Sunday 16 December 2018

St Andrews Park!

A dull and dismal afternoon but I was amazed at the number of finches in the park - a flock of at least 50 birds, mostly Goldfinches (but many Chaffinches among them) were flying around the tree-tops. Nearby, half a dozen Redwings and a couple of Blackbirds shared a tree while 3 Black-headed Gulls, 5 Herring Gulls and a Pied Wagtail were on the deck. House Sparrows were feeding busily nearby. Grey Squirrels were very actively stowing away their food for the winter.
Pied Wagtail

House Sparrow

Redwing

Black-headed Gull

Chaffinch

Grey Squirrel

Sunday 9 December 2018

St Andrews Park!

We did a winter walk in the park this morning and saw or heard the following birds:
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Goldfinch
Redwing
Starling
Blackbird
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull
Black-headed Gull
Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Jay
Feral Pigeon
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Pied Wagtail
Non-bird interest was provided by some nice Silverleaf fungus on a dead tree and another as yet unidentified fungus. There were also leafmines on Holm Oak leaves created by the moth Stigmella suberivora.  
Unidentified fungus

Stigmella suberivora

Silverleaf fungus

Sunday 2 December 2018

St Andrews Park!

What started as a quick walk through the park on the way to the shops ended up as an hour-long birdwatch despite the drizzle. I was delighted to see a couple of Redwings around - sightings of these winter visitors from Scandinavia are virtually guaranteed in the park these days. Also several Blackbirds, a couple of female Chaffinches, many Goldfinches, a Jay, about 8 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Blue Tits, a Goldcrest, 4 or 5 Herring Gulls, lots of Woodpigeons, a couple of Robins and a calling Dunnock.
Chaffinch

Long-tailed Tit

Redwing

Woodpigeon
A spider in my kitchen looks like it's another Labulla thoracica which I had in the flat a few weeks ago. UPDATE: apparently the spider is probably one of the money spiders called Lepthyphantes.
Lepthyphantes