Mixed Fortunes

Following on from the pictures in my last post taken in my garden, I snapped a few more this past week. First up was another fly, that I think I have identified to the family Micropezidae or Stilt-legged Flies. There are about 500 species of this fly worldwide, with nine species in Britain. A characteristic of them is that their fore legs are markedly smaller than the other pairs. Unfortunately, I couldn't identify it to species, but if there is anybody reading this that can, then I would love to hear from you, and similarly if it isn't a species of Stilt-legged Fly, then please also let me know!

 Stilt-legged Fly sp. (above & below).

I have mentioned my mini-meadow in my garden numerous times on this Blog, and instead of a lawn we have a small meadow. And it is small, probably just about 20 square metres or 0.002 ha! We sowed 27 species of wildflowers and five species of grasses as follows; Yarrow, Common Knapweed, Greater Knapweed, Wild Carrot, Hedge Bedstraw, Lady's Bedstraw, Field Scabious, Rough Hawkbit, Oxeye Daisy, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Wild Marjoram, Hoary Plantain, Salad Burnet, Cowslip, Selfheal, Meadow Buttercup, Bulbous Buttercup, Yellow Rattle, Sorrel, Red Campion, Ragged Robin, Meadowsweet, Bladder Campion, Tufted Vetch, Common Bent, Crested Dogstail, Slender Creeping Red Fescue and Smaller Cat's-tail.

 Tufted Vetch in our mini-meadow.

We went for a general-purpose mix as I had no idea what the soil type was, as I had to bring some top-soil in to create the meadow. A few of the species never showed, and a few have now disappeared, but out of the 32 species, 27 still show every year!

I had a bird survey to do for work earlier in the week, and it was fairly close to home on some fairly un-interesting relatively intensive grassland, with a mix of good and not-so-good hedges. However, as I am fond of saying there is always something of interest to record. The first bird I recorded, and sadly didn't get any pictures of, is a common woodland species that was a little out of context here, and that was a Jay. There is a distinct lack of woodland in this area, so I'm not sure where it had come from. I saw it 'feeding' on the road, and can only assume it was either picking up grit, or perhaps invertebrates.

Warblers were thin on the ground with just a couple of singing Whitethroats and a Blackcap singing in the distance. When I was stood having a coffee, a single Oystercatcher flew over me alarm-calling, but I didn't think it was alarm-calling at me, and then I noticed a dog Fox slipping by!

I've got a feeling that Greenfinches have perhaps had a good breeding season this year, as I have been recording more birds singing at various survey sites, and I have been seeing a few juvenile birds as well, and today was no exception with at least four juvenile birds knocking about.

 There was plenty of Cow Parsely and Red Campion along the verges of the 

lane that formed part of my survey route, and I loved the contrasting 

colours.

Gail and I were a little apprehensive when we went to complete our final check for the summer of our Pied Flycatcher boxes in the Hodder Valley in Bowland, as the weather over the past 4 or 5 days has been quite cold and wet. After we made our final check by mid-morning, I would say that the headline that would sum it up was 'mixed fortunes'.

We ringed 14 Pied Flycatcher chicks, but that was three broods; 5, 3 and 6. The box with the brood of three contained three dead chicks. The broods of five and six, had seven last week, so the adults have certainly struggled to find food. Or, some of them have, because we had three boxes with large healthy broods of seven that we ringed last week, that were about to fledge. We also had four boxes where they had all fledged successfully i.e. a flat nest in an empty box!

 Pied Flycatcher chick.

This got me thinking about whether there is any correlation between the age of adult Pied Flycatchers (more experienced birds), and the success of the breeding attempt. I would guess that there is, but I would need to have a look at our results over the years and crunch a few numbers to find out.

As Gail is retiring later this year, she very kindly offered to input all the information from the boxes since we started this particular scheme some 17 years ago onto a spreadsheet, so we can hopefully answer this question, and look at other interesting results the data might provide. Needless to say, I snapped her hand off, and how lucky am I to have a wife who would do that for me. Gail you're the best!

From Reedbed To Garden

At the start of the week I had a ringing session in the reedbed and scrub at the Obs. It was an early start, and I was unlocking the first of the three gates to gain entry by 5:00 am. Now, that might sound early, but when I was a newly qualified bird ringer, some 36 years ago now, I would probably have been there by 4:00 am! So, I don't know whether I have got wiser as I have got older, or softer! My enthusiasm has never diminished though, and it was a pleasure to be out under virtual clear skies with a light south-easterly wind.

I had a very quiet ringing session however, and only ringed four birds as follows:

Sedge Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Blackbird - 1
Blue Tit - 1

 Sedge Warbler

Where I park my car overlooks the scrape that we recently restored, and although there wasn't anything unusual on there, it was extremely busy with the likes of Tufted Ducks, Shoveler, Mallards, Little Grebes, Mute Swans, Coots, Moorhens and Greater Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls, that were constantly flying in and out to bathe. House Martins and Swifts also fed over the scrape on the bounty of aerial insects.

