively they may be seen quite close up foraging on the Forest floor and are not really as shy as they're sometimes made out to be
The Jay is a member of the Corvidae or Crow family but stands out from it's mainly black-plumaged fellows by virtue of its bright markings. The body is a kind of subtle pinkish hue, with a distinctive black tail and white rump which are very visible in flight. The wings too are black and white, but also carry a beautiful black-and-blue barred wing covert . This is not always easy to see but catch it in the right light and the wonderful bright, sky blue will be clearly visible. The head bears a small crest which is normally flat but which the bird raises when angry or threatened. The eyes, like its close cousing the Jackdaw stand out as they are bright blue with little black pupils which gives the bird an intelligent look to it.
(L) In flight (with an acorn) they show bold black-and-white markings. (C) The beautiful blue wing-covert feather (R) The crest can be raised and the eye is distictively blue with a black pupil.
They are indeed clever by bird standards. In the wild they're opportunistic and adaptable and have moved from their natural habitat of woods and hedgerows into many big cities. And Jays were often kept as cagebirds once upon a time and can be taught to mimic like a parrot.
They are found all year, breeding in the Forest too. The nest is a big pile of sticks generally high in a tree and the eggs (around 6 on average) are glossy blue and brown mottled. In Autumn we get extra birds coming to Alice holt Forest in search of acorns which they love, burying some 3,000 over the course of a month in larders in the ground for later use. They have a good memory for where they left them ,but inevetbly some get lost and the Jay does a lot to spread oak trees.
They're very omnivorous also eating a lot of invertebrates and having a taste for birds' eggs and young chicks. It was accordingly much persecuted by gamekeepers until recently. It was also popularly killed for its decorative feathers or stuffed to ornament the Victorian parlour .It's now protected unless you obtain a special license. The population however is healthy in Britain and accross much of Eurasia and it's not considered to be under threat.
One of its habits is to come down onto the Forest floor where there's a Wood Ants' nest and bask in the sun, spreading its wings and letting the ants run all over it. It's thought the ants' frantic squirting of caustic formic acid helps to relieve the Jay of the lice and mites which bother it.
AUGUST'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE GREEN WOODPECKER (Picus viridis)
Climbing a tree; Ripping into an anthill in search of its favourite food ; at the nest hole.
When you hear that incredibly rapid drumming sound in the Forest it's generally NOT the Green Woodpecker, but the more common Greater Spotted Woodpecker (See February in the Bird of the Month Archive). The two could hardly be confused. At some 31cm long , the green is a much larger bird and even in silhouette is much heavier. It's quite a sight with its wings strangely set back and it's slow, deeply undulating flight.
The colour is a yellowy green, vivid in the sun with a distinct scarlet cap and a powerful, chisel-like beak and a short, stiff tail.
Compared with the Great Spotted, it's less arboreal, spending a great deal of time on the ground, especially in pastures where it hunts for ants in particular, often ripping into the large anthills that dot old pastures such as the Bentley Station "Butterfly Meadow". Often it will find a "favourite" anthill to which it returns, being a very sedentary bird which generally sticks within a radius of only a quarter of a mile or so. So if you see one, retrn to the spot and you'll tend to see it over and over again.
The flight is rather slow and undulating
It's not by any means uncommon, but with some 24,000 breeding pairs is only half as numerous as its black and white cousin.Thankfully it's not on any of the endangered lists, having a stable population and being widely distributed in Europe and Western Asia.
The call is a very distinctive ringing "laugh" which accounts for one of its other names, the Yaffle. It's also sometimes called the Rainbird as it's supposed to have a habit of calling before rain. It uses the call to demarcate territory, rather than drumming. It does climb trees and pack out rotten wood like a Great Spotted and may drum, but it's a much quieter and less specacular sound that it makes.
Click to hear the "Yaffle" call of the Green Woodpecker...
The vicious looking beak is not as strong as it looks, and it's mainly rotten wood that it pecks, although it can if necessary excavate its nest hole in a sound tree. It's the male that does most of the excavation, although they don't necessarily make a new hole each year, sometimes re-using itand at other times using the old hole of another pair.
