Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

15/09/2022

Smaller than a house sparrow and more active, with its tail often cocked. It has a chestnut brown head and nape (rather than grey) and white cheeks and collar with a contrasting black cheek spot. They are shyer than house sparrows in the UK and are rarely associated with people, although in continental Europe they often nest in buildings just like house sparrows.

15/09/2022

What do you call it when a cat is super-stylish? "Haute-cat-ture."

15/09/2022

The treecreeper is small, very active, bird that lives in trees. It has a long, slender, downcurved bill. It is speckly brown above and mainly white below. It breeds in the UK and is resident here. Birds leave their breeding territories in autumn but most range no further than 20 km. Its population is mainly stable.

15/09/2022

What did the kitten have at their birthday party? A pounce house.

12/09/2022

Savi's warbler is right on the edge of its range here, and its numbers have always been very low and difficult to see in the UK. Like most of this family it is heard before it is seen, with a similar song to the grasshopper warbler but less persistent. Patiently watching where the sound is coming from will eventually result in the sight of a warm brown warbler, clinging to a reed.

12/09/2022

It breeds in a very few lowland sites in eastern England and it appears numbers are dropping. It is a migrant but in the UK some birds are present all year round. Many young birds from Scandinavia visit the UK in late summer, then migrating on to Africa. It is listed under Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

10/09/2022

What was the kitten bowling league called? "Alley Cats."

10/09/2022

With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers and a green gloss to the tail.

08/09/2022

What title does a cat go by in the kitchen? "The Whisker."

08/09/2022

A very large, thick-set black-backed gull, with a powerful beak. Adults are blacker than the smaller lesser black-backed gull. It has a heavy flight and can look quite hunched when perched. It will fight off other gulls and chase them to sn**ch food.

08/09/2022

These handsome diving ducks are a member of the sawbill family, so called because of their long, serrated bills, used for catching fish. A largely freshwater bird, the goosander first bred in the UK in 1871. It built up numbers in Scotland and then since 1970 it has spread across northern England into Wales, reaching south-west England. Its love of salmon and trout has brought it into conflict with fishermen. It is gregarious, forming into flocks of several thousand in some parts of Europe.

06/09/2022

While its black plumage identifies it as a crow, the chough (pronounced 'chuff') has a red bill and legs unlike any other member of the crow family. It is restricted to the west of the British Isles.

06/09/2022

06/09/2022