Thursday 23 May 2019

May Corn

Report for last weekend. Apart from the bumper return of warblers - see separate post 'Warblings' - it was not a particularly eventful weekend. The highlight was a singing Corn Bunting, they are now almost extinct as a breeding bird in the area, and the national picture is pretty grim too (BTO / RSPB).

Saturday 18th / Sunday 19th May

Mute Swan - 2
Greylags - 25
Canadas - 6 adults and 21 (16+5) young
Gadwall - 13
Mallard - 2 young noted
Tufted Duck - 10
Red-legged Partridge - 5
Grey Partridge - 2
Little Grebe - 2
Cormorant - 5
Little Egret - 1
Heron - 5
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 12
Kestrel - 5
Coot - 4
Oystercatcher - 3
Lapwing - 24
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Herring Gull - 32
Swift - 30+ mostly at Harpham
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Sand Martin - 70+
Swallow - 50+
House Martin - 30+
Yellow Wagtail - 6
Grey Wagtail - 2 at Wansford
Sedge Warbler - 2
Reed Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 'plenty'
Lesser Whitethroat - 2 'new'
Whitethroat - 46
Chiffchaff - 'plenty'
Willow Warbler - 11
Bullfinch - 2
Reed Bunting - 6 males Kelk Beck
Corn Bunring - 1 male nr Kelk

Still only a handful off butterflies about, the most notable was a Wall.

1. Canada Goose pair with 16 goslings. I gather a normal brood would be 4-7 eggs so this seems likely to be a 'creche' from 3-4 different pairs. Given the historically low breeding density in the area it's no surprise this is the first time I've encountered this behaviour here. It seems reasonable to assume this is a legacy of the unprecedented flock last autumn that peaked at 166 in October.
















Corn Bunting singing.















Hare. Quite a few out in the open at the weekeend.















Reed Bunting male. Delightful birds although not the most inspiring song, to be fair.















Wall butterfly. The last couple of years haven't been great for butterflies, hopefully this summer will be a bit more favourable.















Just two addition for the year - the bunting and Swift.

092 - Swift
093 - Corn Bunting

Tuesday 21 May 2019

Warblings

A fuller review of last weekend to follow but first I thought I'd just write a summary of how warblers have fared this spring. In short: it's been a bumper season.

Every spring I try to make an effort to count singing warblers as they arrive from Africa (come on, just how amazing is that). Although most warbler species are loud and distinctive singers there's a number of problems for me surveying them - weather and timing being the chief ones. With only a few survey days to play with if I visit too early in April or too late in May I would certainly miss some birds.

Numbers, therefore, vary from one year to the next and some of that is my surveying rather than population change. Having said that I've got a sense over the years of general trends. Timing and weather were good this year so what follows are likely higher than in a normal survey.

Note that I'm not claiming to count every singing male in the area - much habitat is out of reach. This is especially true of some prime warbler habitat - hedgerows/scrub, woods and wet areas. But, what I have is a fairly consistent effort to survey the same areas every year for 13 years!

Sedge Warbler - 20 males
This is the highest total in all the survey years. TA normal return would be 10-15, and the trend is fairly stable though they are confusingly up and down. Kelk Beck is the stronghold and accounts for 15 this year. Five elsewhere is a good score. Perhaps it really is a good year for them.

Reed Warbler - 2 males
There are three small reedbed sites where this species is regularly recorded, each typically hosting one or two males. This year two sites had one each and the third had none. Reed Warblers can arrive very late so it's possible this situation will be different in June.

Blackcap - 34 males
Another highest total in the survey years. As long as there's lots of cover Blackcaps are ok - gardens, big hedges, woodland. A typical year recently would see around 20 counted. There's been a few years where I haven't been very thorough in counting Blackcaps (as low as 12) but even so this appears genuinely to be a bumper year and the long-term trend has been upward.

Garden Warbler - 2 males
You never know where this species is going to appear - there are no guaranteed sites. I've never had more than three in a year so in that respect this year is typical. Woodland edge and tall scrub are the favoured habitats. Both this year's birds were in places I've never heard them before. The song can be tricky to differentiate from Blackcap and it's likely I've counted a few Gardens as Blackcaps over the years (must try harder).

