Carsington Bird Club – Page 50 – Carsington Bird Club

Aug 2010 Bird Notes

AUGUST 2010 BIRD NOTES

August Highlights: A dull month with no highlights.

Bird watching at Carsington in August is usually quiet but it is also unpredictable. In 2001 just 86 species were noted. In 2002 a massive 122 species were recorded, the biggest ever month at Carsington. Weather wise, 2001 was an average summer. 2002 saw a lot of hot sun, some stormy rain, a lot of muddy shoreline, and, local birds all showed well, passing migrants called in and passage waders stayed several days. This year, with generally cool wet weather, the local scrub and woodland birds were tucked away in their chosen habitation, most moulting and many fattening in preparation for their flight southwards. There were no extremes of weather to bring in unusual seabirds and no fast moving fronts or sudden storms to bring down passing waders or terns so there was very little for birders to find. However, it is more important that the good breeding season has, hopefully, been followed by healthy maturing birds.

Fresh broods noted this month included the ninth brood of Great-crested Grebe on 3^rd, 3 broods of Tufted Duck taking the total to a site record 29, Moorhen up to 10 broods and Coot up to 13 broods. Wildfowl numbers included 25 adult Mute Swan plus 12 cygnets, 6 Shelduck on 24^th until flushed by a fox, 8 Wigeon on 29^th, 12 Gadwall on 16^th, 26 Teal on 29^th, 173 Mallard on 16^th, 2 Shoveler on 10^th, 1 Red-crested Pochard 13-20^th, 5 Pochard on 19^th, 446 Tufted Duck during WeBS count on 16^thand 649 Coot on 16^th.

A juvenile Sparrow Hawk flew into the Wildlife Centre window during the RSPB day on 10^th. A single Hobby was noted on 2^nd, 16^th and 20^th and there were 2 Peregrines on 1^st and 13^th, with singles seen on many other dates.

Wader passage has again been poor this year. Records include an Oystercatcher on 1^st and 17^th, 2 juvenile Little-ringed Plover 22-23^rd, 3 Ringed Plover on Stones Island at dusk on 24^th, 62 Lapwing on 26^th, 4 Dunlin on 6^th and 23^rd, 4 juvenile Ruff briefly at the Wildlife Centre on 17^th, a Curlew on several dates, 4 Redshank on 19^th, a Greenshank on 13^th and 4 Common Sandpiper on 1^st and 13^th.

The gull roost started this month with 1500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a juvenile Herring Gull on 20^th. Two other adult Yellow-legged Gulls have been resident all month but they did not join the roost before dark on 20^th. One of these adults attacked an adult Moorhen near the Wildlife Centre raft; the moorhen eventually got behind the wire netting on the raft but then died. The only Terns this month were Commons with 3 on 1^st, 1 on 17^th and 2 adults plus 2 juveniles on 26^th.

Two Stock Doves flew over the Wildlife Centre Creek on 4^th. A single Kingfisher put on a show at Paul Stanley Hide most days, the record so far is 8 fish caught and consumed in 35 minutes, and 2 Kingfishers were present on 30^th and 31^st. Two Green Woodpeckers were in Millfields Car Park on 16^th, a Yellow wagtail was noted on 17^th and 24^th, 2 Redstart were in Wildlife Centre Creek from 16^th for a few days and the Goldfinch flock on Stones Island was estimated at 80 on 12^th.

94 Species were recorded this August compared with 102 in 2009, 99 in 2008, 109 in 2007, 97 in 2006, 105 in 2005, 113 in 2004 and 110 in 2003.

Carsington Bird Club

Jul 2010 Bird Notes

JULY 2010 BIRD NOTES

Highlights: Wildfowl Broods and a Sanderling

By the end of July, numbers of broods totalled: Little Grebe 1 (2 last year), Great Crested Grebe 8 (0), Mallard 20 (20), Tufted Duck 26 (20), Moorhen 7 (12) and Coot 12 (7). Maximum counts, excluding young, were 18 Little Grebe on the official WeBS count carried out on 25^th, 36 Great Crested Grebe on 28^th, 4 Heron on 23^rd and 26^th, 25 Mute Swan on 13^th plus 4+5+3 cygnets, 273 Canada Geese on 13^th, no Barnacle Geese this month, 2 Shelduck on 20^th, 3 Gadwall on 6^th, 2 Teal on 6^th, 158 Mallard on 25^th, 1 female Red-crested Pochard 19^th-27^th, 4 Pochard on 30^th, 155 Tufted Duck on 25^th and 422 Coot on 25^th.

Raptors included 2 Buzzards on 14^th, a Hobby chasing hirundines over east bank on 20^th and 2 Peregrines on 20^th.

Wader numbers were 4 Oystercatchers on 6^th, 67 Lapwing on 28^th, a Sanderling at the Wildlife Centre in the evening of 26^th, 2 Dunlin on 22^nd and 30^th and singles most days from 12^th. Black-tailed Godwit were on passage with 5 on Stones Island on 5^th, 6 flew through early on 12^th, 1 was on Stones Island on 27^th and 3 flew through southwards on 28^th. A late Redshank chick showed on Flat Island with 1 adult on 13^th and was last recorded on Sheepwash Spit on 24^th. Common Sandpipers were also passing through with 2 on 4^th and at least 6 on 14^th.

