The Curious Nuthatch

When trawling through guides on how to become a birder (wading through advice ranging from buying a ton of expensive gear to putting up feeders in your garden- not much use as I am both poor and live in a flat), one piece of advice stood out: find a spot. Basically, this means finding a spot and regularly going birding there. The spot could be your garden, a local pond, a local park or anywhere birds tend to gather. The idea is that if you repetitively bird in one area, you will get used to identifying that set of birds and get comfortable with the identification process. I liked this idea, and after some thought, I settled on a spot. There is a really nice stretch of river near where I live, and nestled near a carpark, some kind soul has placed a few bird feeders. I have visited the spot 5 or so times so far, and the feeders are always half full, and there are always lots of birds. Facing the bird feeders are some picnic benches, perfect for a flask of tea while I bird. Photo

On a recent trip to Wales, I stumbled across two lovely big black birds catching the sun on a riverside. Watching them in awe, through my new binoculars (I will post about these later) I could see every detail, even water droplets on their feathers. A quick flick through my bird identification book (again, I will post about my favourites of these later), narrowed down the pair to either cormorants or shags. Photo taken using my Sony A500 So, I disappeared into an internet blackhole, and have summarised my understanding of the differences below: Cormorants: Can be found inland, feathers are black/brown but can have a greenish tinge, white patches on the thigh, bare skin around the eyes, adults have a yellow patch under the throat. Shags: More numerous, coastal, smaller in body (I guess only useful if the two are side by side), eyes are surrounded by feathers, feathers are black with a greenish tinge, no white parts, tufted crests on the head. Although not visible