Birdwathing in winter

胡琴

👩In cold winters, what shall we do to stay warm?

👱－wear coat, hat, gloves

👩Yes, human can wear coat, hat, gloves, boots to stay warm, heater and fireplace also can provide warmth for us. But animals have no these options, what can they do to survive in the cold and tough winters.

Birds fly south for winters, we call this migration, they travel to the warmer places or somewhere they can find food. Due to dangerous trip, they travel in flocks. For example, the geese fly in noisy, V-shaped group. Other birds travel along

Don't think only bird migrate, some mammals like some bats, reindeer, elk and whales, they travel in search of food each winter. Many fish migrate too, they may swim south or move in deeper, warmer water. Some insects also migrate. Certain butterflies and moths fly very long distances..

Earthworms also move down, some as far as six feet below the surface.

Migration: Spring and fall migration are two of the best times to see many birds. During migration, gregarious species gather in large groups that are easier to see.

Winter is a good time for birdwatching. Luckily today it is a sunny day. I will take you outdoor for a wonderful birdwatching. As migratory birds are used to nesting in some remote places, it will be a long drive to arrive there.

Preparation

The type of migratory birds we might see

1. Aythya ferina （Common Pochard)

The Common Pochard is a medium sized diving duck. Their short legs set back on their body makes walking difficult so they spend most of their time in the water diving for food. When alarmed they prefer to swim away rather than flying off. These birds are widespread and abundant.

Appearance:

Male - The Male Common Pochard has a dark reddish-brown chestnut head and neck, dark grey beak with central band of light-grey and black tip, red eyes, black breast, rump, vent, and tail, with a light-grey body, and the legs and feet are greyish-yellow. Common Pochards look similar to the Redhead and the Canvasback.

Female - The female has a dull grey-brown plumage which is mottled on the head, neck, breast, and upper-back, a paler face, chin and around the brown eye, the beak is similar to the male but has a more narrow central band of grey, the tail and rump are dark brown, and the belly is white.

Food: - Mainly aquatic plants, seeds, pondweeds, leaves and also molluscs, aquatic insects and larvae.

Habitat/Range: - Wetlands, marshlands, and fairly deep freshwater lakes in the UK, north Europe and into Asia. They winter in south and west Europe, north Africa, India, southern China, and Japan.

2.White Crane or Siberian Crane

The Siberian Crane has a pure white plumage, the front of the face from behind the yellow eye to the beak is bare red skin, the primary flight feathers and primary coverts are black, and the legs and feet are pinkish. Both sexes are alike but the male is usually slightly larger.

There are fifteen species of Crane including the Black Crowned Crane, Black-necked Crane, Blue Crane, Brolga, Common Crane, Demoiselle Crane, Grey Crowned Crane, Hooded Crane, Red-crowned Crane, Sandhill Crane, Sarus Crane, Siberian Crane, Wattled Crane, White-naped Crown, and Whooping Crane.

Cranes are tall long-necked and long-legged birds of the family Gruidae.

They look similar to Herons but Cranes fly with their necks outstretched while the Heron will fly with a hunched neck. Most Cranes have an elaborate and noisy courtship dance which involves leaping in the air and dancing. They generally lay two eggs but only rear the strongest chick. Most species of Crane are listed as 'Vulnerable' or even 'Endangered'.

3. The white spoonbill​‎͏ 

Spoonbills are tall white waterbirds with long spatulate black bills and long black legs. In flight they fly with necks and legs extended, in the water they feed with elegant sideward sweeps of their bill. In the breeding season adults show some yellow on their breast and bill tip. Most birds migrate south in the winter.

4. white egret

As the name suggests, the great white egret is a large, white heron. Great white egrets can look similar to little egrets, but they are much larger - the same size as the familiar grey heron. Other identification features to look out for include black feet (not yellow), yellow beak (in juvenile and non-breeding plumage) and a different fishing technique, more like that of the grey heron.​‎͏ 

They eat fish, insects and frogs, caught by spearing with its long, sharp beak.