Four to six rather elongated white eggs (no need for camouflage in the protected nesthole) are laid in a single brood and hatched in around 25 days by both male and female ,taking turns. When the young are ready to emerge they will peep out of the hole, waiting for food and seemingly keen to get out and about. The juveniles are distictly stripey in plumage with less red on the head.
Juvenile
The feet have four toes: two pointing backwards like most woodpeckers to provide a sound grip when walking up tree trunks, braced by the stiff tail feathers. The tongue is very long but whereas the Greater Spotted has rough barbs on its tongue to assist it in dragging out anything from beetle grubs to birds eggs, the Green has a sticky tongue, with secretions adapted to collecting it's favourite ants.
APRIL'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE CHIFFCHAFF (Phylloscopus collybita)
Previous in-depth features on "birds of the month" : Great Spooted Woodpecker, Rook,Turtle Dove, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Fieldfare and Pheasant Click here for our bird of the month archive
"Onomatopoeic" means a word which directly expresses the sound of the thing it represents (Like "plop", "bang" or "squeak"). Well the Chiffchaff is certainly onomatopoeic: It's call is an endlessly repeated "Chiff Chaff Chiff Chaff". The Germans too named it after it's song: they call it Zilpzalp, while to the Dutch it's Tjiftjaf and the Welsh Siff-Saff
This incessant call is one of the key themes in the soundscape of Alice Holt Forest for much of the year. The Chiffchaff is a summer migrant:a few winter in the mild far South West of Britain and Ireland and in London but most of Northern Europe's birds spend the cold months in Southern France, Spain & Portugal, Italy, Greece or in Africa, mainly north of the Sahara. The number that move north each year is staggering:some 40 million ( 1.6million in the UK alone) breeding pretty much everywhere north to 70 degrees latitude. Because its winter range is quite close, it's a very early migrant to arive, generally singing in early March.
The singing is a male territorial display,; it boldly guards its nesting territory of some 20m accross against predators and other males, frequently singing boldly from an exosed perch or short songflight.The feeding territory is larger (perhaps 200-300metres accross) but the singing is generally confined to the core territory , in the hope of attracting a mate to breed in the chosen patch of woodland.
The Chiffchaff is very visually similar to two other species from the same "Leaf Warbler" group. Gilbert White of Selbourne (Link to Gilbert White's House section) who knew Alice Holt well was one of the first to establish that Chiffchaff was a separate species from the almost indistinguishable and even commoner Willow Warbler and the fairly similar Wood Warbler. Of the two others, the Wood Warbler is easier to tell apart, having a much more contrasting plumage with a whiter front. The Willow Warbler is really best told apart by song.
CHIFFCHAFF, WILLOW WARBLER and WOODWARBLER (from the RSPB's ILLUSTRATIONS).
Note the darker legs of the Chiffchaff and the slightly bolder, yellowier eyestripe of the Willow Warbler. But really for practical purposes it's the songs that distinguish these two. The Wood Warbler has a clean white underbelly and more vivid yellow throat.
Click to hear..... CHIFF CHFF SONG ......... WILLOW WARBLER SONG ........ WOOD WARBLER SONG
Interestingly all three close cousins have distinct ecological niches: the Chiiffchaff enjoying medium height trees with undergrowth, the Willow Warbler liking lower growing, denser shrubs and the Wood Warbler more mature woods with less undergrowth.
It's an insectivore which uses its delicate forceps-like beak to catch its food, either by searching the shrubbery or making small flights to catch midges. It breeds in a domed grass nest on or very close to the ground in thick undergrowth or grass. This makes it somewhat vulnerable to stoats and weasels ,as well as predators of the adult birds such as Sparrowhawks. But the population seems stable and even expanding in the Northern part of its European range. It will attract Cuckoos to lay in the nest, but can recognise their egg and will usually eject the unfamiliar egg if the Cuckoo has not disguised it well.
Chiffchaffs will have a complete moult around late July when they'll stop singing and emerge a little dowdier and browner than in Spring, before feeding voraciously in preparation for their southward migration.
Until then it's "chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff" everywhere you go in Alice Holt Forest !
