Two new visitors

Two new species singing in the garden this last week. Blackcap and Song Thrush typify two ends of the changing scene in the UK with regard to bird populations.

The Blackcap used to be a summer visitor but with the increasingly mild winters many are now increasingly being seen in the winter. It is unclear, as far as I know, whether these are UK breeding birds that have not migrated or breeding birds from further north which have just not migrated further south.

The Song Thrush was once a common bird but had sadly declined over the past years. It is now a rare visitor to the garden. when I started bird watching back in the 70’s it would be on almost every day’s bird list, but now to see, or hear one, is rare.