A seasonal sense of normality

Driving down narrow Somerset lanes towards Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve, my attention was distracted as the flat expanse of land to my east was slowly waking to the bright cast of relief from a rising winter sun. Why is it whenever we see something that naturally appeals to our sense of attraction, the first modern instinct is to reach for technology to record the moment, as if capturing it within a cage fed by binary will ensure it's longevity. With these thoughts in mind, i bucked under the temptation and dully pulled over to take several snaps of a rich and vibrant flame fired sun, slowly moving over Glastonbury Tor.

For the first time this winter the act of walking through lightly frozen puddles seemed to fill me with a false sense of joy, as if the mere presence of frost catching a brief hold of the surrounding moisture was an abnormality. Though with daily reminders through a multitude of media of the warming climate, and experiencing the warmest December on record, it's perhaps no surprise that we seek solace in the familiar. 

Birds across a winter landscape reams familiarity for me, from childhood adventures among my juvenile lakeland stomping grounds, to exploring vast areas of open landscape across Mid Wales, and enduring bitter Atlantic storms staring out to sea with the hope of spotting passing seabirds. A stroll around my new patch on a fine winters day, with a clear sky and frost on the ground made me feel instantly at home.

My highlight among the clatter of wings passing over the reeds, ducks and geese vocally announcing their presence and wintering passerines foraging within the canopy of wet woodland edge, was two pairs of Goosander. The distinct sexual dimorphism (or difference between the males and females) is striking in this diving sawbill. The 'red heads' or females with their chestnut head plumage and slender bill portray a sense of style, carried off with a wisp of swayed back plumage crest straight out of a retro punk fashion shoot. 


Each pair stayed loyal to another as they seemingly took it in turns to dive down in search of a small fish meal. The males with the bottle green, slick backed head plumage, busied themselves with covering ground whilst almost checking over their shoulder to check that their betrothed was still in toe. Seconds would past in a spinning of webbed maneuvers, before continuing with the process of building up lost energy from roosting overnight on a cold winters lake, 



Once considered a bird seen during hard winters, the Goosander has slowly since the 1970's pushed it's breeding range down from Scotland into Wales and in turn Somerset in the early 1990's. Now a small number of pairs breed primarily in the west of the county. During surveying for the Somerset Atlas 2007-2012, records predicted that birds attracted to the area during the colder winter months have been known to roost overnight on Cheddar Reservoir, situated a few miles to the north east of Westhay Moor. During the day they return to feed on the bounty beneath the cold water of the lakes, dotted between the reeds and the marsh. 

Birds seen throughout the rest of the morning included:   

Great White Egret, Cetti’s warbler, Water rail, 150+ Teal, Meadow Pipit, very vocal flock of 15, Kingfisher and Snipe among the usual fare

What's in flight: Crests

Perhaps scoring the highest on the judges’ score cards for the cutest and most endearing of British birds, the Crests Regulus are a much loved favourite for many a birder and wildlife enthusiast. Their minuscule size, petite features, bright orange and yellow head stripes and highly active lifestyle makes them a joy to watch in the field, whilst continuing to amaze us each year with their ability to survive during harsh weather conditions.

Autumn and winter is the time to really appreciate these birds as often, large numbers turn up to our shores in search of feeding opportunities delivered among our temperate climate. Whether foraging amongs evergreen conifers and Holm Oak stands or frantically darting around wilting Sycamores, their often high pitched, constant calls give their presence away and brighten up the dreariest of mornings.

There is thought to be seven species of Crests, or Kinglets as they are known over the pond, with the UK blessed with breeding and migratory Goldcrest Regulus regulus and Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla.

The family name Regulidae comes from the latin regulus, meaning ‘prince’ or ‘little king’ and is also famed as one of the brightest stars in the night sky -  indicating that the bright crests of these petite birds have caught the attention of many an onlooker throughout history. The males of both species develop bright orange feathers deep within their crests, raised when aroused and used for attracting a potential mate and defending a territory from miniature rivals.