MARCH'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE ROOK (Corvus frugilegus)
(c) BBC
Few birds are more symbolic of the English countryside than the rook, to the extent that the BBC was once criticised for using a "standard" recording of cawing Rooks from the sound archive to signify a "country setting" in its radio dramas. They are members of the Crow family or Corvidae, the largest sized birds that fall into the Order Passeriformes or perching birds, most of which are smaller birds like Thrushes, Finches and Warblers. The Rook is sometimes confused with the Carrion Crow but the differences are numerous: The Rook has a glossier, more irridescent black plumage and a squarer, boxy shaped head. It's slightly smaller than the Crow, about 41-49cm in length with a wingspan of 81-94cm. Rooks are highly communal, whereas the Crow is generally found in ones and twos. The most telling difference however is the white skin patch around the bill, which contrasts with the Crow's heavier , all-black bill.
Found all over Europe, except for the high Arctic and the shores of the Mediterranean, in Britain it's found everywhere except the North West Scottish Higlands. In the 1940's the population was estimated at no less than three million pairs in Britain. Agricultural practices, especially highly toxic pesticides sharply reduced numbers in the '60s and '70s but the population has recently recovered and stands now at between 1.3 and 2 million pairs.
Rooks are gregarious birds. Not only do they nest together in "rookeries" but they roost together ,even when not breeding and fly out together in great swooping flocks to feed as a group in the fields. They are quite organised socially, to the extent that it was once believed they held "parliaments" in which they would sit in judgement on a Rook who'd committed a misdemeanor. What is well attested is that a feeding flock will post one or more "sentry" birds on a gate or branch which will call in alarm to alert the other birds to danger.
Their rookeries are often specacular: many great bundles of sticks constructed high in the treetops, often in a small spinney, row of tall trees or woodland edge. They once favoured Elm trees above all others, but the advent of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1960's did little to dent the population: the adaptable Rooks simply moved to other sorts of tall trees.
The most notable in this area is on gthe very edge of Alice Holt Forest at Bentley station . This is a big rookery , and forms the heart of a territory occupied by an enormous flock of rooks. They can be seen at dusk on Winter's evenings wheeling in from feeding, passing between the Station, the fields near the Wey at Anstey Bridge and the slopes and meadows around Catham Copse and Isington. They make a great cacophany as they settle down. Before dawn in the Winter they make a great racket again as they wake up and begin heading out to feed in parties of twenty to fifty birds.
Just part of the huge flock of Rooks that roosts at Bentley Station, caught at dusk on a December afternoon using a mobile phone!
In other rookeries, they share the treetops with Herons. Rooks nturally squabble over sticks and twigs, but when a Heron's around they go into overdrive, constantly skirmishing and mobbing the large, ungainly Herons. Quite why two birds which hold each other in such animosity should choose to co-habit is something of a mystery. Perhaps the joy of stealing each others' nests is just too great to resist! Rooks are early breeders, gathering at the nests in late January to repair the old structures and laying soon afterwards. Being treetop birds they need a long season to bring their ugly youngsters right to maturity before they can leave the nests. Even then the youngsters follow the adults around begging food and being driven off by the long suffering parents.
Young Rooks are pretty helpless and need a long period in the nest until they're ready to attempt the flight from their high nursery
They eat all kinds of food, especially gain (They love to feed in stubble fields) and especially invertebrates such as worms, beetles and leather jackets. They are intellient feeders, following ploughs along with gulls, and learning to hop on the backs of sheep and cows in search of ticks. They're often to be found by busy roads and motorways, having learned that the vibration off heavy traffic brings worms to the surface of the verges.They are omnivorous, not averse to scavenging rubbish or robbing nests. They can be predatory but are much less likely to feed on either carrion, eggs or young birds than Crows or Magpies. They are generally regarded as the farmer's friends, but still were shot in large numbers by gamekeepers. One reason why they were often taken was for food: Rook pie or Rook and Rabbit stew were old country favourites.
Rooks are generally considered the Farmer's friend, but gamekeepers still persecute them for the relatively small number of eggs and chicks they take.
Rook pie is supposedly very good: although this Somerset recipe from 1935 advises soaking overnight against bitterness.
It's worth a trip to Bentley Station now just to witness the Rookery in full , breeding time activity. But mind where you park your car, unless you want to wash it afterwards!
