An early walk to Pickering Park, mild and unexpectedly sunny. At the Western Cemetery, two Mistle Thrushes rattle and chase Redwings from the ground, I wonder if they have decided on a nest site. Soon after arriving to Pickering Park, as I was counting the geese, the first surprise, an Oystercatcher, new for my Hull year list and a site tick too. It fed on the grass for a while, moving to the other end of the field avoiding the dog walkers. It finally left as the football teams assembled on the field just before 10 am.
Not your typical Pickering Park sight!
And then the biggest surprise was to find six Waxwings on a lime tree! No berries around, they sat there, high up, basking, occasionally moving to the next tree. Two of them gently billed each other and exchanged food. After a while one flew up and down, and they started trilling and left east, then after a few minutes returned to the same area. What a treat to be able to watch
This pair looked very cosy, I thought they were billing every now and then, coming together and then jumping away, but there seems to be a round item, possibly a bud, being transferred between them, which I only noticed after checking the photos. This is a behaviour called 'gift passing' part of pair formation and bonding which can involve either a food item or an inedible item.
And a Chiffchaff made an appearance in the garden too. There has been one in our street for a couple of weeks, it's nice it popped in the garden, and stopped long enough for a photo.
3 comments:
Lovely shots of Waxwings and the Treecreeper. Those street Pied Wagtails are often exceedingly bold. There was one here a few years ago that ran around in the moving traffic, so sure of its lightning takeoff that the cars didn't bother it. It would come and take little bits of cheese.
Well done on spotting the waxwings
Thank you Ralph and Tiger, to be honest, I would have been more than happy with the Oustercatcher, having the Waxwings was the cherry on the cake for a wonderful count day!
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