Wren – Stephen's Wildlife

Jurassic Coast

Old Harry bathed in sunlight from Durlston Castle, with Bournemouth pier and seafront in background

In August 2023 I walked the 8 miles from Corfe Castle to Swanage. It was a wake up call as I struggled up the climb to the Obelisk.

The climb to the Obelisk (just visible) – the location of my August struggle

It was halfway up the 220 steps that I was brought face to face with my lack of fitness. In the intervening 8 weeks I have trained for, and last week ran in, the Bournemouth half marathon.

This week I returned to the Isle of Purbeck. Temperatures were more autumnal and it was mainly sunny, only breaking into a rain shower after we had sat down on the grass to eat our sandwiches. The rain was refreshing and quickly passed.

Our route was an 8 mile circular walk starting and finishing at Durlston Castle, just outside Swanage. We followed the South West Coast Path to just beyond Dancing Ledge, where we headed inland to join the Priest’s Way footpath and looped back to Durlston Castle with stunning views of the Isle of Wight and Poole Harbour. The following photos are some of the wildlife along the way. We were at the wrong time of year to see Puffins, but there are recorded sightings of a small number in May at Dancing Ledge. Note to self to return next spring.

Colours of change – autumn to winter

These images observe and record the colour of the Dorset countryside as the season transitions from autumn to winter. The sun shining low in the sky cast long shadows and either back-lit subjects photographed against it or created strong light when facing away from it. The overriding colour recorded here is brown, with one or two colourful exceptions, such as the blue tit with its blue, yellow and green plumage.

The animals and birds seemed curious. Not all dashed for safety at the first sign of a human, but a few were content to stop, stare and assess the danger. The deer particularly held my gaze for quite some time before being spooked. The female stonechat was bold perched on a teasel very close to me and was in no hurry to move on. Others were more skittish – the heron took to the skies at the first sign of human presence.

Kingston Lacy in autumn

The sun shone today and the rain stopped. Yellow leaves underfoot clearly indicated the season.

The cafe courtyard was occupied solely by a chaffinch. All human patrons headed indoors and shunned the al fresco dining at the external tables and chairs

We could hear the wren from the path, but could not see it. Following the sound and heading into the undergrowth it suddenly showed itself, before disappearing deeper into the foliage.

Not so timid, the robin. Bold and brazen he perched in front of the camera as if asking which profile I preferred.

The Wren

The wren is more likely to be heard rather than seen. Its latin name of ‘Troglodytes Troglodytes’ means cave dweller. It is astonishingly loud for such a small bird (10 cm).

Despite a population of 8.6m in the UK they are very shy and generally keeps low and as inconspicuous as possible.

Garden visitors – March 2019

March coincides with the Church’s observance of Lent, a period of repentance and penitence. Jesus himself was the model for the Lent period. Following his baptism he was ‘led by the Spirit’ into the wilderness and emerged 40 days later ‘in the power of the Spirit’. The Church of England has produced a series of devotional readings and prayers using the Beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. They offer timeless teaching of spiritual rebirth with the ultimate promise and hope of sharing in Jesus’ resurrection.

Access to the garden has been restricted in March for various reasons and so it has been a joy in recent days to get back to see what I have been missing, particularly now that the storms appear to have passed and temperatures are slowly increasing.

Spring has arrived and the number of daylight hours now exceed the hours of darkness. The bird population that has survived the winter will now begin the process of renewal and rebirth. Insects are reappearing. Blossom and green shoots are bursting into life.

Bee collecting pollen
Honey bee

In the garden two themes are apparent: nesting activity and birdsong.

Nesting

A few years ago we put up a nest box in the garden. Its never been used. I saw a blue tit inspecting it the other morning, but it must have found a better site, as it has not returned. To be fair the location isn’t brilliant. Its close to a feeding station, but it lacks privacy and security from squirrels, cats and other threats.

Male sparrow collecting nesting material

Female blackbird collecting nesting material

Whilst I have yet to see any evidence of birds actually nesting in the garden, there have been plenty of birds collecting nesting material.

Birdsong

Blackbird “Billy” in song
Dunnock perched prominently in song

The dawn chorus starts at 5.30 am. Robins, blackbirds, dunnocks and pigeons are clearly discernible. Throughout the day birdsong in the garden will rise and fall as the birds come and go.

Female sparrow
Male sparrow

In recent days the sparrow population has been particularly vocal.

The starlings click, whistle and squawk at each other and then descend on the feeding station, hoovering up the meal worm as fast as it is put out.

New visitors

I have seen a wren on a number of occasions and actually managed to capture a few images this month.

Despite the wren being one of the UK’s most numerous birds (see UK population table below), my experience is that it is quite secretive and normally scuttles away into the undergrowth.

The siskin, male and female, has been a constant visitor, but difficult to spot as it usually ‘hides’ among a group or charm of other finches.

Goldfinches are regular visitors to neighbouring gardens, but despite putting out seed specifically for finches they seem very wary of hopping over the fence. Maybe they can sense the presence of our cat – not that he’s ever caught anything bigger than a fly.

A very distinctive bird, but quite restless, the coal tit is constantly on the move.

Slightly smaller and sleeker than a wood pigeon…

Population – UK

The table below lists a few of the birds observed in the garden, showing their UK population and an indication of the trend, i.e. increasing or decreasing.

Siskin	420,000 pairs	increasing
Goldfinch	1,200,000 territories	Increasing considerably
Chaffinch	6,200,000 pairs	Increasing slowly
Sparrow	5,300,000	Declined by 64% since 1969
Great tit	2,600,000	Moderate increase over 40 years
Blue tit	3,600,000	Modest increase recently
Coal tit	760,000	No overall trend
Long tailed tit	340,000	Modest increase in recent years
Goldcrest	610,000	Long term trend is slight increase
Chiffchaff	1,200,000	Increasing in recent years
Blackcap	1,200,000	Increasing since late 1970s
Blackbird	5,100,000	15% decline over 40 years
Wren	8,600,000 territories	Stable population
Dunnock	2,500,000	Numbers fell (1975-1995), now partially recovered
Bullfinch	220,000 pairs	40% decline in 25 years

Source: RSPB Handbook of British Birds (4th Edition) – 2014