Goldcrest can be found throughout most of Europe and into Asia. Within the UK they can be seen distributed in every County during breeding and winter time. It is our smallest and lightest bird, weighing in between 5-6g and is usually associated with spruce plantations, but is also at home amongs deciduous forests and copses, hedgerows and scrub. Being small for most animals means a shorter lifespan and Goldcrest is no exception with average longevity being 2 years, however the BTO ringing database holds a record of a bird being re-caught that was 4 years and 2 months old. Although seemingly short lived compared to larger birds, this is quite remarkable for a bird with such a fast paced, dramatic and often stressful lifestyle.

With a widespread range across Eurasia, Goldcrest turning up in Britain during autumn can often travel impressive distances for such a small bird. The BTO online ringing report is a modern day marvel itself with records freely available to anyone and everyone. Searching per species you can reveal some fascinating ringing records, all at the touch of a button.

The control (a bird caught at one location that was originally ringed elsewhere) illustrated in the map below was unfortunately caught by a cat and found dead in Lytham, Lancashire on 21 September 1998. Through reporting the record to the BTO and Euring the bird turned out to be originally ringed an astonishing 1,556km away at Pape, Lativia - just 15 days before!

                            Map courtesy of the BTO online ringing report: 

Goldcrest main food source is made up of small insects and spiders and they have even been known to take small seeds. With a high metabolism, having a high protein rich diet is essential for these frenetic foragers as starvation can set in from as little as an hour of not feeding during the day.

Due to the fast paced, arboreal lifestyle the Goldcrest has deeply grooved pads on the bottom of their feet and a long hind claw for perching on rough conifer twigs, allowing them to cling vertically when in hot pursuit of their prey. Adaptations such as these have allowed them to thrive amongs the rise in conifer plantation throughout the last half century

At this time of year Goldcrest throughout Scandinavia, Poland and Russia migrate into Britain during periods of low pressure, escaping the harsh and often bitter conditions witnessed on their natal grounds. So naturally numbers dramatically increase, particularly within sheltered coastal locations.

Ringing catches demonstrate this nicely with October and November often producing the highest counts of this species throughout the whole annual ringing period.

This was certainly in evidence at my previous ringing site at Durlston NNR, where Goldcrest were caught on most ringing sessions throughout October and November. They are particularly responsive to tape lures playing their song and often fly through open rides low, curious to check out potential birds in song.

UK numbers pale into insignificance compared to some European figures however, with literally thousands of Goldcrest recorded during visible migration counts at peak periods. Numbers were particularly high last year as documented by Falsterbo Bird Observatory in Sweden as a new record was set with 11,230 birds ringed this year - the highest count in 34 years of standardised ringing.

The masked Firecrest is a relative new comer as a breeding bird in Britain with the first recorded in Hampshire in 1962. No one can fail to be impressed with this little ‘fire cracker’which has always retained that red letter day feeling for many an onlooker.

Breeding distribution has increased greatly since first successfully getting a foothold, however the the main breeding sites are still within the New Forest but can also be seen dotted throughout the South East.

According to the Rare breeding birds in the United Kingdom 2012 report, territories of singing males are down from their peak of 800 in 2010 to 683. This figure is however only an estimate as it it believed this species is easily over looked and also under recorded in area where they are believed to be common.

Certainly within my old patch at Durlston NNR, it is believed they are now breeding, with surveys planned for next year to claim evidence to this. Likewise, in a friends patch in Buckinghamshire the species is finding new territories on an annual basis, though there are fears that the forestry plantation habitats that crests have found and grown to adopt will be removed in favour of planting up broad leaved woodland. As with all conservation intervention, in such cases land managers need to weigh up the cost of benefits to biodiversity with established ‘priority’ species requiring careful consideration.

Breeding sites are often inland, as appose to their more coastal wintering locations, with birds missing from breeding location often proof that they migrate away, however some ringing records suggest that some may remain in their breeding locations throughout the year.

Feeding habitat is similar to Goldcrest with Spruce and some broad-leaved habitats used where they forage for invertebrates such as springtails and small spiders, often lower down within the central

canopy. They can also take larger prey items than their close relative and hunt generally more in flight with a longer tail aiding their aerobatics skills. Similar to a Kingfisher catching a fish, the Firecrest bashes its prey item against branches before eating and has adapted facial bristles to stop food items entering the eye.

Firecrest can also cover large distances when foraging amongs mixed-species foraging flocks made up of tits and warblers.