Black-headed Gull young were well in evidence with flighted young seen on many shorelines, but surprise was in order when an adult pair marched 3 downy chicks from FlatIsland, along the front of Sheepwash and were on HorseshoeIslandless than 2 hours later. A pair on the raft by Paul Stanley Hide showed their second brood of at least 1 chick on 26^th. Some Lesser Black-backed Gulls were visiting site, with 12 on 27^th, but there is no noticeable gull roost yet. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was on site from 12^th and 2 from 21^st. One of the Yellow-legged Gulls was seen swallowing a Tufted Duck chick whole on 23^rd. The pair of Common Terns breeding on Flat Island moved their 2 flighted young onto Watersports pontoon on 7^th and they were last seen on 23^rd. Three Arctic Terns flew through southeast on 19^th.

Three Stock Doves were high over the water on 28^th and a Kingfisher returned from 25^th, hopefully after successfully breeding elsewhere. Corvids were showing well on 27^th with 18 Magpie, 150 Jackdaw, 9 Rook and 4 Raven, all noted during the day. The Wildlife feeder table held 19 Tree Sparrows on 26^th and 7 Linnet were on Stones Island on 6^th.

91 Species were recorded this month compared with 95 in July 2009, 97 in 2008, 94 in 2007, 94 in 2006, 97 in 2005 and 102 in 2004.

Carsington Bird Club

Jun 2010 Bird Notes

JUNE 2010 BIRD NOTES

June Highlights: Hobby, Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank and Pied Flycatcher.

No Little Grebe young yet, but 5 broods of Great Crested Grebe by the end of the month is an improvement on the past few years. Mute Swans had broods of 5 and 4 by 22^nd. Barnacle Geese have failed on Horseshoe and Sailing Club Island and the birds have left site. Mallard broods totalled 9 by 30^th compared with 13 and15 in the past two years and no broods of Tufted Duck yet, always a late breeder on this site. Moorhen showed 3 broods by 23^rd and Coot 6 broods by 24^th, which compares reasonably with the past few years’ performance. The WeBS count on 22^nd included 27 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Heron, 504 Canada Geese, 1 Teal, 87 Mallard, 177 Tufted and 195 Coot. Other wildfowl sightings were a Pink-footed Goose with Canadas on 17^th and a Shelduck on 14^th.

A Hobby was noted over StonesIslandon 17^th and Fishtail Creek on 27^th. There were probably 8 pairs of Oystercatchers present, based on Big Island, Flat Is/Sheepwash Spit, Shiningford Is, Horseshoe Is, Watersports Is, Sailing Club Is, Fishtail Creek and Millfields Is and 4 pairs successfully reached young stage. Other waders recorded include a Dunlin on Flat Island on 9^th, a surprisingly early Snipe flushed by a balloon on 30^th, a Black-tailed Godwit at the Wildlife Centre on 26^th and a Spotted Redshank on 22^nd. This Spotted Redshank was seen at Millfields during the WeBS count at 0600hrs and then flew west. It is 5 years since the last record and several others were reported in theMidlands and North on the same day.

11 young Black-headed Gulls could be seen from the Wildlife Centre on 6^th. On 8^th, there were 5 nests with young, 3 others probably on eggs and the only nest on Horseshoe Island had failed. The pair on the raft by Paul Stanley Hide had 3 young and another 2 or 3 pairs had nests on Flat Island, also on 8^th. By 26^th there were 4 big young/juveniles on Flat Island, at least 1 of which was well flighted. During thunderstorms on 6^th there were a further 14 Common Terns on site, obviously taking refuge.

Two Little Owls were seen in fields near Fishtail on 25^th and 2 separate groups of young Tawny Owls were noted on 18^th and 25^th. Great Spotted Woodpeckers were feeding at least 3 young in a hole in a tree in Middle Wood on 4^th and 2 family parties were seen on 18^th. A Swallow pair was feeding young in the Stone Barn on 4^th, another pair was around the draw-off tower and House Martins have at least 24 active nests around the Visitor Centre. Juvenile Pied Wagtails were on Stones Island and Flat Island on 9^th, a Sedge Warbler was singing at the ponds in Tail Bay on 15^th and a Reed Warbler singing at Hopton Pond on 9^th and Hopton Arm Reedbed on 22^nd. A Spotted Flycatcher was in the woodland strip north of Hall Wood on 9^th and 2 in Tail Bay on 15^th. The lonely Pied Flycatcher was again singing in Warrington Knob on 4^th but no sign later in the month. A pair of Great Tit was feeding young in the unmarked bird box among the display of bird boxes by the Wildlife Centre on 4^th and many other dates. They obviously failed to notice the box marked Great Tit. Two family parties of Nuthatch were noted on 28^th, a family party of Willow Tit on 30^th, 25 House Sparrows, including this year’s young, were around the Visitor Centre on 28^th and 12 Tree Sparrows including young, were on the Wildlife Centre feeders on 18^th.

87 Species this month compared with 93 in June 2009, 91 in 2008, 93 in 2007, 89 in 2006 and 84 in 2003. The low number is mainly due to few passage species calling in during a calm hot month.

Carsington Bird Club

Tittesworth – Summer 2010

Weather and season

APRIL: Overall April was a dry month with most areas of Englandrecording less than 50% of average rainfall. It was a sunny month too; it was the fourth sunniest April in a series from 1929. The maximum temperature in this area was 18ºC on the 28^th. There were occasional frosts notably on the 1^st, 4^th, 19^th, 21^st and 22^nd. Air travel was disrupted from the 15^th to the 20^th whenUK air space was closed because of the risk to aircraft from volcanic dust blown in from the Eyjafjallajokell volcano inIceland. During this period there were clear skies due to the lack of cloud formation often generated by jet exhausts.

View newsletter now