Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Twenty-three

As the world shuts down around us the uplifting role that wildlife plays in our lives becomes more vital than ever. So, for my own sanity as much as anything, I’m going to keep a daily diary of what I find around my garden. Photograph the wildlife you can see from your window or in your garden and post your pictures on the ‘Sussex Wildlife Trust Nature Table’ page.

Day Twenty-three

One thing I’ve really enjoyed about these restrictions are the messages I’ve been getting from friends who (once they have finished watching every episode of Tiger King on Netflix) have resorted to trying their hand at becoming birdwatchers. What I love about it is hearing the genuine excitement from people who have identified some new bird in their garden – even if it may be something quite common.

One friend yesterday was understandably thrilled to see a Red Kite (“big, forked tail, white on wings”) gliding over her Upper Beeding garden. Other friends spotted a big bird of prey bird circling above their Slinfold garden and, after pawing through their ‘Birds of Europe’ field guide concluded it was a Common Buzzard and not the extremely rare Rough-legged Buzzard of Scandinavia (“it gave us at least ten minutes conversation to decide it wasn't. Simple pleasures in these strange times”).

Yesterday another friend who saw an unfamiliar bird on the tree outside the window of his flat,  “managed to whip out the binoculars super quick” and was pleased to confirm to me that he had been visited by a Nuthatch. “Very excited as this is the first time I’ve knowingly seen a Nuthatch and a fine example it was”.  

If you want to be Back Garden Birdwatcher you need to be aware that there’s a strict pecking order on the peanut feeder. Coal Tits are elbowed out by Blue Tits who in turn are ousted by Great Tits. But when the Nuthatch shows up everything scarpers. I don’t blame them. If I was jostling at an all-you-can eat buffet and some fella in a black mask brandishing a machete jumped in I’d be off in a flash too.

With its streamlined body, blue back, pink chest and black eye-stripe the Nuthatch cuts a dynamic figure; a swashbuckling, bird table buccaneer. The weapon it wields is a stout, dagger-like beak but it’s not designed for skewering birds. Nuthatches are nuts about nuts. 

(Nuthatch photo by Roger Wilmshurst)

The Nuthatch’s name comes from ‘nut hacker’ a reference to the bird’s habit of jamming hazelnuts and acorns into tree crevices and then using its powerful bill to noisily hammer them open. There’s an old Sussex name which fits this manic, intense bird perfectly: Nutjobber. I have never seen this nutty little bird sitting still. They’re so crazy about climbing that they’re the only British bird that can actually climb headfirst down a tree.

 

(Nuthatch photo by David Ball) 

At this time of year most of our garden birds become more vocal and aggressive as they claim and defend territories and croon their tunes to attract a mate. Spring lacks this urgency for the male Nuthatch because he hasn’t stopped fighting all winter as he angrily defends his hectare of woodland. Nuthatches are monogamous too and the loyal pair soon dispense with spring serenades and get down to the hard work of making a home. Many birds start from scratch. Twigs and moss are laboriously collected and nests are painstakingly woven. Nuthatches however are happy to let someone else undertake the heavy construction work. Their residence of choice is a spacious tree cavity drilled and abandoned by a woodpecker. Sure, their new home is a 'fixer upper' but the Nuthatches will make do and mend. The main problem is the front door. It’s too big. This gaping hole can let in predators or Starling squatters who will happily turf out nesting Nuthatches. So, while the male keeps guard the female Nuthatch starts bricking up the entrance hole. Her bill is used like a plasterer’s trowel smearing mouthfuls of mud until the terracotta porch is perfectly Nuthatch sized. She is a compulsive builder and if they move into a nestbox she still cannot resist plastering mud around the hole, even if it’s already the right size. 

 

(Nuthatch photo by Neil Fletcher) 

There’s been a Nuthatch calling from the tree in a neighbour’s garden for a few days now.

(you can listen one their calls here )

After yesterday's blog I can't help but wonder what Nuthatch's poos are like.

Anyway, I hope it stays around until Saturday as, by popular demand (seriously!), we’ll be running the Back Garden Bird Race again (10:00-11:00). More details tomorrow.  

Let me know if you see a Nuthatch in your garden. I'd be impressed if you can get a photo of these hyperactive birds - if you do post it on theSussex Wildlife Trust Nature Table Facebook page.