A Winter Visitor

In my last post, I spoke about the fine tightrope I walk gardening to grow fruit and vegetables while also promoting wildlife. To monitor my progress on both these fronts, I not only record my harvests but also remain constantly vigilant of the beautiful species visiting, growing in, and using my tiny 100th of an acre plot.

So, you can imagine my fixed concentration earlier this week when I glimpsed an unusual bird foraging for invertebrates in the loose soil around my recently transplanted raspberry canes. It looked superficially robin like in form and behaviour, but its colour was all wrong, a solid sooty grey. I watched intently as it flicked up onto the garden wall revealing a flash of rusty red under its tail.

What a stunning little one, repeatedly bobbing in the sun's early morning rays. This was certainly a totally unfamiliar species to me. I kept watching with curious excitement, taking in every detail I could make out. Something of serious note was the subtle tendency for its tail to shudder during its brief moments standing still. After less than a minute, the magical visitor was gone joyfully flitting away over the terraced rooftops.

Naturally, I immediately hopped on Google. What was this mystery visitor? Hmmm... nop, nop, nah... Oh, wait, wait, is that it? Seems right... Sooty grey, orangey tail, tendency to prefer urban areas, winter visitor along the south west coast. What about the behaviour. Over to Youtube and... bang! Subtle quivering tail and that familiar bob, bobbing. Gotcha!


A black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros). This is really quite special. The RSPB estimates there are only 58 breeding pairs in the UK and only around 400 wintering individuals here. This is why this species is listed on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is not only illegal to kill this species or collect its eggs, it is also illegal to disturb this species while nesting. Very strict protection indeed.

What a special garden visitor! The best part about this story is this little beauty keeps returning. Today, I took part in this year's Big Garden Birdwatch. During the hour I admired the birds working the bird table, the magical little black redstart made five separate appearances.

Evidence my garden exploits are working. I feel truely blessed!

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