MANY creatures: birds, mammals, insects, and humans too, use strategies to either blend with the background or fit in with those around them.

You could even say that all creatures either want to hide or to stand out. This is achieved in various ways:

We are all familiar with a chameleon’s ability to change colour according to what it is sitting on. Other creatures rely on spending time near objects which are a similar shape or pupate on such an object. Bitterns hide among reeds with their heads stretched upwards to blend with the background. Dragonfly larvae find similar shaped vegetation to climb onto before metamorphosing into adults. Which while they are vulnerable, they can be difficult to spot against the leaf they are clinging to.

We have a beck-side plot behind our house. Rather than keeping chickens or keeping it pristine, it serves as a buffer between our more managed garden and a relatively undisturbed site across the beck which is happily rewilding. There are pine trees which attract goldcrest and a mix of sycamore, ash, willow, alder. One morning I noticed a gap in the skyline, where one of the larger trees had fallen. We left it and over a couple of years the bark became drier and loosened. A perfect home for treecreepers (see photo). I don’t think they nested there but they certainly enjoyed basking in the sun. The stiff claws and relatively long tail mean that the treecreeper young can climb before they can fly.

That same summer, during lockdown, we visited Seaton Carew where Terns took advantage of the lack of human activity by nesting among the stones on the beach. As well as the adults being hard to see, the eggs they lay are creamy and spotted to blend in with the bleached stones.

I would love to include a photo of another arch avian camouflage artist - the nightjar, who nests and rests in a scrape on the ground and is almost invisible as it lies motionless, looking just like a bunch of dead leaves. However, I have yet to be lucky enough to spot one!

At the beginning I mentioned the wish to stand out from the crowd and that some creatures are spectacularly colourful avoiding predation with other strategies than concealment. You would like to imagine that this makes it easier for us amateurs to see birds. However, when you’re out birdwatching, just remember that not every flash of blue beside a river is a kingfisher!

www.wharfedale-nats.org.uk