Carsington Bird Club – Page 51 – 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.

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Carsington Bird Club

May 2010 Bird Notes

MAY 2010 BIRD NOTES

May Highlights: Great Northern Diver, Red Kite, Osprey, Hobby, Sanderling, Turnstone, Mediterranean Gull, Black Tern, Cuckoo and Pied Flycatcher.

The long staying adult Great Northern Diver was last seen flying around in full summer plumage on 8^th. There are no broods of Grebe, Swan, Barnacle Geese, Moorhen or Coot yet but, hopefully, this is only due to the late Spring, and June will be catch-up time. There was only 1 further brood of Mallard to add to last month’s total of 4 broods, probably another indicator of delayed breeding for these water birds. Significant wildfowl counts were all from the WeBS survey on 16^th and included 16 Little Grebe, 40 Great Crested Grebe, 40 Mallard, 147 Tufted Duck and 57 Coot. Additionally, there was a Shelduck on 8^th, 10^th and 17^th and a female Scaup, present from April, was last seen on 7^th.

A Red Kite drifted over Sheepwash on 2^nd and an Osprey perched on a buoy for an hour consuming a fish before flying up Fishtail Creek on 26^th. The first Hobby was noted on 2^nd and a Peregrine flew over on 1^st. There has been little Buzzard activity recorded and there are no signs of breeding, which is not surprising following the well publicised local find of 6 dead buzzards, suspected of being poisoned.

At least 6 pairs of Oystercatchers have so far only produced 1 brood of 3, first noted on 5^th on Millfields Island. Last month’s Lapwing brood on Big Island showed 2 well grown young on 17^th and there were further broods of 4 on 16^th and 3 on 26^th, both on Horseshoe Island. A pair of Redshank with 2 young were on Big Island on 12^th. Passage waders included a Ringed Plover on 12^th and 20^th, 2 Sanderling on 12^th, a Dunlin on 1^st and following days, 3 Black-tailed Godwit on 5^th, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit on 21^st, 15 Whimbrel on 8^th, 2 Curlew on 10^th, a Greenshank flying through on 10^th, 3 Common Sandpiper on 7^th and a Turnstone from 7^th to 11^th.

A first summer Mediterranean Gull on HorseshoeIslandon 1^st obviously stayed over from 30^th May and an adult Little Gull was also on the island on 22^nd. The Black-headed Gull colony at the Wildlife Centre took over the tern raft again, forcing off a nesting Moorhen. These gulls seem to have squeezed what looks like 8 nests onto the raft and 2 young were noted on 29^th. A pair also have a nest on Horseshoe Island and another pair have bred on the raft at Paul Stanley Hide, showing 3 young on 31^st. Three Common Terns were noted from 1^st and a pair have settled on Flat Island again this year. The maximum number of Arctic Terns was 6 feeding off Stones Island on 7^th and a Black Tern was present on 27-28^th.

Three Stock Doves were feeding on spilled seed in Sheepwash car park on 13^th, a Cuckoo was noted near Middle Wood on 19^th, and a Barn Owl on 15^th and a Tawny Owl on 16^th were both around Sheepwash. The first Grey Wagtail since early January was recorded on 2^nd. A Redstart was singing near the Wildlife Centre on 1^st and there was a male Whinchat on the dam wall on 5^th. A Greenland race female Wheatear, a Sedge and a Reed Warbler were all seen on 1^stand 13 Garden Warblers plus 42 Blackcaps plus 29 Willow Warblers were counted on a circular walk on 17^th. A Spotted Flycatcher was noted from 23^rd, 2 singing Pied Flycatchers on 13^th, a pair of Raven with 3 young on 20^th, 4 Linnet on 2^nd and a Bullfinch was heard singing on the Club Dawn Chorus Walk on 8^th.

106 Species recorded compared with 108 in May 2009, 112 in 2008, 103 in 2007, 107 in 2006, 107 in 2005, 114 in 2004 and 110 in 2003.

Carsington Bird Club

Apr 2010 Bird Notes

APRIL 2010 BIRD NOTES (to 28^th April only)

April Highlights: Great Northern Diver, Whooper Swan, Osprey, Sanderling, Godwits, Little Gull,SandwichTern, Pied Flycatcher and Common Spring Migrants.