5. cormorant

Cormorants are large, black waterbirds with a white patch on the thigh during the summer breeding season. Young birds are dark brown above and white below.​‎͏ 

They feed on fish, which they catch with their long, hook-tipped bills while swimming underwater. Cormorants nest on low cliffs around the coasts, or in colonies in trees on lakes and flooded gravel pits. Cormorants can often be spotted perched on a rock or bank with their wings held out. In this stance, they are able to dry their feathers off which are not waterproof.

In China, tame cormorants are used by fishermen as a traditional method of catching fish. A snare is tied around the bird's throat to stop it swallowing bigger fish (although it can still eat small ones), which are then spit up for the fishermen. In different parts of the world, this practice uses different species of cormorant, but it has mostly now become an activity for the tourist industry.

6. Gull

In winter, gulls gather in large numbers to roost on lakes and reservoirs.​‎͏ 

Gulls are members of a large, widespread family of seabirds. Often known as seagulls (though no species is actually called a seagull, and many are found far from the sea), they sometimes get a bad reputation for stealing chips. But gulls are intelligent, adaptable and often beautiful birds

7. Avoset

Avocets are mainly white, with black patches on the back and wings, and a black cap stretching down the back of the neck. They have long, blue legs, but are most easily recognised by their long, black, upturned bills.​‎͏ 

A scarce wader, the avocet is about the same size as an oystercatcher, but much more slender. It feeds on aquatic insects, worms and crustaceans, which it finds by sweeping its bill from side-to-side in shallow water. It is often seen on estuaries and mudflats at the coast where it breeds on exposed mud in a dug-out scrape.

8. Wild goose

Geese live near water, mostly in the northern half of the world. Many geese migrate, or fly long distances between their summer and winter homes. They nest in cold northern regions during the summer and fly south for the winter.

Geese are generally larger than ducks but smaller than swans. But geese have many features in common with ducks and swans. They have webbed feet, which help them paddle through water. They also have a gland near the tail that makes oil. This oil helps protect the feathers from water. An inner layer of soft feathers called down helps keep waterfowl warm.

Most geese are black, brown, gray, or white. They have heavier bodies and longer necks than ducks do. Geese are also better at walking than other waterfowl are. This is because their legs are farther forward on their bodies.

Geese have humped bills that become narrower toward the tip. Their bills are good for grasping grasses, which is their main food.

The common geese we might see in the wild: bean goose, greylag goose, pink－footed goose

9. Swan

There are six to seven species of swan called as below

Swans are amongst the largest flying birds with the Mute Swan being the largest. The male is called a 'Cob', and the female is called a 'Pen', and young swans are called 'Cygnets'. They feed on land and in water and are mostly herbivores eating aquatic plants, roots, and tubers by dabbling or up-ending and using their long neck to reach submerged plants. Swans pair for many years and the female lays 4 to 7 eggs in a nest on the ground near to water. Cygnets can be seen riding on the backs of the parent birds.​‎͏ 

Why do birds migrate?

Birds migrate to move from areas of low or decreasing resources to areas of high or increasing resources. The two primary resources being sought are food and nesting locations.

Birds that nest in the Northern Hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of burgeoning insect populations, budding plants and an abundance of nesting locations. As winter approaches and the availability of insects and other food drops, the birds move south again. Escaping the cold is a motivating factor but many species, including hummingbirds, can withstand freezing temperatures as long as an adequate supply of food is available.

The term migration describes periodic, large-scale movements of populations of animals. One way to look at migration is to consider the distances traveled.

One the way to the birdwatching spot what we can talk－yellow leaves and bare trees

Why do we paint the tree trunks in winter

Summer sunscald happens on trees when bark gets too hot. This happens on young tree trunks or young branches of older trees. Bark gets so hot that cells die.

Winter sunscald happens in colder weather when the warm sun heats up the bark during the day, followed by a sudden drop to low temperatures at night. Rapid temperature changes cause damage to cells in the bark.

Both types of sunscald cause lesions or breaks in the bark. Over time, these can open up into large damaged areas that attract insect pests and diseases. This damage to bark tissue happens primarily on weak trees.

So paiting the tree trunk is effective at repelling insect pests as well as preventing sunburn.