Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Seventy-seven.

Today's diary is more of a Public Service Announcement.

Day Seventy-seven.

If you took part in the Back garden Bird Race on Sunday you would have noticed all the fledgling birds that are now appearing in our gardens. At this time of year a lot of young birds are getting their first taste of freedom and are leaving their nests.

The problem is, being as free as a bird isn't all its cracked up to be if you haven't quite cracked the art of flying yet. Wing muscles need to be strengthened and you need to gain a clear sense of perspective or else you're going to end up flying headlong into a fence. It's a very vulnerable time for these fledgling flyers, but the parent birds are always close by providing food and looking out for danger.

A fledgling Mistle Thrush 

If you do see a young bird in your garden the best thing to do is simply leave it where it is unless it is in obvious danger. This flow diagram we've created should help you out.

If you find a bird that’s visibly injured, please contact a local wildlife rescue for assistance: sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/injuredwildlife

Another issue you may encounter at this time of year are young birds who are learning what windows are - the hard way. I'm sure we've all been at home and heard a 'thud' on the window and found a bird lying on the floor below.

About five years ago I was at home one afternoon when I heard an almighty thump against the patio window. I dashed outside to find..

...a young Green Woodpecker had hit the window and was lying on the floor.

It was dazed and confused, it's famously long tongue was lolling out of its mouth. All that was missing were some cartoon stars orbiting 'round its head. 

When a bird is in this state it may look like it's dying, but hopefully it is just concussed and,  given a bit of space to relax, it can recover.

But lying on the ground will leave it vulnerable to cats and other predators.

So, I grabbed a cardboard box and lifted the bird carefully inside. I used some gardening gloves because I didn't want to be on the receiving end of these toenails...

...or this beak. 

What an amazing looking bird. (if you look closely you can see me in its eye)

Then I put a tea towel over the top of the box and left the woodpecker in the shade. It took a while but later it had fully recovered,  hopped out of the box and managed to fly off.

I was wondering the other day if that Green Woodpecker was the same one who did the poo I was poking around on Day Twenty-two (here)

Certain birds leave their mark if they smack into your window. Pigeons, herons and parrots have 'powder down' feathers and the keratin in these feathers forms a dusty coating. There's not much chance of a parrot hitting my window and a heron would probably crash through it but if a Woodpigeon collides with your window, its powdery feathers may leave a ghostly image. We came home one day to see this 'Shroud of Pidge-in' on the kitchen window.

Of course adult birds will fly into windows too, they may be confused by the reflection or simply do not see the glass. I often see that people try to stop birds doing this by putting up a black sticker in the shape of a bird of prey. It's the right idea although it's been proved that these black silhouettes aren't really that effective, as black doesn't contrast enough with the background. So put up colourful stickers or pictures on your window to let the birds know there's a pane of glass there. Net curtains or venetian blinds behind windows will also help prevent bird collisions too.

This year I'm taking no chances and I've put up a huge picture of Freddie Mercury to prevent birds from crashing headlong into the window.

Hmmm, I had two Queen songs I could link to here. I was going to go with this but I think I'll go with this as it's my favourite.