The adult Great Northern Diver stayed all month and was in mostly summer plumage by 29^th. A Whooper Swan was around the Wildlife Centre and Stones Island all Saturday 17^th, 2 Red-crested Pochard on 6^th and 8^th, a female Scaup stayed close in to the Wildlife Centre from 26^th and 4 Common Scoter were seen off Stones Island on 13^th. Counts included 12 Little Grebe on 18^th, 42 Great Crested Grebe on 18^th, 16 Cormorant on 2^nd, 3 Heron on 15^th, 3 Greylag Geese on 7^th and 24^th, 80 Canadas on 18^th, 38 Barnacles on 6^th, 5 Shelduck on 10^th, 7 Wigeon on 7^th and 8^th, 3 Gadwall on 17^th, 48 Mallard on 18^th, 3 Shoveler on 22^nd, 1 Pochard on 8^th, 189 Tufted Duck on 18^th, 13 Goldeneye on 13^th, 3 Goosander on 5^th, 19 Moorhen on 18^th and 106 Coot on 18^th. Four broods of Mallard were noted by 28^th.

Ospreys were seen again from Sheepwash, 1 at 1400hrs on 2^nd and another 1230-1305hrs on 19^th. An immature male Sparrow Hawk was perched close to Sheepwash Hide on 20^th, 14 Buzzards were in the air on 3^rd and 2 Peregrines were over Hall Wood on 26^th, with singles noted on other dates.

Wader passage included 1 Ringed Plover from 19^th to 21^st, 1 Sanderling on 28^th, 2 Black-tailed Godwit on 21^st and 5 on 26^th, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit on 6^th to 11^th, 2 Whimbrel on 21^st and 6 on 27^th, 4 Curlew on 18^th, 4 Common Sandpiper on 19^th and 28^th and 1 Turnstone flew through northwards on 7^th. Breeding Oystercatcher, Redshank and Lapwing were busy and a Lapwing showed 3 chicks on Big Island on 29^th.

An adult Little Gull on 18^th was followed a week later on 25^th by 2 adults and 4 first summer birds. Other gulls were a first summer Herring Gull on 14^th, an adult Yellow-legged on 23^rd, an immature Great Black-backed on 17^th and the breeding Black-headed Gulls, 60 present on 27^th, were busily arguing about space on the tern raft. Tern passage included a Sandwich Tern early on 7^th, 3 Common Terns early on 25^th with the flock of Little Gulls, 4 Common Terns on 28^th and single Arctic Terns on 15^th, 19^th 24^th and 27^th.

The first Swift was on 19^th but only small numbers have been seen since. Hirundine passage continued with 50 Sand Martin on 20^th and over 500 Swallow feeding close to the water on a drizzly morning on 19^th. The first House Martin was on 6^th and, by the end of the month, some birds were around the Visitor Centre breeding colony. A Tree Pipit flew over on 24^th and 40 Meadow Pipits were on the dam on 2^nd. Migrant wagtail species were in low numbers again this year, with the first Yellow Wagtail on Sheepwash Spit on 3^rd, 3 on the dam wall on 11^th and 4 on 19^th. White Wagtail numbers peaked at 9 on Stones Island in the evening of 7^th and Pied Wagtails totalled 37 there on 15^th. There are no records of resident Grey Wagtails since January 1^st. This species is susceptible to long spells of freezing winter weather when they cannot feed along the waters edge and, in case you have forgotten, we have just had an unusually severe winter, so please look out for this species at Carsington. Their former locations were Millfields, Tail Bay outlet stream, Fishtail Creek and Paul Stanley Hide. A Redstart was singing distantly upstream from WLC Creek from 24^th and a male Whinchat was in the Creek on 25^th. Single Wheatears were noted 3^rd and many other dates. Warbler species kept arriving, with 2 Sedge on 24^th, the earliest ever Reed at Carsington on 24^th, 2 Lesser Whitethroat on 18^th, 1 Whitethroat on 17^th and 1 Garden Warbler on 24^th. A count of warblers on 8^th included 13 Blackcap, 52 Chiffchaff and 8 Willow Warbler. A Pied Flycatcher was singing in Warrington Knob on 29^th, 100 Jackdaw were recorded on 3^rd, a female Brambling was in Hall Wood on 22^nd and a site rare Yellowhammer flew over Millfields on 18^th.

116 Species were recorded compared with 110 in April 2009, 118 in 2008, 103 in 2007, 118 in 2006, 117 in 2005, 116 in 2004, 120 in 2003 and 107 in 2002.