FEBRUARY'S BIRD OF THE MONTH : THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER (Dendrocopos major)
(c) Mike Young
One of the most distinctive sounds of the Forest in late Winter is this {>>Click here} . That's the drumming of the Great Spotted Woodpecker as it sounds the "jungle drums" to other woodpeckers by hammering its beak rapidly on a hollow branch. The sound carries easily up to half a mile or more and the bird flies from treetop to treetop, repeating the signal from the beginning of January through to June. It's a classic bird of British deciduous woodland and the commonest of our four woodpeckers. The others are the Green (Large, very distinctive and also quite commonly seen), the Lesser Spotted and the very rare and curious Wryneck ( A little brown woodpecker that gains it's name from twisting its head around). Confusion with the Green is unlikely: that's a big, bulky bird, with yellowy green plumage and one that's less linked to the Forest, preferring trees in open land with grassland where it spends a lot of time on the ground. The Lesser Spotted is quite similar to the Great, but mucth smaller (Sparrow sized) with a more stripey back. It spends it's time well hidden among the small branches high in the treetops and is both shyer and altogether much less common. There are continental species such as the Syrian, Middle Spotted and White Backed woodpecker which it can be confused with, but they're quite sedentary and very unlikely to be encountered in the British Isles.
The Great Spotted is a daily sight in Alice Holt Forest, and is not at all uncommon in the surrounding hedgerow trees and in gardens, where it's a regular visitor to bird feeders. It's often spotted in flight. Like all woodpeckers the flight follows a rollercoaster, undulating pattern with the bird flapping its wings rapidly a few times on the upswing, then closing its wings and gliding on the downswing. It's movements in the trees are distinctly jerky: it's an active bird that rerely sits still and is therefore easily seen. Also quite distinctive are the various high pitched calls, which are similar to the Green Woodpecker's "Yaffle" sound , but not as long or ringing with more individual notes that sound like a plaintive "Chip!". During the breeding season there are burbling and gabbling calls as males and females chase around in the treetops.
The plumage is glossy black behind, with two large white patches on the wing coverts,black and white bars on the wings, a distinctive scarlet patch on the bac of the crown (in the male only) and a clearly visible scarlet patch under the tail. The front is off-white, streaked with black. The juvenile (seen in Mike Young's photo at the top of this article) has a more complete red cap and is altogether less crisply marked.
The classic views of the Great Spotted Woodpecker: A male climbing a rotten branch and a female in flight.
On the right is the much smaller Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor) for comparison. It's main difference, other than size is the more stripey horizontal barring of the back.
It's fully adapted for its arboreal lifestyle. The feet have strong claws and of the four toes, two point backwards, providing a powerful grip and allowing it to shin up even smooth-barked tree-trunks. The Woodpecker is a muscular bird which can hold itself at an angle to the tree trunk, steadied by its stiff tail feathers in order to gain maximum hammering force with its straight, chisel like beak. They feed mainly by pecking away at rotten wood and bark in search of grubs and beetles, and the Forest's trees everywhere bear the marks of their activities. The strong purchase and sharp bill are capable of excavating sound, unrotted oak timber too: and at nesting time the bird bores a new hole each year: generally where it knows from the sound and vibrations that there's easily excavated rotten wood inside, but sometimes in solid growing wood. Inside the beak is a long, extendible and rough-surfaced toungue with which it can probe crevices to remove grubs and insects, or even reach into other birds' holes to eat the eggs or nestlings. The Nuthatch generally nests in an old woodpecker hole but tries to close up much of the entrance with mud to keep the ex-landlord away from its brood.
The strong feet, powerful chisel beak and extendible tongue are the main adaptations which fit Woodpeckers for a life excavating tree trunks
The nest chamber is excavated by the male and female together and it's a good three weeks' work, sometimes the birds have to go back to square one as a starling or (In some areas, but not Alice Holt ...yet) an invasive Ring Necked Parakeet nabs the nest hole. Five to seven white eggs are laid around May and , as the nesting hole is often only ten or twenty feet off the ground, they can be clearly heard, clamouring for food which the male and female provide. Eventually the youngsters can be seen taking turns to poke their heads out awaiting the next meal.
Borings left in a dead trunk by feeding woodpeckers in Alice Holt. And a young Great Spotted Woodpecker almost ready to leave the nesthole
So look out during February in Alice Holt to glimpse this iconic woodland bird and above all listen out for that distinctive drumming sound.
