Musings on the word 'birdy' and other vocabulary

Come on, admit it, all you patch birders know exactly what I'm talking about if I say, "Nothing new today, but it felt really birdy."  It's one of those phrases that shows precisely what the patch felt like, but is very difficult to put fully into words.  

What does the term 'birdy' actually mean?  What makes one day more birdy than another? 

It could be an increase in birdsong. It might be a greater flitting, seen in trees and bushes out of the corner of our eyes, or bigger numbers of birds flying overhead.  Or perhaps it's simply down to a change in the weather.  It can feel birdy at any time of the year, but I've noticed the term used far more during Spring and Autumn than at any other time. It's just a feeling I guess.  But, we all know there are also times when it should be birdy and it's very much not!  Those disappointing days when we wake early and grab our optics with expectation, then go home later, wondering where all the birds have disappeared to - a regular occurrence here in Warwick.

It's always a birdy day on Bardsey Island

As with any hobby, birding has developed its own vocabulary; some words and phrases used universally and understood by all, with some sticking to certain locations (it took me a while to be able to understand and respond to "Sin owt?" at Spurn.)

One of the most used and perhaps most amusing, to the immature among us, is the word jizz (or giss, if we want a slightly less questionable spelling).  Wikipedia describes it as the overall impression or appearance of a bird garnered from such features as shape, posture, flying style or other habitual movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location. It was actually used first in ornithology way back in 1921, by an Irish man by the name of T.A. Coward (according to a paper written by Jeremy and Julian Greenwood - yep, there's actually a paper on the word jizz!)  Mr Coward explained it perfectly:

‘If we are walking on the road and see, far ahead, someone whom we recognise although we can neither distinguish features nor particular clothes, we may be certain that we are not mistaken; there is something in the carriage, the walk, the general appearance which is familiar; it is, in fact, that individual’s jizz.'

Photo - Bridgeman Images

It's true, the regular birder can often identify a bird - even in silhouette, from some distance and partially obscured by branches - just by the way it is moving and with knowledge of the regular behaviour of certain breeds.  Green finches sit proudly at the tops of trees, siskins hang from the ends of branches, flycatchers dart out and back to their perches - they all have their individualities that can be learned and used, although not guaranteed, to narrow down what we are seeing.

The behaviour of birds brings out a whole plethora of vocabulary - I have no idea if there's a difference between 'flighty' or 'mobile', 'over' or 'passing through'. I've never heard the words 'elusive' or 'confiding' used more than in birdwatching.  Then there's the labels for the birds themselves.  We lazily shorten their names from meadow pipit to mipit, sparrowhawk to sprawk. Blackwit, barwit and some we even reduce to acronyms like GBBG, LSW and GWE.  We call birds plastic if they're not wild enough, migrant if they're moving and vagrant if they're lost.  

And then there's a list of other birding terms...  

We twitch a rare bird (especially if it's mega).  We dip if we can't find it.  We string if we pretend we did. Apparently, if we send a twitcher the wrong way on purpose, we're gripping them off.  We curse our bogey birds, we curse the togs that get too close to a bird and we celebrate when we tick a bird.

Lastly, there's that all important Boooom! This one depends on how special the bird seen is.  The number of Os, exclamation marks and whether the word is in bold or even capitals is the measure on this one.  

I'm sure there's many many more words and phrases I've still to learn, but now I'm going to dive into my copy of Mrs Moreau's Warbler, to read more about from where our lovely birds got their names.

Happy birding!

Lizzy

The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’ | British Birds

Mrs Moreau's Warbler by Stephen Moss | Natural History Books | Faber

When the bets are off, the birding's on!

Warwick Racecourse.  Possibly the second most famous landmark in Warwick (I suppose the castle has to take top spot..!)  But also an important landmark on the Warwick 100's map, too.

Warwick Racecourse at dawn

Hurdle racing, in particular the exciting annual Kingmaker Chase, brings excited race-goers and television crews from miles around. However, it is the centre of the track that keeps us visiting, our adrenalin surging, consistently providing us with new birds toward our target each year.  

For there is wildlife on our racecourse.  Lots of it.  We are so lucky to have diverse habitats and sympathetic support, aiming to balance the range of uses provided for the residents of Warwick.  In addition to the centre of the course, St Mary's Lands encompases the local football club, historic gardens, motorcycle track and several other buildings.   A rather grand-sounding 'Master Plan' for St Mary's Lands, ensures that any managment, enhancement and promotion of the landscape maintains the character of St Mary’s Land and its increasing biodiversity.  'The master plan represents a balanced response to the opportunities and threats posed at St. Mary’s Lands. It recognises there may be a need to invest in developments that support the wider economy, such as a hotel and expansion of the caravan park, but where any such need exists, it cannot be at the detriment to the greenspace.'  Music to our ears! 

