2.
NOTES on SUBURBAN GARDEN BIRDS
by Florence Caldwell
In late August 1975 we moved house from
Hornchurch to Upminster, a distance as the
crow flies of about two miles. We always had
a large number of birds visiting the garden
in Hornchurch which, although completely
surrounded by houses, had a large parkland
area about a quarter of a mile away. In
Upminster we have a more open aspect and open
countryside (farmland) within a quarter of a
mile. The numerous trees and ornamental shrubs
seem to provide a habitat ideal for bird life.
We soon noticed differences in our resident
and visiting birds, so I kept a record of these
differences and of any "new" species we were
able to identify.
Common to both gardens were: Blackbirds,
Blue tits, Great tits, Song thrush, Mistle
thrush, Robins, Wrens, Starlings, House
sparrows, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Collared
dove, Wood pigeon, gulls and Magpies. My
monthly record beginning the last week of
August 1975 in Upminster is as follows:
AUGUST: the first thing we noticed was
the large size of the numerous glossy black-
birds on our lawn. There had been a decline
in recent years in the numbers of blackbirds
in Hornchurch and the very dry summer of 1975
had been disastrous for the garden there.
The soil being light and sandy with gravel
only 10 inches below the surface, it closely
resembled a desert by August. In Upminster
the sub-soil is clay so the effect of the dry
weather was nothing like so catastrophic.
Presumably this meant the worm population was
still abundant resulting in fat, healthy black-
birds.