Nature Notes - January 2012, by Pete Lambert

The road conditions have been dreadful and my journey slowed a number of times by broken taillights and emergency vehicles.  The buzzard was unperturbed by the craning drivers as she pecked away at the road traffic victim, standing erect between tugging bites of her curved beak, talons pulling down on the lifeless body. The vixen or dog fox had probably perished the night before and become sustenance to a sharp eyed gourmand. Buzzards are usually seen circling lazily on high or perching on a lamp post, telegraph pole or handy tree look-out.  The buzzard has soaring wings, long, broad and deeply cambered for maximum lift. The deeply slotted ‘fingers’ at the wing tips smooth out turbulence and the full tail gives manoeuvrability, stability and lift. A glide can take an individual birds speed up to 70 or 80 mile per hour and combined with excellent eyesight makes the buzzard a very successful predator. In fact a buzzard can discern detail eight times more sharply than a human. The fovea, which is a part of the retina, has one million cells compared to only 200,000 in man. Occasionally other birds will mob a lone buzzard, on most occasions the bigger bird will fly on unhurriedly to out distance its tormentors but sometimes it will flip over to meet its enemies with its powerful talons. My reflections came to an end as finally the traffic moved again and she slipped out of view.

An early Sunday ramble took me around Llanmynech and the little fields and paddocks of Llynclys Common. The incredibly varied habitats make for a constantly changing scene as I felt the weakened daylight try its best to lift the gloom and possibly the temperature. I followed a narrow path up between a wire fence and straggly hedge, not being in a hurry I paused to take in the sudden cacophonous pinging around me and found myself surrounded by Long tailed tits. The small pink tinged body a counterweight to the characteristic extended and slender tail. As we know they form up into mixed flocks with other tits, but invariably the long tailed tits will feed at the highest level of the group. But today hidden, well nearly, was an even tinier delight. Europe’s smallest bird is the Goldcrest, a lively, fearless and very handsome bird and there but two feet away was a gorgeous example. The crest is a deep orange bordered both sides by successive stripes of yellow and finally black. During courtship the crest spreads and rises, male behaviour can be very aggressive and fights to the death have been known between rival males. The Goldcrest favours conifers, slinging its intricate nest by ‘basket handles high in the evergreen crown. Harsh winters can depress numbers of this little bird very drastically but they have so far always managed to return.

The bare armature of the woodlands in the winter make a bird watch walk so much more rewarding than a stroll in the cloaked woods of late summer. My final treat of the day came in an unfamiliar part of the patch, a mixed gaggle of birds fled into the upper limbs but a group of three downward pointing Nuthatches hung around to give me a grand view of their sleek profile. The Nuthatch can be a regular at the bird table and invariably will climb down a tree seeking food in bark crevices. The bird enjoys working out on a hazel nut or beech mast, jamming the tough outer into a split in a tree and hammering away with its ‘hatchet’ like bill. I like the smart colouring of field grey, keen black eye stripe and soft buff-hued belly, and today three of these distinctive woodland specialists.

The winter may be keen to drag its heels but while it lasts I am enjoying my clear views of our great British birds. Wrap up warm and venture out, walk off the festive excess and who knows what might be seen?

Happy wildlife spotting , Pete Lambert.

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