So, what does the racecourse have that attracts so much wildlife?  

The central area contains a golf course and driving range, meaning lots of green space, trees and shrubs.  Redstarts have been recorded here as well as little owl and even a barn owl on occasion.  Next, there is a large area of meadow land where skylarks and meadow pipits breed each year.  A breeding programme is now in place, with protective fences erected during the breeding season.  The success of this project is being monitored closely and seems to have been a real success.  A further small, fenced wetland area boasts reed bunting, reed and sedge warblers.  Whinchat, stonechat and wheater pass through each year and it is a fantastic area to spot snipe (and even jack snipe) at roosting times.  Recently, a large area has been left for sunflowers, teasels and grasses to go to seed, with a finch flock building each year.  Lastly, a small resevoir always looks as though it has potential, but never seems to produce! We have named it 'the toxic pool' and the best we've seen is a green sandpiper and a couple of little grebe. Oh well, you can't win 'em all! 

 

one of this year's skylarks

this has all got me to wondering how Warwick compares to other racecourses around the country in terms of nature habitats, so had a bit of a Google.  It turns out that there's very few records of horse tracks and wildlife going hand-in-hand.  

I found Ripon City Wetlands, in Yorkshire, but that's cheating as the nature reserve is next to and not part of the racecourse.  

I found Bitts Park, in Carlisle, but that's also cheating as it is no longer a racecourse.  It is now a fantastic nature reserve in its own right.

Pontefract, in Yorkshire, apears to be the only other racecourse I could fine that promotes nature, with a lake and walk around the centre of their track.  Birdguides shows a number of recent sightings including reed and sedge warbler and tufted duck. 

And that seems to be it, so I think we're pretty lucky here in Warwick.  It may feel like a bit of a balancing act at times - nature against other users of the racecourse like model aircraft flyers, dog walkers, oh yes and of course there's the horse racing!  But we are lucky to have such diverse habitats and an acknowledged breeding site for ground-nesting birds.  

Now, I'm off to the 'Toxic Pool' to see if there's any sign of life...

Lizzy

West Midlands All Dayer May '23

We are very lucky here in Warwick, to bird as a community.  Each new sighting in the Warwick 100 area gets reported on our WhatsApp group, followed by a flurry of responses from other team members; celebrating both the individual finder and the team's success.  This is usually then followed by a barage of jokes and mild insults - all part of knowing each other pretty well by now!  When the opportunity arises to join the entire West Midlands area as a community for a day, we jump at the chance.  

The West Midlands All Dayer, run by West Midlands Bird Club, is a fantastic, twice-yearly event that started as a bit of fun between friends in the 1980s.  Now, a significant number of birding teams - from Shropshire to Warwickshire, Staffordshire to Herefordshire - race to find as many species of bird as possible in 24 hours.  With such a geographical range, there is a huge diversity of sites inlvolved - from megasites like Middleton Lakes, Ladywalk and Belvide to small 'unbirdy' patches like ours.  For us, it is not a 'race'...we know we can never compete with the wetlands, pools and migration paths of some of those birding hotspots.  For us, it's a chance to get involved and feel part of something bigger, along with making the excitement of a day list come to life.  When spotting a sparrow is a 'boom!' moment, it has to be a good day!

Our All Dayer started with my being woken at 4.20am by a blackbird.  Number one ticked!  I thought I might as well get out and about, so made my way on my bike to our local barn owl's haunt just before dawn.  No luck with Barny this time, but I managed to notch up several regulars and had a list of 30 by 6.30am.  A lesser whitethroat made me smile, as it was our 100th bird for the year (hitting our target one day earlier than last year).  While I was taking a sound recording, a cuckoo called in the distance - a great record for Warwick, for the day and the year!  Off to the golf course, adding a few more locals like great crested grebe and buzzard, then to the Saxon Mill fields to see if any migrants had dropped.  Nothing doing, but I did get to see a wonderful young stag by the river.

Stag at the Saxon Mill fields

At this point, the rest of the team started to stir, with Steve, David, Rick and Alec all contributing with bullfinch, goldcrest and sadly, a dead red kite reported (which we obviously didn't count). 

I had some chores to do and a lunch date with my Mum (watching Charlie get his new hat) as the team hit the 50 mark.  Top respect to a couple of the group, who braved the worst of the weather in the middle of the day, to pick up canada goose, treecreeper and raven.  