Lesser Whitethroat - 11 males
Something of a mystery, this species. Their numbers appear to vary wildly from year to year and yet even the individual bushes they sing from are used again and again. A typical year would be 5-10 males, 14 in 2014 is the highest. Large bushes in hedgerows or scrub are by far the preferred habitat.

(Common) Whitethroat - 48 males
By some significant margin the largest count over the survey years. They were everywhere - and provided the main motivation for writing this piece. In 2018 a total of 28 was the largest count. A return of 20-25 would be normal. Long-term (discounting this spring) the trend is slighly upward. Whitethroats almost exclusively use hedgerows and perhaps farm stewardship practices have benefitted this species over recent years.

Chiffchaff - 32 males
Another highest total, eclipsing the 26 in 2017. April is the peak time for counting Chiffchaff. By mid-May they quieten down and there's no new arrivals to count. They are the most woodland of all our warblers local habitat though they will use more open scrub habitat like Blackcaps. There's no doubt this species has increased over the years.

Willow Warbler - 15 males
Recent years have seen 10-14 males counted so this is at the top end of normal. Last year's count of only 8 males was hopefully an anomaly - there was no particular lack of effort surveying. Woodland, scrub and large hedgerows are the favoured habitat but even in the best looking places they are thinly distributed. In the 1990s they outnumbered Chifchaffs but that's unthinkable now.

A couple of absences...

Cetti's Warbler - a male heard singing at the same site in both 2017 and 2018 raised hopes of expansion, in line with the situation across the region. So far this year, nothing doing. There's still time though!

Grasshopper Warbler - only recorded in two years recently, both at different sites near Kelk Beck. Clearly this is not a species one can expect every year so there's nothing much to read into it's absence.

A couple of photos...



Whitetroats were particularly active during this visit with several seen making song flights and singing from very prominent perches - something they don't readily do for much of the season.



Thursday 2 May 2019

April Showers

A bit of a game of two halves at the weekend. Saturday was almost constant rain. Not ideal, but what are you going to do eh? Sunday was better, dry at least. The highlight was really just catching up with all the summer migrants - in March's visit it was still too early even for Chiffchaff.

Despite the rubbish weather the timing must have been ideal to catch males at their singing peak - a very high number of Blackcap and Chiffchaffs were counted. However, a Sedge Warbler total of five is very low and hopefully more about the weather/arrival time.

Other than that a Curlew was a decent year tick!

Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April

Mute Swan - 29 at Wansford, plus 3 others
Greylag Goose - 16
Canada Goose - 1
Gadwall - 6
Tufted Duck - 13
Red-legged Partridge - 6
Grey Partridge - 2
Little Grebe - 3
Cormorant - 8
Little Egret - 3
Heron - 4
Sparrowhawk - 1
Buzzard - 11
Kestrel - 6
Oystercatcher - 2 pairs
Lapwing - 18
Snipe - 1
Curlew - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2
Cuckoo - 1 calling briefly AM Saturday
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Sand Martin - 55+
House Martin - 15+
Swallow - 60+
Yellow Wagtail - 4
Mistle Thrush - 7
Sedge Warbler - 5
Reed Warbler - 2
Blackcap - 34
Garden Warbler - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 9
Whitethroat - 17
Chiffchaff - 32
Willow Warbler - 8
Jay - 1
Linnet - 75 (flocks of 35+20+20)
Bullfinch - 1

Butterflies were at a premium with the weather conditions - just one each of Orange Tip, Speckled Wood and a 'white'.

A dead newt (photo below) was a surprise, picked up on the roadside. Presumably it had wandered from a nearby garden pond.

Baby Blackbird at Harpham.















Bunny munching spring crop.















Buzzard looking for food.















Three Little Egrets are hanging on from winter. In the last few years as they've become regular they tend to have left by late March so this is unusual. That said, one summered last year so it's possible these lot will try it.















Common Newt found dead on the roadside.















A leap of 14 in the yearlist.

078 Cuckoo
079 Blackcap
080 Chiffchaff
081 Whitethroat
082 Lesser Whitethroat
083 Willow Warbler
084 Swallow
085 House Martin
086 Sand Martin
087 Garden Warbler
088 Sedge Warbler
089 Yellow Wagtail
090 Reed Warbler
091 Curlew