Over on the right you will see that I have updated the ringing totals for the year for Fylde Ringing Group. Due to lockdwon restrictions no birds were ringed in April, so it was late May before things started off again.

Below are the top four species ringed during May, and the top five 'movers and shakers' for the year so far.

Top 4 Species Ringed in May

1. Pied Flycatcher - 54
2. Blue Tit - 40
3. Sand Martin - 30
4. Great Tit - 29

Top 5 Movers and Shakers for the Year

1. Linnet - 115 (same position)
2. Pied Flycatcher - 54 (straight in)
3. Blue Tit - 47 (straight in)
4. Great Tit - 36 (straight in)
5. Sand Martin - 30 (straight in)

Eight new species for the year were ringed during May and these were Pied Flycatcher, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Nuthatch, Sand Martin and House Sparrow. 

I have been snapping away in my garden of late, anything from invertebrates, to plants to birds, and I have posted a few pictures below. For the identification of the fly Coenosia tigrina I had to enlist some help from a Facebook group I am on called The Society for the Study of British Flies - The Dipterists Forum; so many thanks for the guys on there. So, in no particular order...

The Willows in our garden are covered in Aphids at the moment, so there 

are a number of Ladybirds in attendance including these 2-spot Ladybirds.

 My mni-meadow is flowering nicely at the minute, with flowers such as

this Birds-foot Trefoil above, and the Common Flax below.

 I spotted this Blue-tailed Damselfy resting up in our 

mini-meadow.

 A couple of flies; Coenosia tigrina above, and the Greenbottle 

Lucilia sericata below.

 The Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus is frequent around the bird bath.

 With the warm weather we had recently, a few bees were in the garden, 

including this Red-tailed Bumblebee foraging on some Chives. 

 The young Starlings have been devouring the fat balls of late, and I love 

watching their antics.

4 Out Of 10

Yesterday Gail and I continued are monitoring of our Pied Flycatcher boxes in the Hodder Valley in Bowland, and rather pleasingly we managed to record 4 out of the 10 males. We use a trap that holds the bird in the nest box when it comes in to feed the young. We then lift the adult out of the box, fit a ring, or record the details if it is already ringed, as is often the case, take various biometric data, and safely release the bird to get on with rearing those gorgeous Pied Flycatcher chicks.

 Pied Flycatcher

Out of the four males that we trapped yesterday, only one was new, the other three were already ringed. One was ringed as a chick from a box at our site in 2019, one was ringed as a chick at this site in 2016 and the third ringed bird was ringed elsewhere. Data like this is hugely important for the conservation of this red-listed species, as it is essential that long-term monitoring is undertaken to base sound conservation policies on, such as climate change adaptation as the range and nesting strategies change for Pied Flycatchers. But there is of course just the sheer amazement of what these birds achieve on an annual basis.

Take the male ringed in one of our boxes in 2016. We know exactly where he hatched, and therefore we know exactly how old he is. On 30th May 2016 Gail and I checked box number seven at our site, and it contained 6 naked and blind Pied Flycatcher chicks (including our male), so I know that he will have hatched on or around 25th May 2016, making him more or less 4 years old to the day! By the way, he was nesting in box number 37 this year.

Pied Flycatchers weigh an average of 13 g, and winter in West Africa south of the Sahara, so that male has crossed the Sahara an incredible eight times! We ringed 44 Pied Flycatcher chicks, and we have twenty chicks to ring next weekend.

 Pied Flycatcher chick(s) (above & below)

In addition to the Pied Flycatchers we ringed seven Blue Tit chicks and eleven Great Tits. Other species that we recorded as we wandered round the woodland included Raven, Buzzard, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

As I have been busy recently with bird surveys for work, I haven't run my moth trap as often as I would like. However, on Friday morning I trapped two Garden Carpets, five Heart and Darts, two Brimstone Moths and a White Ermine. This morning in the trap was a stunning Elephant Hawkmoth, five Heart and Darts, two Common Pugs, a Green Pug and a White Ermine. Still quiet, but I like it like that.

 Brimstone Moth

Elephant Hawkmoth (above & below)

I don't know whether I have mentioned it before, but I have a pair of Blackbirds that visit my garden regularly, and at the moment I have been watching them collecting food, so they have a nest with young somewhere. Anyway, the reason I mention this is that I took a couple of pictures of the female recently at the bird bath, and you can see them below.

 

I am hoping to get out ringing in the Obs reedbed over the next couple of days, and I'll let you know how I get on if I do.

10 Out Of 10

I've had a busy this week, with plenty of site visits looking at upland breeding wader habitat and carrying out a few breeding bird surveys, so it is only now that I have had time to report back on our recent check of our Pied Flycatcher boxes.

