Further to yesterday's posting on Brigg suburban bird life, early today (Sunday) a robin arrived - a species associated by many with the Christmas period and a popular choice for the pictures on the front of cards.
The berry-grabbing blackbirds have also returned. Hopefully the red ones (rosehips?) that have been on the bushes for months have not fermented - or our feathered friends could become Very Merry!
Noon, Sunday: On the outskirts of town - near the New River Ancholme - I tawt I taw a sparrowhawk, flying across the boundary into Scawby Brook. Clearly exempt from passport control. Regular readers of Brigg Blog may recall we once reported a sparrow hawk on the a garden fence between O'Hanlon Avenue and Springfield Road. If he returns today it could be profitable with our berry-gathering birds about. A blackbird has just visited to take another one away.
Wot do you mean, that 'a robin arrived'?
ReplyDeleteLittle robins are non-migratory birds and are extremely territiorial.....a family of robins has very probably been living in your, or a nearby garden for years.
Ask any garderner....and the robin is the first bird to arrive looking for worms and insects when a patch of ground is dug.
Sparrow hawks are definately terrorising birds on the Springbank Estate . Yesterday I saw one attack two doves on this occasion it was unsuccessfull but I have seen it take blackbirds, goldfinch and a pigeon . This time of year they are natures way of thinning out the weak and old birds that are not so mobile . Although very brutal it is also amazing to see the speed and flying ability of a sparrowhawk , not good news if you are the size of a robin . Tell tale signs that a hawk has killed is breast feathers underneath a suitable perch often used several times as they pluck the bird before devouring .
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