nature notes

It certainly does Hen-Gen. Also illustrates the fact that with nature you can learn something new everyday.
It is the 70th anniversary of the Essex Birdwatching Society and they have sent all the members a copy of the very first annual report for 1949. Red backed Shrikes were an abundant breeding species in Essex, now absent from the UK. The Turtle Dove and Spotted Flycatcher were numerous as were Tree Sparrow all now virtually vanished from Essex. Only raptor reported was Sparrowhawk and the excitement of a Hobby being seen, they are now commonly breeding.
Concerns were raised about the decrease in breeding Redstart, Hawfinch and Woodlark, Hawfinch being the only one that is just about hanging on in a couple of Essex places
 
After hearing them in distant trees all around us for weeks, yesterday we got our first fleeting glimpse of a pair of Golden Orioles that landed in a fig tree. Just now they landed in a poplar tree right behind the house and were clearly visible through the french doors- the colouring of the male is the most vivid yellow you can imagine and much brighter than the pictures we've seen on the internet. The female is rather duller, but still yellow in the wings.
 
They are spectacular aren't they, though I've not seen one for a few years now. Yesterday the pair of whatever raptors we have nearby were calling to each other as they wheeled about in the sky, seemingly just for the joy of it. I was doing a bit of light gardening, the sun was out but not scorchio, and it just felt like a lovely moment.
 
Remember going to Lakenheath to the old Bryant and May (matchmaker) poplar plantation, back in the 60's early 70's on a warm dawn morning in early summer, the damp ground would be steamy and misty and you would hear the fluty call and see the males flitting around. Then the site closed and the poplar trees started falling, the RSPB took over the site and started to manage the site for …. Bitterns and Cranes by turning abandoned carrot fields into reed beds, in spite of general outrage. Even more trees fell and the Oriole population got smaller and smaller, until in the 90's we were down to one pair and a couple of lone males, then just a pair, then a lone male. None for the last 3 years.
Guess people won't pay to hunt for small bird in tree, but will to see big long legged birds wandering about, and hear a Bittern boom.
There was a small population at a secret site in Cambridgeshire, not sure if they are still hanging on there.
They build an amazing nest also which hangs from a branch in a true Disney cartoon style.
 
And isn't that a shame? We all know habitat loss is a major factor in the decline of species, of all sorts. I watched a Gardner's World on wild flowers recently, saying that over 90% of meadows have disappeared in the UK. Such a shame, I used to go to the chalk downlands around Lambourn to see vast swathes of ox-eye daisies, and I'm pleased to say you can still see vast swathes of poppies on the South Downs around Brighton, but neither are meadows, obviously.

Well in the way that coincidences do turn up, my OH returned from a cycle ride yesterday and said he'd seen a golden oriole! Last evening there was a small group of goldfinches on my cosmos, couldn't quite see if they were eating the central boss of stamen/seeds (I know they eat seeds in general but the flowers aren't over really and the seed cases can't have many plump seeds in them) or the petals. Either way I was suprised to see the flower stalks were strong enough to support the birds bodies.
 
MrsBiscuit said:
And isn't that a shame? We all know habitat loss is a major factor in the decline of species, of all sorts. I watched a Gardner's World on wild flowers recently, saying that over 90% of meadows have disappeared in the UK. Such a shame, I used to go to the chalk downlands around Lambourn to see vast swathes of ox-eye daisies, and I'm pleased to say you can still see vast swathes of poppies on the South Downs around Brighton, but neither are meadows, obviously
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Yes, it’s a great shame. Fortunately pockets still remain. Upper Teesdale and Swaledale and the machair of the western isles of Scotland are a joy.
 
We have a nature reserve near us that has meadows that are triple SSSI's and it is a joy to walk through as are some local water meadows, but they are few and far between around here.
Swaledale, lovely place.
Most small birds weigh next to nothing, but it always amazes me to see a Bittern standing on top of a slender looking reed, drying off after a rain shower
 
We have been lucky with a flock of bee-eaters around here for the past 10 days. At first they were close enough to see the magnificant plumage but more recently they have taken to flying about en masse, making their distinctive calls (which is what alerts me) and then congrating on a tall, dead, tree. I read that they do this to knock the sting out of the bees on the tree before eating. They have a distinctive flight as well. Lovely!
 
Exciting times. With global warming all sorts of things are moving north. Saw my first Red Admirals here a month ago.
I was intrigued when bym itemised all those strange ibis/heron/stork species that have taken up residence in the south.
I’m hoping for wildebeests on the South Downs.
 
This brought back memories of us seeing the breeding Bee eaters in Durham in 2002, and the ones that took up residence in Nottinghamshire in 2017 but failed to breed.. They have bred successfully on the Isle of Wight and Cumbria in recent years. I remember the way they catch a bee then toss it in the air so it is the right way round for them to bash the sting out of it.
Cattle Egrets have bred for the first time in Essex this year, they already have a colony in Cheshire Hen-Gen, and Purple Heron in Norfolk. Spoonbills have bred for the last two years in Yorkshire so who knows, they could be headng your way.
Wildebeest now that would be an interesting addition to the South Downs
 
I have just found this thread and it is so interesting. It will take me some time to read through it all. We have here on the Isle of Lewis one of the most successful reintroductions, that of the white-tailed eagle, also known as the fish-eagle, sea-eagle or flying barn door. They nest along the cliffs of Loch Erisort near us. Golden eagles are frequently seen, too. Of the smaller birds visiting our feeders we have the usual suspects - goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, siskin,linnet, coal tit, tree sparrow and the house sparrows that nest in our pantiles. We have our own murmuration of starlings in winter, too.
 