On Monday, Gail and I checked our boxes in the Hodder Valley, and we still needed to lift two female Pied Flycatchers from the nest to make it 10 out of 10. And we did it! That's all ten females that are nesting in our boxes lifted off the nest and recorded. This combined with the number of eggs laid, date of laying, date of clutch completed, number of chicks hatched, number of chicks fledged and all chicks ringed, provides some very powerful biological data that is essential to the on-going conservation monitoring of this red-listed species! Oh, and if we can catch a few of the males in the boxes, that makes it all the more powerful.

We did manage to ring one brood of six Pied Flycatchers, and also eleven Great Tits (two broods), nine Blue Tits (one brood) and seven Nuthatches (one brood).

 Nuthatch

Talking of Nuthatches, take a look at the two pictures below. The first shows the chicks in the box on 16th May and the second how they looked on th 27th. How they've grown, they look like Nuthatches now!

 

As I mentioned before it's been all work and no play, so I am looking forward to running my moth trap tonight for the first time in a week, and checking our boxes at weekend. I'll keep you posted as to how we get on. 

Better Late Than Never

I had a typical late May ringing session in the reedbed at the Obs yesterday, which was paradoxically the first of the Spring! Ah well, better late than never. Obviously, and completely understandably, the lockdown had prevented us from doing any ringing, but at the reedbed and pools at the Obs it's often how much water there is that dictates when the ringing for the year commences. And even without the lockdown, I doubt I would have been able to get in any sooner. As it was, some of the paths to my net rides were under about 20 cm of water, but the net rides were dry.

It was a cracking morning with clear skies, and no wind; almost perfect conditions for ringing. At this time of year bird activity, especially amongst wetland warbler species, is reduced, as the breeding season is in full swing, and females are generally sitting tight on the nest. I only ringed four birds this morning, and all of them were males:

Blackcap - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Sedge Warbler - 2

 Blackcap

I'll try and keep the ringing going throughout June, until it picks up again in late June. I only have three net rides in the wetland complex, and I gave them a little 'haircut', and with use they'll be fine right through to the Autumn.

Birding was fairly quiet too, but a good selection of warbler species were singing including Cetti's Warbler, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler.

 Sedge Warbler

A few House Martins and Swifts fed over the scrape, and I noticed a Little Grebe with a chick. This is the first time that Little Grebes have nested on the scrape for a number of years, so the clearance of New Zealand pygmyweed Crassula helmsii and the re-profiling of the pool has done the trick! A couple of Grey Herons also dropped in to feed on the scrape as well.

 Grey Heron

Back home the moth trap has still been quiet, and today I caught four Heart and Darts, a Flame Shoulder and two Light Brown Apple Moths.

 Flame Shoulder

It will probably be weekend before I post again, when Gail and I will be back at out at our Pied Flycatcher boxes in Bowland. I'll be sure to let you know how we get on.

A Field Sheet At Last

I managed to ring my first birds for the year yesterday, and what a joy it was to complete a field sheet at last! More of that later, but now I need to rewind four days to when I was working on the Cumbrian side of the North Pennines. 

It was a beautiful morning between Orton and Appleby when I set off, with virtually clear skies and a light north-westerly wind. It was cold at first, but after I had slogged up-hill for about twenty minutes I had warmed up nicely. I was surveying two blocks of upland rough grassland to see what was breeding on both areas.

North Pennines

As I set off there were plenty of summer songsters in the hedgerows and woodland, including four Willow Warblers, two Redstarts, a Garden Warbler, four Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff. Raptors were thin on the ground, and all I had were a couple of Buzzards.

The areas of rough grassland held good numbers of breeding Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, 17 and 12 of each respectively, and I also counted five Lapwings and a single Curlew. What was interesting was how dry these areas were, and I wondered how any wader chicks would get on trying to find invertebrates.

The following day I was back in the lowlands close to home carrying out the second repitition of a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) on some intensively managed farmland. As you might expect, birds were thin on the ground other than two Blackcaps, a Song Thrush, two Stock Doves, a couple of Swifts, two Whitethroats, a Linnet and a singing Goldcrest. I did have four Rooks high heading north, and I wondered where they were going at this time of year?

 Along the roadside verges there was plenty of Red Campion

On my way home I called in at the pools at the Obs to see what the net rides were like in the reedbed, as with the government's easing of lockdown the BTO was allowing some ringing to take place in England again. The net rides had some water in, but were just about workable, and as the days go on it should be an improving a picture, so I might try and have a ringing session later in the week and hopefully catch up with some late migrant warblers.

It was heartening to see thirty Swifts, with a similar number of House Martins, hawking for insects over the pools. I had my first Little Grebe chick, and there was a number of singing Whitethroats, and Sedge, Cetti's and Reed Warblers distributed across the site.

