British Sea Birds

by Charles Dixon

The breeding season of the Stock Dove begins in April, and extends over the entire summer into the succeeding autumn. When resorting to maritime cliffs, the nest is often placed amongst ivy, in a rabbit burrow, or in a crevice of the cliffs, and is a mere platform of twigs, roots, or straws. In many cases a nest is dispensed with altogether. The two eggs are creamy-white, smooth, and polished. In inland localities a hole in a tree, or the deserted drey of a squirrel, or old nest of a Crow or Magpie, is usually selected. Several broods are reared in the season. This Dove is one of those species that is rapidly extending its area of distribution in our islands; the trend of its advance, however, being always northerly. Outside our limits the Stock Dove is found over most parts of Europe and North-West Africa, eastwards to the Caucasus and Asia Minor.

HERON.

Although this bird, the Ardea cinerea of most writers, is usually associated with fresh and inland waters, it is frequently enough met with along the coast, especially about estuaries, salt-marshes, and such portions of the shore where pools are left by the tide amongst the rocks at low water. Moreover, it sometimes establishes its colonies on marine cliffs, or in woods adjoining the sea. Although of recent years considerably reduced in numbers, the Heron still justifies the prefix of “Common,” which custom generally attaches to it. There are few places round the English coast known to me where the Heron forms such a distinctive feature in the scene as on the wide estuary of the Exe, or, but not so abundant, on that of the Teign, a little lower down the Devonshire coast. Sometimes a score or more Herons may be counted here together, standing like big blue sentinels on the marshes, wading in the tidal pools, or flying in their slow deliberate way, above the flats. Many of these Herons breed in the valley of the Dart. Odd Herons may also be flushed here and there along more rock-bound coasts. The flight of this species is very imposing, witnessed to perfection as the bird passes to or from its feeding or fishing grounds, and its nightly retreat in some distant wood; or perhaps, better still, when mobbed by some Gull, or mobbing one in return. The Heron feeds largely on fishes, either those from salt- or fresh-water, together with frogs, water insects, and even small mammals. The Heron fishing is a perfect picture of still life, an ornament to the shore. As a rule, the Heron is a remarkably silent bird; he fishes, like all good anglers, in absolute quietness; but when passing through the air, on his frequent journeys, he often utters a short, deep trumpet-like note, startling and strange-sounding enough when heard from the evening sky.

The Heron breeds locally throughout the British Islands, its favourite nesting places being in woods and plantations, although a ledge on a cliff, or a ruin, is sometimes selected. In many places, where the Heron is sufficiently abundant, it breeds in colonies, like Rooks, and resorts, year by year, to the same localities. The nest is usually a huge pile or platform of sticks, the cavity containing the eggs sometimes being lined with turf and moss. Some nests are much larger than others, the accumulation of years, and most are whitewashed with the birds’ droppings. The eggs—three to five in number—are greenish-blue, and chalky in texture. When disturbed at their nests the big birds rise, crashing through the branches into the air, and sail about above the place in anxiety until left in peace. They utter few or no notes of any kind. When the young are nearly full grown, they may be seen climbing about the trees, using their beak to assist them in passing from one part of the tree to another. The Heron is a bird of very wide distribution, and is found throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and even Australia.

In conclusion, we may remark that there are many other land birds found upon certain parts of the coast from time to time, especially during the two great periods of migration in spring and in autumn. The above short list must not be regarded in any way as being exhaustive. It contains, however, the most constantly characteristic species. Many small Passerine birds frequent the shore—especially on our eastern and southern seaboard, but they are arrivals from other lands, and often passing south or north, as the case may be, to yet more distant haunts. Among the more prominent of these, we may mention the Goldcrest, which often abounds on the coasts of the German Ocean; the Skylark and the Starling, that come each year in countless hosts; the various Finches and Thrushes, that visit us each season to pass the winter in our land. Then, more locally, there is the Snow Bunting and the Shore Lark—Arctic birds that visit us more or less commonly. The Common Bunting, too, is a common resident on many parts of the littoral area. Of other species we may mention the Short-eared Owl, the Sparrow-Hawk, the Woodcock—migrants from over the sea, tarrying but a short time to rest near the shore, before speeding inland, or yet further south. The Rook obtains much of its food from the sands in littoral districts; the Starling often congregates in vast flocks on the saltings. I have even seen the Rook take its food from the surface of the sea, precisely in the same manner as a Gull.

Migration on the Coast

MIGRATION TIME. (On the Friskney foreshore.) Chapter viii.

CHAPTER VIII.
MIGRATION ON THE COAST.

The Best Coasts for Observing Migration—Migration of Species in Present Volume—Order of Appearance of Migratory Birds—In Spring—In Autumn—Spring Migration of Birds on the Coast—The Earliest Species to Migrate—Departure of Winter Visitors—Coasting Migrants—Arrival of Summer Visitors—Duration of Spring Migration—Autumn Migration of Birds on the Coast—The Earliest Arrivals—Departure of our Summer Birds—Arrival of Shore Birds—Direction of Flight—Change in this Direction to East—The Vast Rushes of Birds across the German Ocean—The Perils of Migration—Birds at Lighthouses and Light Vessels—Netting Birds—Rare Birds.