Treecreeper - Alec Cuthbert

Full of coronation chicken sandwiches, I went out again, choosing Hopyards and the sewage works.  A huge flock of hirundines, including sand martin, and reed warbler on a local pool made it worth the trip, while records of willow warbler, nuthatch and sparrow hawk came in from elsewhere.  Meeting up with Steve, we took a stroll around the racecourse to see if the ellusive whinchat was about.  There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary, although the skylarks were showing well.

hoards of hirundines

skylark at the racecourse

Even some of the ordinary everyday birds were notably absent today - grey wagtail, greylag goose, black-headed gull, kestrel or peregrine never made it to the list. 

Eventually we all decided to call it a day with a total of 64 bird species.   A brilliant result, with lots of conversation (including jokes and mild insults) on the WhatsApp, as well as keeping up with the #westmidsalldayer posts on Twitter.  A HUGE thanks to Phil Andrews for coordinating the event, we are already looking forward to the September one!

Lizzy

Here is the list...

blackbird
blackcap
blue tit
bullfinch SV
buzzard
Canada goose SV
carrion crow
chaffinch
chiffchaff
coal tit
collared dove SV
coot AC
cuckoo
dunnock
ferel pigeon
gadwall AC
goldcrest RT
goldfinch
great crested grebe
great spotted woodpecker SV
great tit
green woodpecker
greenfinch
grey heron
herring gull
house martin
house sparrow
jackdaw
jay
kingfisher
lesser black-backed gull
lesser whitethroat
linnet
little egret AC
little grebe AC
long-tailed tit SV
magpie
mallard
meadow pipit DM
mistle thrush SV
moorhen
mute swan
nuthatch DM
pheasant
pied wagtail
raven AC
Reed bunting
Reed warbler
robin
rook
sand martin
sedge warbler
skylark
song thrush
sparrowhawk SV
starling
stock dove
swallow
swift SV
treecreeper AC
whitethroat
willow warbler DM
wood pigeon
wren

Green birding in its purest form...

Since Boxing Day, my 'patch' has shrunk from around 2 miles to about 20 metres...and not through choice!

I've been floored, like many of the population, with a nasty bacterial infection and virus that has kept me housebound for the last two weeks.  The Warwick 100 team have totally stepped up, bagging over half of our annual target in the first week of 2023 - with greylag goose being our 50th bird.  A brilliant team effort, it's been great to watch our WhatsApp feed buzzing with everyone's sightings while they are out and about.

I, on the other hand, have been staring absently through my lounge window from under a blanket (think old lady in nursing home).  

I am lucky to have a good garden.  built on three levels on a steep bank, our top level is given over to a little wild woodland area with ferns, trees, shrubs, a tiny wildlife pond and a huge old sycamore right at the back (it sounds way posher than it is).  This brings in a fair bit of wildlife considering we live in the middle of a housing estate in Warwick.  Hanging seed dispensers, ivy left to roam and and ignored apples entice the winter birds to feed.  My absent staring for the last couple of weeks has produced a list of 20 species so far, without stepping foot outside!  None of these species are rare, or even of note really, compared to some of the garden lists I see on social media.  One of my Twitter friends has recently moved to a new house, with views of a mill pond and the potential for some amazing sightings.  Another, relocated to a remote island in Scotland, will have garden list entries I can only dream of!  But, I'm happy with my little urban collection of wildlife to keep me company while I rest up.

So, what about the rules of garden listing?  I keep mine like Patchwork Challenge.  Any sighting of a wild bird counts - whether it lands in my garden, on my neighbours' land, in the sycamore or simply flying over.

The RSPB's infamous Big Garden Birdwatch has more stringent rules, only wanting birds that land to be counted, I guess so the word 'garden' birdwatch is kept true, along with creating an easy process for families and occasional birdwatchers to follow.   The BTO has also been running garden birdwatches since 1995 and have a similar rule.  They state they are 'interested in birds that are using the resources that your garden provides', which seems fair enough, so high flyovers are not of interest.   They do give an example of a low-flying swift or swallow taking advantage of insects within gardens, however, so these should be counted, providing valuable information for research.  

However we decide to run our own lists, it is amazing what taking the time to watch one tiny area can produce (even if it isn't through choice).  I've learned that maybe, when I do finally end up in that nursing home, I can still keep a little birdwatching list!

Jenny wren

GSW in the sycamore

  

grumpy greenfinch

A wreath I made being put to good use!

Ring Ouzel Fabulousness

Sometimes the stars just align...

I was in a coffee shop a few days ago, when I spotted a friend I hadn't seen for over a year.  Popping over to her table, we had a lovely natter.  Then she commented that it was very odd - she had only thought of me this morning when a strange bird had turned up in her garden.  I asked her about the bird...

"It was the size of a blackbird, just like a blackbird really, but had a big white patch on its chest.  I had a look in the bird books and I think it's a ringed ouzlett." She said.

