Nature Notes January 2013

January was a mild month on the whole with spells of sunshine, wind and heavy rain.. However, the third week brought heavy snowfall before turning mild once more by the month end.

SIGHTINGS
Birds:   Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Magpies, Jays, Carrion Crows, Buzzard, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Black-headed Gulls, Bullfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long tailed Tits, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Wrens, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper, Dunnocks, Siskins, Goldcrests.
Mammals:   Grey Squirrels, Fox.
Plants in Flower:   Gorse.

No unusual sightings were reported during January.

Many birds took to neighbouring gardens in search of food during the harsh snowy week.

Nature Fact

Mistle Thrushes are always more thinly distributed and seem to require much larger territories than that of the Song Thrush.  Large mature gardens and parklands are typical habitats for them.  In the breeding season you may find them in woodlands and even conifer plantations as long as there are grassy areas nearby for spring feeding.  They feed on worms and insects, often in the centre of fields, but fruit is an important part of the diet, particularly mistletoe berries, hence its name.