12 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, birds, nature
Tags
autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Spotted flycatcher
Willow warblers are peeping from every bush, Blackcaps are chacking, Swallows and martins are swooping low over the fields at Cosmeston for last minute snacks before they cross their first stretch of water on their way south and, today, at Lavernock, I saw my first Spotted flycatcher of the year. Autumn migration is well and truly underway!
05 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, House martin, House martin nests, second brood of House martins
I don’t think it will be long before this young House martin fledges and heads out into the wide blue yonder.
These nests are in a local street that I’ve blogged about previously, which I checked up on during a wander around the town today.
Several of the nests were still occupied with, what I assume to be, second broods of chicks. There are actually two in this nest – you can just see the beak of the second on the left.
When there are two nests sharing a ledge, there does seem to be the occasional spat with the neighbours, though I think junior, on the right, is more interested in whether adult, on the left, is bringing food.
Finally, one of its parents has arrived bearing snacks.
22 Monday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Green woodpecker, juvenile Green woodpecker
Two visits in a row I’ve seen this juvenile Green woodpecker and its parent in the same area at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. (You can tell it’s a juvenile by the dark streaking on its face and underparts.)
it was checking out a Nuthatch further up the tree
It’s a small fenced off area where not too many people venture but that makes it all the more attractive to me. The lack of frequent foot traffic means it’s a good place to observe birds and butterflies, and I guess the adult woodpecker has also realised it’s a safer place for its offspring as the juvenile begins to make its own way in the world.
the adult Green woodpecker
This is not the only juvenile Green woodpecker in the park at the moment. After seeing these two the other day, I also heard a lot of yaffling in another location and, as I approached, saw four Green woodpeckers fly up from the ground into the neighbouring trees. Whether that was two adults and two juveniles, or one adult and three juveniles, I’ve yet to discover.
03 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
The best news! The biggest of the three Lesser black-backed gull chicks is still alive. It must’ve fallen off the roof. I had searched the back of the house with my bins and found nothing and couldn’t hear anything, but now it’s on the roof of the lean-to attached to the back of the house. It’s moving around just fine and a parent has been down to feed it. I suspect it may have fallen into the front garden (a miracle it survived the tumble), the home owners have found it, and moved it around the back and on to the roof so it could be seen by its parents. Fingers crossed!
03 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
I am the bearer of sad tidings today. All three of the Lesser black-backed gull chicks, who were living amongst the chimney pots across the back lane, have perished. I think one died a week or so ago, probably because it was the runt of the brood and was out-competed for food by its two older siblings. I’m not sure what happened to the other two – one was definitely much larger and more dominant than the other, so perhaps the smaller of the remaining two also died from starvation. I noticed the third chick had disappeared late yesterday afternoon, when I spotted a couple of the local Jackdaws inspecting the nest site – I don’t think they would’ve killed the chick, as it was bigger than them, and they seemed merely to be picking through the nest materials.
The female Lesser black-backed soon chased them off and has spent quite a bit of time sitting on the chimney pots, peering at the nest as if looking for the chick(s). She has also been staying nearby, as if she expects them to reappear and she’s been calling for them, which has been very sad to hear.
There have been many other gulls in the area, some of whom have been taking an interest in the nest. Several times I’ve heard lots of screeching and watched while the parents chased off the interlopers. I presume that, while the parents were out looking for food, either those gulls or some other predator has carried off the remaining two chicks. ‘Tis the sad reality of the natural world.
02 Tuesday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, fledgling bird, fledgling Song thrust, Song thrush
Young birds really have perfected the ‘poor me, I’m starving, feed me’ routine!
This fledgling Song thrush was sitting on a path alongside a wildflower meadow I visited today. It had its head tilted to keep an eye on the sky and was uttering the most pathetic-sounding peeps. I immediately felt sorry for it, thought it might have lost its parents, be injured, be unable to fly.
But no, as soon as I got within a few feet of it, it was up and off at a rate of knots to the nearest tree. I didn’t see its parents – maybe they’d become immune to its pleas and knew very well it was old enough to fend for itself.
25 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks
On April Fool’s day I reported on the hatching of five Moorhen chicks in one of the ponds at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. Nearly two months on, I’m delighted to report that all five of those chicks are still alive and thriving, and they now have a brand new bunch of five siblings, their parents’ second brood of the year. Raising them is a real family affair, as the older siblings help to feed and look after their little brothers and sisters. And there’s still time for the mum and dad to have yet another brood. I’ll be watching.
24 Monday Jun 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, Bittern, Black-tailed godwit, British birds, Cuckoo, Great white egret, Grey heron, Hobby, Marsh harrier, RSPB Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath, Whitethroat
You’re just going to have to believe me when I tell you that the photo on the left below is of a Cuckoo in a tree, and the photo on the right is of a Hobby in the same tree four minutes later.
Today’s photos were taken during yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club field trip to RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath on the Somerset Levels, a very watery place, as you can imagine, and one where, depending on the time of year, you’re almost guaranteed to see Marsh harriers, Bitterns, Great white and Little egrets. So, here they are, plus a couple of extras. It was a grand day out, as usual on these birding field trips.
A Grey heron hunts in one of the lush reens …
The obligatory blurry bittern fly-past shot.
The equally obligatory distant Marsh harrier shot … but I did manage to get two in one frame.
Great white egrets aplenty …
Black-tailed godwits and a couple of Lapwings doing a turn of the pond. And “Look at me! Look at me!” called the handsome little Whitethroat, so we did.
20 Thursday Jun 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
I’m not sure what this Jay was up to, sitting still on the grass fairly close to a busy path. Its wing weren’t spread so it wasn’t sunning itself or anting, and it didn’t seem to be distressed so I don’t think it had been attacked by anything. It also didn’t look like a particularly young bird, but maybe it was and was just waiting for its parents to feed it. Whatever the truth of the matter, it had gone by the time I walked back this way a couple of hours later.
19 Wednesday Jun 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, gull chicks, gull nest among chimney pots, Lesser black-backed gull, urban gull nest
It’s time for an update on the Lesser black-backed gulls who are rearing their brood among the chimney pots on a house in the next street to mine.
First off, though I thought initially that there were only two, there are, in fact, three chicks, though one is significantly bigger than the other two and much more aggressive when it comes to demanding food from its parents.
I was a little worried that all the recent rain might have caused them problems as the parents seem to leave them on their own a lot but they all look reasonably healthy so far (they’re at least two weeks old now).
It must take a lot of effort from the parents to keep their hunger satisfied – if it ever is. I spotted one of the parents with a long bit of fish – young eel? – hanging out of its mouth the other day. I bet that soon got gobbled up when it was later regurgitated. Another progress report soon!
