Carrion Crow

18/10/11

2020
{TO}
2009


18 November 2018

21 April 2018

18/10/17
 The Carrion Crow is a black crow, about the same size as a Rook, but unlike the Rook, the Carrion Crow has neatly feathered thighs, and feathers around the base of the beak. While at first appearance its plumage is black, on closer inspection it has a green and purple iridescence.
Flight Silhouettes and Comparative Sizes
In flight, the Carrion Crow has a shorter head than the Rook, as well as having slower wing beats. The tail is squarer in the Carrion Crow, and the "fingers" at the wing tips are less splayed.
The Hooded Crow is the same species as the Carrion Crow but is a different race, which can be mostly found in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, though some wintering continental birds may be seen in eastern England. The Hooded Crow has a grey back and underparts and a black hood, wings and tail. The Hooded Crow is the main race in Ireland.
Juvenile Carrion Crows have duller, browner plumage and pale blue eyes; the adults have brown eyes.(LINK)


18/10/11

18/10/17




3/5/13

On this day 18 October 2017



To day I had a good walk round the park, I had gone looking for Fungi, despite the due on the grass the ground is quite dry and no fungi was found. The trees are just starting to turn colour, but it has been warm and we need a good frost. Everything still looks green and pockets of wild flowers are still growing.

I was happy to spot some Redpoll feeding with the Goldfinch, which I have not recorded before at the park, looking through my notes I have had Lesser Redpoll in the garden during a cold winter, which these could be. I will come back and re-name them if found not to be Redpoll. With thanks to Pam .


Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Mute Swan

Goldfinch

Goldfinch


Redpoll

Redpoll

Coal tit

Redpoll

Redpoll

Redpoll

Redpoll

Redpoll

Goldfinch

Redpoll

Goldfinch

Ghost plane !

Lesser Redpoll



11 February 2019 
First recorded.
18 October 2017*

This tiny finch - only slightly bigger than a blue tit - is streaky and brown with patches of red on its head and sometimes its breast. They like to hang upside down to feed in trees. It has recently been 'split' from the mealy (or common) redpoll, a larger and paler species which is a winter visitor to the UK.

11/2/19



Nice to see a few Redpoll feeding at the park with Goldfinch, blue tit, goldcrest and Coal tit at the park. Not recorded them here before and looking at my bird list I have not seen them before either. Have had Lesser Redpoll in the past. 



Redpoll is one of the species that ornithologists do not seem able to decide on whether there are several species, subspecies or races. To skirt around this issue, I refer to them as "types".

There are 4 types of Redpoll found in Britain, all look very similar to one another but they are visibly different, here they are ranked in increasing size:

The predominant British type is the Lesser Redpoll (C. cabaret), which is described in more detail above. 

The north European type is the Common 'Mealy' Redpoll (C. flammea), which is a winter visitor and is larger (about same size as a Linnet) and greyer looking than the Lesser Redpoll.
The third type is the 'Greenland Redpoll' (C. rostrata), which is another winter visitor and is larger than the Common Redpoll and darker than the Lesser Redpoll.
The final type is the Arctic Redpoll (C. hornemanni), which is a rare vagrant from Greenland and Lapland and is slightly larger than the 'Greenland Redpoll' and has a white rump and underparts.










On this day 8 October 2017




Hydrangea
Hydrangea is a genus of 70–75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea.


Palomena prasina Common Green Shieldbug
Family: Pentatomidae



Hydrangea


Grey squirrel

 Grey squirrels, originally from North America, were released in the UK by 19th century landowners. They are now very common and widespread.

Grey squirrels are active during the day, foraging for food in trees and on the ground – they often visit peanut feeders in gardens. In the autumn they spend time storing nuts to eat during the winter.

Their nest, called a drey, is a compact, spherical structure. It is slightly larger than a football and constructed of twigs, leaves, bark and grass.

Grey squirrels tend to breed in between January and April and, if food is plentiful, they may have a second litter in the summer.


Read more at https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/a-z-of-a-wildlife-garden/atoz/g/greysquirrel.aspx#bllYLUMkEdwxYfdC.99