Golden Pheasant

On Friday afternoon my wife Liz, her sisters, and my daughter Zoe saw a male golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) in the grounds of Reading University.  It was being slowly shooed down the drive from Foxhill House by the driver of a van.  Apparently it had escaped from a nearby garden where it was being kept as a pet.  These spectacular birds are native to central China but were introduced to Britain as an ornamental bird for aviaries and parkland.  I was still on my way home from work and so missed all the fun. 

Kingfishers Again

Last week I saw at least one of the kingfishers more or less each day as I was walking to and from the station, alongside the Blackwater.  On one occasion I came across one one of them perched still on a branch over the river.  It stayed for about ten seconds, allowing me to get a good view of its plumage, then it flew off.  It was tiny: little bigger than a robin.

On Sunday I took Zoe to see them but there was no sign of them.  Maybe that was because there were too many people around, it being the middle of the day.  Next time I will take her in the early morning. 

Today, I saw one of them again, in the morning and in the afternoon.

Kingfishers on the River Blackwater

I saw a pair of kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) this afternoon as I was walking alongside the river Blackwater between Frimley and Farnborough.  They were chasing each other up and down the river, occasionally alighting on the branches of overhanging trees, and then dashing off again, making strident cheep-cheep calls all the time.  While I have regularly seen kingfishers on this stretch of river and on the nearby lakes, this is the first time that I have ever seen two of them together.   It was also the best view I have ever had of any of these birds: before today I had only caught glimpses of a flash of blue disappearing into the distance, but this time I got a clear views as they raced past. They didn't seem to notice me.  I presume they were performing the courtship chase, mentioned in BWP-CE, though September does seem an odd time of year for courtship.  However, whatever they were doing, they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Chiffchaffs

On Thursday morning I got off the train at Farnborough North and was surprised to hear the alternating two-note song of a chiffchaff as I walked over the bridge. 

It was back in the spring that I first noticed one of these small, non-descript warblers belting out its distinctive song from high up on a power line, and was so intrigued that I took the trouble to look it up in BWP-CE.  It was the repetitive two-note song and the fact that it was sung from high up that convinced me that it was a chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).  Over the next few weeks I would regularly hear two or even three of them each morning as I walked the half-mile through the woods to Frimley, but I never again managed to see any of them.   The song is so distinctive that I am sure that I would remember if I had heard it before, but I am fairly sure I haven't.  The two-note phrase is repeated between about five and ten times and then is followed by a lower and quieter brrr-brrr-brrr sound. 

During the summer I noticed that the chiffchaffs were no longer singing, or were only doing so much less frequently than in the spring.  Hence my surprise to hear one singing again at the start of autumn.

Cormorants

This morning I went for a walk with my daughter around the Reading University lakes and on the larger lake we saw a cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo).  This is the first one I have ever seen on these lakes.  It was just standing in the middle of the lake, presumably on a submerged rock.  Initially it was hanging its wings out to dry --a pose characteristic of cormorants-- but later it just stood with wings folded away, looking around at any Canada geese and mallards that came near it.  It was still in the same place an hour later when we walked back along the other side of the lake. 

I have occasionally seen cormorants over  the river Kennet in Reading town centre as I walk to the railway station in the early mornings. They seemed to be patrolling up and down the river.  I have also seen them from the sea-front at Bournemouth, standing on the posts at the end of the groynes.  But the best views I have had of them have been on the lakes between Farnborough North station and Frimley as I walked to and from work.   In the spring of 2002 I used to regularly see three or four of them standing on the top of a tall tree on the Farnborough side of the largest lake.  Once I caught a glimpse of one of them swimming on one the smaller lakes, moving its head from side to side as if searching for fish.  But more often I would see them flying up from the water as if I had just disturbed them.  Flying they are similar in size to Canada geese but they seem more evenly balanced fore to aft.  Standing, swimming or flying, they are distinctly sinister looking, with their black bodies, lighter faces and long hooked beaks.  I suppose fish must think them sinister too.