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79 Bird watching WITH JOHN ASHTON


in our gardens make easy pick- ings for predators like Sparrow- hawks, Magpies etc. The need for flying proficiency is paramount and all too often the “first timers” bang into bushes or flutter onto flimsy sprigs before cascading to the ground and into the jaws of a lurking moggie. Another hazard in this day and age is glass. I have been handed juvenile specimens of Sparrowhawk, Chaffinch, Great Spotted Woodpeck- er, Kingfisher and Snipe that have all met their demise by crashing into windows. However, not all is bad news and


T


despite all their trials and tribulations we have an abundance of young garden birds this year. HOUSE SPARROW fledglings are bouncing off the feeders and enthusiastically quivering their little wings, trying to attract an older relative to feed them. They even try it on with other species and are often rewarded for their


Juvenile Stonechat


he most perilous time in a young bird’s life is when it leaves the nest. Fledglings


Mute swans in association with


more than 60 birds. The annual moult now creates a snowstorm of white feathers. The neighbouring pair of


audacity. Cass Ford sent me an excellent


photo of a young STONECHAT which has the brown, speckled colouration used as camouflage by many juveniles. Likewise, baby BLUE TITS and GREAT TITS are a lot dull- er and yellower than the adults. Meanwhile out on the


River Avon my favourite pair of MUTE SWANS are proudly showing off their latest addition of 4 healthy cygnets, whose dull brown plumage will be hiding white wings by the end of summer when they will be joining the rest of the large flock downriver which has


Canada geese


CANADA GEESE have only 1 gosling that has survived. How- ever we needn’t be concerned as there were over 400 of them on the marsh last year. The nearby SHELDUCKS managed to produce a pair of fluffy balls which will shortly aban- don their parents and head-off to a large creche further downstream, to be looked after by a single adult, allowing mum and dad to have a bit of a holiday. Finally, a welcome visitor to my peanut feeders is “Woody”, a juvenile GREAT SPOTTED WOOD- PECKER who looks like a faded version of his dad, but with his red cap on the front of his head


Drawing by John Ashton


Shelducks “Woody”


rather than the back. Kids, eh?


Binoculars www.king–print.co.uk


Binoculars, Scopes & Astronomical Telescopes Tel: (01548) 856757 www.king-print.co.uk TOP of the TOWN, Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon. TQ7 1PP


Scopes


Instore, Online or Mobile


Top of the Town, Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon. TQ7 1PP


Photos Tel: (01548) 856757


Photo byt Cass Ford


Photo by Richard Moore


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