My moth trap has been quiet, mainly because I missed a few nights when I have had a survey the following day, but a couple of morning's ago I had a single Flame Shoulder which was a new species for the garden, for the year.

It was yesterday that I managed to complete a field sheet at last, as Gail and I carried out a check of our next box scheme on the River Hodder in Bowland. Out of 41 boxes ten are occupied by Pied Flycatchers, which is good because our long-term average is seven. We managed to lift eight females off the nest, of which seven were already ringed; two of our birds and five ringed elsewhere.

 Pied Flycatcher nest

Pied Flycatcher

 A view of the woodland where our boxes are located

Some common wildflowers encountered include Bugle

(above) and Herb Robert (below)

We ringed two broods of Blue Tits (7 & 7) and a brood of seven Great Tits. In addition to those ringed we have a further six boxes occupied by Great Tits, two by Blue Tits and one by Nuthatches of which you can see a short video clip below.

Nuthatches

 Blue Tits

After we had completed the monitoring of the boxes, we were socially distantly chatting with the site owner, Simon, when Gail picked up a Red Kite. Well done Gail! We watched the Kite for three or four minutes before it disappeared behind some woodland. Interestingly Simon had seen a Red Kite here a few weeks ago as well.

I'll look forward to inputting our ringing efforts on to DemOn (Demography Online; the BTO's ringing and nest record online recording system) and seeing where the ringed Pied Flycatchers are from. I'll be sure to let you know!

 Field Sheet

Yellow Ophion

As I sit in my office writing this Blog, I'm waiting for a new pair of bins to arrive, as I've ordered a pair of Zeiss Victory SF 10x42s. And I can't wait for them to arrive later today. The reason I'm telling you this is by way of an explanation as to why I haven't posted anything for a few days. I won't go in to all the 'why's and wherefore's', but it's sufficed to say that I have spent two days needlessly waiting in, when I could have been out communing with the natural world!

The lockdown garden birding competition over at North Downs & Beyond finished on 6th May, and I ended up recording 48 species over the 49 days of lockdown, giving me a percentage score of 71% based on the percentage of birds I recorded during lockdown, against my all-time garden list. I'm quite pleased with that!

I have been running my moth trap, but it has been very quiet (what's new there I hear you say) and all I have recorded over the past few days is Hebrew Character, Light Brown Apple Moth and Bright-line Brown-eye.

However, on 9th May I caught a species of Ichneumonid Wasp, that I think is Yellow Ophion, and you can see a picture of it below. I apologise for the 'egg carton' shot, but it flew off before I could attempt to manoeuvre it on to some vegetation. I say that I think it is a Yellow Ophion, but if any of my expert invert friends know differently, please let me know.

 (click the picture for a closer look)

I must admit I don't know a great deal about Ichneumonid wasp species, and I have to admit that I had to look them up and found a really useful Beginner's guide to identifying British ichneumonids by Nicola Prehn and Chris Raper, well worth looking up if you're interested.

I found out that all ichneumonids are parasitoids of other invertebrates, and in the UK we have approximately 2,500 species of them. Yes, that's right 2,500 species of ichneumonids! Who knew?! In fact, they make up 10% of all British insects.

Using this very useful guide I managed to narrow the ichneumonid that I caught to one of the nocturnal, orange-bodied species, and namely Yellow Ophion Ophion leutus. The hosts for this wasp are Hart and Dart moth caterpillars. They are mainly active at night, and as such are often attracted to light, hence it being in my garden light trap. What a cracking wee beastie!

Back in 1992 on 9th May, I had a very unusual ringing experience. During the 1990s we used to ring at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.'s (BNFL) Springfield site at Salwick near Preston in Lancashire. Within the site was a Rookery, and every year we used to count the number of nests. However, on this particular day the site employee, Jim, who we worked with, said do you want to go up into the Rookery and ring some of the Rook chicks?

I was with Dave on this particular occasion and we weren't sure what he meant. We then heard a 'beeping', and a trundling of wheels from some form of heavy plant, and Jim came round the corner driving a telescopic boom lift, or something similar. It was a monster bit of kit, think of a Cherry Picker on steroids, and from memory I think it could reach somewhere in the region of 150 feet.

Anyway, David and I climbed on board with Jim and he extended the telescopic boom, with us on the platform (or whatever it is called) up in to the trees that contained the Rookery. He managed to manoeuvre us close to a Rook's nest on the outer edge of the colony, and we easily leaned over and lifted the Rook chicks out of the nest! Three chicks were duly ringed and returned to the nest!

As I said before, it was a very unusual ringing experience, and one I'm not sure I would want to repeat, even though I do have a head for heights!

As I finished writing this my new bins arrived, and I can't wait to use them in anger!