Wildlife sightings from members gardens Aug 2015

Now that Autumn seems to be on its way (!) it has been noticed that some birds have reappeared in gardens after having disappeared during the summer - coal tits, blue tits, great tits and a wren have been spotted. Wagtail and nuthatch have also been observed. Two members have also watched a sparrowhawk in their gardens!
Our speaker this month was Mark Pollitt who told us he had counted 14 Mistle thrushes in his own garden recently. What a sight that must have been! For those of you who are not sure of the difference - here are 2 illustrations and details  of the 2 thrushes. (courtesy of RSPB website)

The Mistle Thrush is a pale, black-spotted thrush - large, aggressive and powerful. It stands boldly upright and bounds across the ground while in flight, it has long wings and its tail has whitish edges. It is most likely to be noticed perched high at the top of a tree, singing its fluty song or giving its rattling call in flight.

The Song Thrush is smaller and browner than a mistle thrush with smaller spotting. Its habit of repeating song phrases distinguish it from singing blackbirds. It likes to eat snails which it breaks into by smashing them against a stone with a flick of the head.


Mark also told us that DGERC were particularly looking for sightings of earwigs this month. One club member related that she has been inundated with them recently!