During the winter an influx of birds into the country from Europe has risen in recent years with coastal locations once again a magnet to these small and delicate travelers.

The following map documents one of the longest distance ‘controls’ with this full grown male originally ringed on 28th September 2012 at Hamburg, Germany. The bird was re caught just over a month later at Portland Bill Bird Observatory – a distance of 919km!

                            Map courtesy of the BTO online ringing report:                                             

The first indication that most onlookers have that a crest is nearby is their high pitched and often ‘chatty’ call. The call of the Firecrest is indeed the first alert that this rarer crest is close by.

Not singing until spring, the birds are far from quiet throughout the autumn and winter as they call constantly to communicate with other crests within a foraging flock, keeping social bonds and altruistically alerting others to potential predators entering the woodland.

At first Goldcrest and Firecrest calls are superficially very similar made of initial ticking, ‘zit’ calls followed by a succession of 4 to 5 high pitched notes. The main difference lies with the later 4 to 5 notes, with the Goldcrest remaining at the same frequency and duration and the Firecrest having almost a slight diminuenco - with the first note being higher in frequency and the following gradually fading.

Check out these excellent examples in Xeno Canto: Goldcrest & Firecrest

So when you next go into the woods you’re sure for a big surprise, for the big in this instance is small, in fact as small as our birds can be, though their fascinating behaviour, survival strategies, migration and adaptation compensate in a disproportionate scale of amazement.

Happy crest hunting.

Simon

References

Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S & R.J. 2013. Bird Atlas 2007-11: the  breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Booka, Thetford.

Constantine, M., et al. 2006. The Sound Approach to birding. The Sound Approach publishing, Poole

Holling, M. Et al . the Rare breeding birds in the Unitited Kingdom in 2012. Brit Birds 107: 504-559

Handbook of Birds of the World Alive. http://www.hbw.com/species/goldcrest-regulus-regulus. Accessed November 2014

Feathers by Thor Hanson - Book Review

Feathers by Thor Hanson is a triumph of one mans quest to uncover how these undervalued bird adornments have paved the way for avian flight, whilst acting as a time capsule into how Theropod meat eating dinosaurs took to the air and eventually evolved into the birds we know and love today.

Since this book was published in 2011 it has received a wave of praise, all of which is well founded within each and every captivating page.

Hanson’s personal adventures around the globe landed him within situation as varied as interviewing Las Vegas showgirls complete with elaborate head dresses; spending time with fishing experts consumed in the unique art of tying flys and meeting a myriad of biologists and paleontologists inspired by birds and their evolution.

As the book ‘takes flight’ you are led on a journey that it enthralling, entertaining and often insightful; revealing some fascinating biological research and industrial history.

The author's narrative has a sense of charm and relays the feeling that he is a close friend discussing his adventures over a pint, on a chilly winter’s eve.

If I were forced to raise a couple of quibbles they would be perhaps that less pages could have been dedicated to how humans have used feathers for their own personal gain and more on the biological discoveries of feathers with their inspiring beauty, form and function. However some will most likely prefer more of the former, so the book in some way does offer an orni-anthro balance.

Another aspect from a bird ringer’s perspective, which I felt could have been included in more detail is how feathers reveal so much about a bird’s age, sex, moult strategy and even feeding range, such as by undertaking isotope analysis to discover where and what birds have been eating throughout there annual life cycle.

One behavioural discovery described that did ‘blow’ me away was a study into the Club-winged Manakin. A bird native to Ecuador that performs a mating display with a form of stridulating wing movement only found otherwise in Grasshoppers and Crickets. 

Having covered some of this material back during my undergrad days, along with general reading, it was a pleasure to unearth it again, complete with recent findings and in-depth explanations into how discoveries were made in the field, the lab or whilst musing over a desk. As with all science the ball (or wing) doesn’t stop and since 2011 several new discoveries into bird and feather evolution have been made, such as those well publicised by BBC Nature.

To summarise, this book is a must read for everyone and anyone with a mere interest in birds, nature or even fashion and industry. With its entertaining flow and fascinating discoveries there's enough to keep you turning the pages, intrigued as to what’s to come.

For more information on British birds and their feathers, see the BTO’s book shop for some excellent books