Lucky you Diane. We have none of those birds you mention except for house sparrows and starlings. I understand that in Lewis this year you even had a couple of pairs of phalaropes so that’s our tourist trade wrecked ?
Today I’m off to a meeting at the hall on biodiversity. We need to maintain our freedom from rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets (and mink) to protect our ground nesting birds. And really hedgehogs need to go too. Some of those predators are found on adjacent islands so we need to keep a constant watch. Personally I’d like to see a cull of skuas because though they are here like plagues of locusts but these islands have 60% of the world population so they are heavily protected. That’s not to say that a rumour abounds of one or two folk going out with darning needles and pricking the eggs when they find them. This means the eggs never hatch but the parents continue to incubate rather than laying fresh ones. But of course I could neither confirm nor deny such stories.
The main predators here are Greater Black Backed Gulls and Ravens. Both are hated by crofters but I love to see the ravens courtship displays in Jan/Feb when they tumble and fall in the sky.
If I could bring one bird back it would be the Black Tailed Godwit. Sadly gone from these parts for three years now. Colourful bird that can’t be missed.
On a chicken related theme starling go in droves through the pop holes and raid the vermin proof feeders as well as pooing everywhere. I can only conclude that they have learnt to sit on the opening plate en masse and thereby raid the pellets. They can empty a feeder in a day. Again they’ve only learnt this in the last two or three years. When I go to the sheds I close the pop holes from the outside and I have tennis rackets hanging on the inside wall. Unfortunately desperate situations call for desperate measures.
 
Lovely birds Godwits, we are lucky to have wintering areas for them along the Thames and at Rainham Marsh, they chatter away as well in their flocks, most wader flocks are quiet. Lovely to see in late summer, early autumn when they are still in summer plumage. Another stunning bird in summer plumage is Grey Plover. Raven always make us think of the mines in Cornwall where they display calling and tumble towards the sea.
We have a huge roost of Jackdaw in the woods at the back of us, C800 and love their sociable attitude to each other, as they chatter away.
One thing I miss are the wintering flocks of Eider off Essex and Norfolk coast which disappeared when commercial enterprises started to strip the seabed of shellfish using great big metal drag things. All the independent fisherman used to leave areas for future growth.
Another Essex sound of winter are the Brent geese.
Lucky you having your own Sea Eagles, magnificent birds.
You do need to keep a careful watch on anything that predates ground nesting birds as they can cause utter devastation in a short amount of time.
As in the case of Stephenson's Island where everything was ground nesting and the new Lighthouse keeper took some cats with him for company on his lonely stay. Several species became extinct as cats bred and roamed wild and free.
 
Hen Gen, we don't have problems with hedgehogs but they do down in South Uist where they were introduced. Introducing non-native creatures - or plants - is never a good idea. Thanks for the tip about the starlings - I will keep an eye on them but they're not usually in evidence during the day in any numbers. They just seen to congregate on our telephone wire in the evenings.

I like jackdaws, BYM - there used to be a pair that nested in a neighbour's chimney pot (disused) at our old house in Yorkshire and I could watch their antics from my bedroom. A very devoted couple, I miss watching them. I also miss the swallows that had been nesting in our outhouses for years. I hope the new owners are looking after them.

There were plans here to dredge for seaweed but luckily Scotgov saw sense and banned it. The seaweed is traditionally cut by hand which is sustainable. Sorry you miss your eiders - they are lovely to watch, too.
 
The commercial fishery has now ceased, mainly because they stripped the sea bed, and we have noticed over the past couple of years, sea duck numbers are going back up on the north Norfolk coast, the Long tailed duck are back, a few Eiders, more Scoter than usual.
There is a nice flock of Eider on the Menai Strait, so we catch up with those if in Wales. A beautiful duck
 
Interesting long read for Christmas Day- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50822772

My husband used to be a ringer, and it was a tradition that on Christmas morning, the nets would be unfurled in our garden and he would do a round and ring whatever had been caught, in between each round of presents. Our daughters still remember the long waits for the next parcels if there were lots of birds in the nets. We used to go camping in August at Radipole Lake in Swanage when the children were little, with a group ringing migrant birds passing through the reed beds. This article brought it all back to me - especially the smell when we waded through the primeval mud with a load of birds, each in its individual ringing bag. And the migratory twitchers, who had slept out in the open, asking us if we had 'got anything?" as we returned to the ringing hut loaded with birds. They meant 'got anything rare for our tick lists?"
 
On Saturday night we went out to a concert about 8.45pm. About 3 miles from home we rounded a bend on our hill to find 2 wild boar at the side of the road. They looked like immature adults to me, or possibly a female and one offspring - one was a bit bigger than the other, but neither was a fully grown male. They stood there quietly, and slowly ambled off. Unfortunately on Sunday I heard 3 gunshots in the afternoon, so I don't know if they are still there! We haven't seen boar round here before, although our builder said he used to come hunting in this area. In fact, we rarely hear or see any hunters or any game except partridge.
 
It’s great that things are coming back to where they once lived. Beavers and pine martens are back, wild boar in the Forest of Dene etc.
However the most amazing thing I read recently was about a cocaine baron in Colombia in South America. In the eighties he imported hippos to his grounds but when he died they were released. They have now reached unacceptable numbers and are to be controlled.
I don’t think it was an April fools joke.
 
Sounds about right for people with more money that sense. Wonder what else he had that is now on the loose
 
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