Of course, up my heart-rate went, but I tried to keep calm and consider that it could just be one of our local leucistic blackbirds. "I have a dodgy picture that I can send to you, I took it on my phone."  She continued.  Heart rate a little higher.  The picture arrived an hour later.  Heart rate through the roof!

taken by my friend with her phone

She gave me her address and I hastily checked the boundary of the 100 area to see if it was tickable for the Warwick 100 list.  Ack!  about 100 yards outside.  Frustrating not to be able to get it on our list, but still a great record for Warwickshire (only the fifth ever winter rouzel, apparently).

I couldn't get away from work/life for a couple of days but, yesterday, I received a message to say he was in the garden again.  Having broken up from school for a mere ten minutes, I hotfooted it to the address and hid, shivering, in my kind friend's garden for an hour.   I'd only ever seen one ring ouzel before; on a birding trip to Dungeness some years ago, with Jack.  That one was flighty and a long distance away.  But here this one was, right above me in a rowan tree, an absolute beauty of a bird. He'd eat for a couple of minutes, fly off and return almost exactly eight minutes later.  

Hmmmm, I thought.  I wonder which direction he's flying in... 

A bit of following the flight path and peering down the road and my mood lifted even more - he was flying straight into the Warwick 100 area as part of his circuit!  Bird number 112 for the year and an amazing, if chilly hour spent.

Thanks so much to my non-birding friend for taking an interest and telling me about the 'strange' bird.  She doesn't want her address given out, so apologies to people who I know would want to have seen him.  But it just shows that some brilliant birds can turn up in the most unlikely of places!

  

taken by Lizzy

West Midlands All Dayer

Having been birding for some years now, I've learned that it can be a bit of an isolated hobby at times.  

For many birders (myself included) this is usually no bad thing, as we are a strange bunch - perhaps not as social as some, generally happy in our own company and pretty understanding of the fact that our passion is really rather boring to most.  But everyone needs some sort of social interaction and to feel part of a group/pack/clan at times.  The Warwick 100 team provides this for me on a local level.  While I still mostly bird alone, I know the team is there, only a WhatsApp message away.  Other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow me to keep in touch with birding friends across Warwickshire, the West Midlands and the whole of the UK - giving me a wider sense of belonging.  

The West Midlands All Dayer is a twice-yearly event, organised by the brilliant Phil Andrews, where some 27 birding sites across the region come together to record all birds seen in one day.  It is a competition, with the big guns like Branston GPs, Belvide and Ladywalk recording numbers that we in Warwick can only dream of.   But taking part is lots of fun and it's great to have a day where even a blackbird or robin can be exciting!

I set my alarm for 5am on Saturday, hoping to get barn and little owl before sunrise.  Nothing doing, sadly, but there were lots of the usuals, with the beautiful skies over the golf course making the early start worthwhile.

Once the sun had risen and I'd collected as many new entries as I could around the golf course, I went to photograph the starlings on the wires before moving to the Saxon Mill fields.  Suddenly, a noise I hadn't heard since my last trip to Bardsey Island came out of nowhere.  I knew immediately what I thought it was so, starlings forgotten, I started to look up and around.  There it was, in the distance, but definitely heading toward me.  I grabbed the camera to get the record shot, then straight to the binoculars to enjoy my first ever whimbrel on the patch.  My day was made before 7am!

Onwards to the Saxon Mill and a stroll up to the sheep fields to see if I could bag wheatear or yellow wagtail.  More of the usuals added to the list, I arrived at the fields to find several marquees and a crowd of villagers setting up a horticultural show.  Ah well, never mind!  A very late swift was a surprise overhead as I walked back to the river.

At this stage, others in the Warwick 100 were starting to contribute from their respective patches - bullfinch, peregrine, collared dove, jay, blackcap and greenfinch all added to the list from various members of the team.  

I stopped for lunch (and to watch a very entertaining Everton v Liverpool match) while sparrowhawk and grey wagtail joined our growing list.  

Back out late afternoon, with just a couple more birds added along the river, including gadwall and Cetti's, there were still some major omissions; no sign of Canada or Greylag goose (and no chance whatsoever of a Tundra Bean!) Ravens are usually a daily sight over my house, but not today, and others like treecreeper and mistle thrush were staying firmly hidden.  As I started to flag and think about going home, a message came out over the WhatsApp from Chris...whinchat on the racecourse...

This I had to see for myself - I hadn't seen one for years.  I hotfooted over to the racecourse to see this little beauty and have a natter with Chris, who pointed it out to me.  Another super bird on the list for the day and I think a great one to finish on. 

It was so nice to have been involved in the event, with the Warwick 100 now having a total (59) we can try to beat at the next All Dayer.  We are also very pleased to be the only site to record whimbrel in the region - Warwick ain't so bad after all!

Well done to all the sites that took part and a huge thank you to Phil for keeping all the records.

See you in Spring!

Lizzy