Birding bloopers

"I think there's a jay in the garden," I said.

"Are you sure?" asked my husband, and he came to see for himself. He could not be certain either, and that was the problem. The bird was a beautiful buff-pink with white flashes on the wings and a few blue feathers. It was merrily eating all of the peanuts, so quite clearly it was a jay… or was it?

We had a lovely big garden at our new house with plenty of mature trees and leafy shrubs. The tits were easy to identify for a pair of complete novices like us. We had both sorts, blue and great. Well, how were we supposed to know there were so many types? The starlings were easy too, as were the blackbirds and the pigeons… or were they collared doves?

We heard somewhere that the house sparrow was on the decline. "They should come to see our sparrows," we said. We must have had the entire population in our garden. What kind? Well, sparrow-kind we supposed. We didn't know about house sparrows, tree sparrows, dunnocks…

Anyway, that was it. We had a nice new hobby. Off we went to Brandon Marsh near Coventry. We really looked the part too, with our colourful waterproofs, fixed-lens camera, and, erm, no binoculars.

We couldn't see a thing. Swans were easy and we could hear a cuckoo, but that was all. A very kind lady let us use her binoculars while she gave us a potted history of the reserve. She told us how it was once gravel pits, now flooded, and she pointed out some of the birds. There was not a good turnout, apparently. It was the wrong time of year. She suggested we join a local birdwatching group, so we made a start by enrolling with the RSPB.

In the spring we saw an advertisement for a 'Bird walk in the Lickey Hills' in Rednal, near Birmingham, run by Birmingham City Council. It was virtually on our doorstep and, as it was only for two hours - and free - we decided to go along.

The walk was led by the RSPB Birmingham Members' Group and we learned more in those two hours than we could ever have learned on our own. For example, our waterproofs were too bright and the birds would see us and stay still. A field guide is a must to identify the birds we see. An experienced ear can tell what the bird is before the eyes see it. Birdwatching is no good without a pair of binoculars and they don't have to be expensive.

On this simple walk in one of our country parks, we saw at least two dozen species, from robins to magpies to great spotted woodpeckers. There is a place in the Lickeys called 'Jay Corner' where the jays nest every year. But we didn't see any. I proudly told the leader that we'd had a jay in our garden… then he pointed out a chaffinch before it flew away. It looked just like our jay. Ah, it is amazing what you can learn from an experienced enthusiast. So, we'd seen a chaffinch in our garden, not a jay.

We decided to join this local group to see what else we could find out and we continued to be enlightened every time we went.

Here were people who knew what they were talking about. We learned how to identify birds by size, shape, colour, sound, habitat, and so on. Here were people who saved up to go on exotic bird safaris and brought back colourful slides to show to the rest of us. Here were people we could socialise with and who were happy to give up their time and take us out with them at the weekend or on a birdwatching trip.

At Sandwell Valley in the Midlands, a remarkable RSPB urban nature reserve, we've seen grebes, mute swans, Canada geese, moorhens, coots and numerous ducks. We went to Norfolk and saw oystercatchers, avocets and plovers. At Snettisham we saw cormorants and thought this was indeed a scoop. The next day at Cley there were cormorants all over the place. We've even been rewarded at our local car park with wagtails, a nuthatch, and a kestrel.

Joining the local group has opened up a whole new world for us with plenty of experts to help when we get stuck. Throughout our first year 'lifers' have flown in thick and fast: kingfisher, little stint, teal, eider. The list seems endless. But our greatest coup came at Christmas.

During the holiday we stayed near home, hoping to see the three bitterns at Ladywalk near Coleshill in Birmingham. We didn't. A little further afield but still near the city, we tried smews at Kingsbury Water Park. And failed. Admittedly these were disappointing, but balanced by many new birds such as marsh tit, siskin, wigeon, and tufted duck - well, they've been new birds for all of us at some stage. But when we went almost 140 miles to Tregaron in Wales, in pouring rain, we truly believed we would be extremely lucky if we saw a single red kite. We saw 18, and felt very fortunate indeed, until several days later someone reported 65. Oh well, at least we saw ravens, too, and a handsome buzzard.

We have been interested in birds for a few years now, and we're a lot more confident with our claims these days. Since joining our local RSPB members' group we have found new friends, led a healthier lifestyle, and seen plenty of birds.

The new ones have slowed down a little, of course, but we know from the sound they make that there is a family of long-tailed tits living in our neighbour's apple tree even though we haven't yet seen them. Maybe we will try Brandon Marsh again…

"I saw a jay in the garden," I said to my husband the other day.

"Are you sure?" he asked, somewhat dubiously.

"Oh yes," I replied. I was sure.

- - - - - - - - - -

More from Diane on Vocal

Sign up for my newsletter

If you would like to sign up to my regular newsletter, please follow this link. There’s a free short story with every issue.

Don’t forget, you can unsubscribe at any time.

- - - - - - - - - -

If you find this piece interesting, please consider leaving a ❤️, or even a tip.

Your support means a lot to me as a writer! You can also read more of my stories here.

Thank you!

- - - - - - - - - -