Birding for the soul
As birds begin to look for suitable nesting spots and daffodils begin to bloom, early spring days with sunshine and blue skies are lifting my spirits, filling me with renewed energy after the winter doldrums.
Bird of the Week - Eurasian Nuthatch
One of the most distinctive features of the Eurasian Nuthatch is its amazing ability to move downwards, head-first, on tree trunks and branches, in search of insects. So if you see a smallish, highly agile bird from a distance or in silhouette, and it’s working its way down a trunk, bill towards the ground, it is likely to be a Nuthatch. If it’s pointing upwards, then it might be either a Treecreeper or a Nuthatch, because Nuthatches have the ability to go in either direction.
My Birding this week
Last weekend I went to the New Forest to engage in what I call 'birding for the soul'.
One thing I absolutely love doing is hand-feeding wild birds. I feel so privileged to be used as a bird table, especially by the smaller woodland birds. Feeling them land on my hand, their bodies as light as a cotton wool ball, causes me to marvel at how such small creatures can survive harsh winter conditions.
I experience a sense of calm while standing stock still, my hand frozen, trying not to make eye contact with the birds in case I scare them. My senses are attuned to the slightest movement as a bird lands on a branch nearby. When a bird finally lands on my hand, it might only be for the briefest of moments, but my heart soars.
There is a woodland site in the New Forest that I go to a couple of times each winter where Robins, Marsh, Coal, Great and Blue Tits will take food from your hand. I generally provide broken walnuts (favoured by the Marsh Tits), peanuts and suet pieces. This time I also had shelled sunflower seeds, which are preferred by my garden birds.
It was quite a windy day, so keeping the food on my hand was a bit of a challenge, but the birds were soon landing in the tree next to me and the first brave ones took some food.
I was not the only person feeding them. A photographer had put a large amount of seed in a groove on a log which also attracted Chaffinches and a Great-spotted Woodpecker. I'm sure they got some great photos!
There were also a couple of other people feeding the birds, just for the joy if it. One had a bag of unshelled black sunflower seeds. He told me that the Nuthatch liked them and had taken them from his hand several times!
While the Nuthatch did land near me several times, it didn't take any food from my hand. I didn't want the bird to miss out on any food, so I put a handful on the top of a fencepost, and that's how I got the photo at the top of this newsletter.
Among the birds I saw, only the Marsh Tit was new for the year bringing my UK 2025 year list to 74 species and my February list to 52.
Latest podcast episode
In search of Hen Harriers at Wicken Fen - with Ajay Tegala
Ajay Tegala is a conservationist, author and wildlife presenter. Join us as we take a late afternoon winter walk at Wicken Fen Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire.
While sitting in the hide waiting for Marsh and Hen Harriers to come in to roost, Ajay tells me about the awesome wildlife found there, from graceful dragonflies to the elusive bitterns and the enchanting dawn chorus of late spring.
He also explains the national significance of this undrained prime fenland and the delicate balance of water management, habitat restoration, and wildlife monitoring required to sustain this exceptional habitat.
Recommendations and shout outs!
Jack Baker, host of the brilliant podcast 'Pangolin - a conservation podcast' has released a guide on making conservation/nature podcasts.
It’s part of a toolkit that Chester Zoo is producing for young changemakers.
If you have a young conservationist in your life, please recommend this series to them!
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Until next week, happy birding!