Time To Sit

The nature reserve. The magnet which draws me and camera at any time of day. Bank holiday Monday was fine weather, so I spent a day exploring. And when the sunshine broke through, it was really quite warm. So rather than march, I took time to sit. And watch.

I heard the birds before spotting them. They flitted between branches in the winter canopy high above where I sat. A couple of initial alarm calls before the sounds relaxed into song and reciprocated greetings.

A pair of great spotted woodpeckers were the first to come into view. Rather than singing, the males drum loudly to mark their territory. This tells other males to stay away, and advertises their presence to females. They usually drum on dead wood, and can drum up to 40 strikes per second. Although the usual pace is a more sedentary 10-15 strikes per second.

Woodpeckers have a shock absorbing skull to protect their heads from the drumming. You can see in the photograph that the woodpecker which was directly above me closed its eyes while drumming. I presume this was also for protection.

Next to emerge were a pair of nuthatches. The noise they make tapping, while searching for insects among bark, is almost louder than that of the woodpecker. It certainly seems to create more of an echo between the trees. Nuthatches are the only UK bird which can walk headfirst down tree trunks.

Nuthatches nest in a simple space in natural tree holes, or those created by other birds. Residence by a nuthatch is often revealed by dried, hardened mud around the entrance. This reduces nest site competition from other birds, and predators which may take eggs and nestlings.

The loudest alarm call was that of the wren, which was lower down but hidden well. Having remained in position for several minutes, the chattering mellowed into the beautiful song which wrens are known for, and I finally spotted it not far from where I sat. The scientific name for the wren is ‘Troglodytes Troglodytes‘ from the Latin meaning ‘hole-dweller’. This refers to its habit of searching for food, or roosting, in tree cavities.

Compared to its bodyweight, a wren’s song is ten times more powerful than a cockerel crowing!

Before moving on, I watched a flock of long-tailed tits loop through the treetops, chattering as they went. During breeding season, nest helper long-tailed tits sometimes help parents to feed their chicks, improving their survival chances. In winter, long-tailed tits join flocks of other woodland birds, such as treecreepers, goldcrests, and nuthatches. They huddle together for warmth, and there is a certain safety in numbers when evading predators.

Sometimes, there’s so much more to see by pausing, than there is in rushing on through. I think perhaps this is as much a life lesson, as a nature explorer lesson. Returning to a post from a few years ago, I am again reminded of the poem by W. H. Davies, Leisure.

“What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? – ….”