Will-o'-the-wisp

Llyn Helyg came up trumps yet again this morning when I found a Willow Tit on the western side of the lake.

His completes a ‘poecile double’ at this location and represents the first Willow Tit I have seen in Wales, let alone Flintshire.

The bird – not surprisingly – was working the boggy area of the wood with the thick stands of immature birch. Calling nosily and incessantly it was not hard to locate - and indeed follow - as it worked its way restlessly through the trees.

In contrast the Marsh Tits are found on the eastern side of the water where the more mature stands of mixed deciduous woodland lie.

I suppose it is a classic illustration of how these superficially similar birds are tied to quite different habitats. It also highlights what an excellent area of habitat Llyn Helyg is: well worth a trip, especially now the guns have fallen silent.

Other notable birds included a Marsh Tit near the entrance, representing the first time that I have found Marsh and Willow Tit in the same location.

Also, there were up to five separate Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming from different locations today, plus a handful of Treecreepers and Chiffchaff.

Until later.

A Ruddy Good Day

For a change of scenery it was over the border in In-ger-land for a day at the excellent Moore Nature Reserve in the company of a new acquaintance Tony, and Mark Murphy in his smoother than an Italian gigolo BMW.

The first of what was to be three separate failed attempts to find a Lesser ‘pecker was the first task of the day, but it was not too soon before things picked-up.

If there was a highlight of the day – and there were many contenders – then it had to be the excellent numbers of Yellowhammers at Upper Moss Side; a conservative estimate would be twenty separate birds – many affording superb close views.

After locating a couple of Tree Sparrows, along came the surprise of the day: a pair of Little Owls occupying one of the Barn Owl boxes. Initially one bird was picked-up sitting in the entrance, but when viewed later on from behind, two birds were seen alighting from an adjacent hedge and dropping down into the vegetation.

Norton Marsh was quiet save a local sailing club, although we did locate a very, very, distant Peregrine loitering atop of one of Fiddler’s Ferry’s cooling towers.

Next it was back to Moore proper via the ship canal where we were lucky to bear witness to a lovely courtship dance by a pair of Great Crested Grebes. Clearly the love bug had not struck another pair further down the stream – both were dozing in the warm sunshine; warm enough in fact to coax a Small Tortoiseshell out of hibernation.

Birchwood Pool was brimming with its usual compliment of gulls, although there was little variety with the ranks packed with largely LBB Gulls and immature Herring Gulls. After ten minutes or so, the scavengers inexplicably dreaded, just as I was about to confirm the identity of a hitherto unrecorded 2cy Slaty-backed Gull/Pallas’ Gull hybrid – surely a first for the UK.

The disappearance of the gulls nevertheless had the advantage of making the other birds easier to locate and it wasn’t too long before Tony found a lovely drake Ruddy Duck.

I must confess to being fairly supportive of their irradiation from British waters, but I admit their relative scarcity has made them much more appealing. Strange that two of the most interesting birds encountered during out trip were introduced species...

Moore NR/Upper Moss Side 19.3.11

20+ Yellowhammer
2+ Tree Sparrow
2 Little Owl
1 Peregrine
7 GC Grebe
1 Ruddy Duck (drake)
2 Goldeneye
1+ Willow Tit
5+ Chiffchaff
1 Green Woodpecker (heard calling)

Until later.

Golden Vision

At about the same time spring migration begins in earnest, the destination of many coastal wintering birds is to the uplands.

Many birders throng the coast during this period, and although I spent a fair amount of time there too, I prefer to concentrate most of my efforts on the hills.

There are now very few places in our over-populated country where one can experience true wilderness and the Welsh Uplands is one of them.

Sections of The Berwyns, the Migneint, and Mynydd Hiraethog can still feel remarkably remote and afford us the luxury of another rare commodity in today’s world: silence.

The true joy of stravaiging around the moors though is the occasional chance encounter with some of our most enigmatic birds.

Last year I was fortunate enough to watch a male Hen Harrier skydancing and to listen to the wonderful mournful call of a Golden Plover.

Whilst seeing raptors is always a memorable experience, it is discovering nesting wading birds that I find most satisfying; perhaps my most rewarding moment in birding was chancing on a pair of breeding Dunlin on the Berwyn Mountains.

Sadly, the odds on such a chance meeting are getting fewer and fewer as mans’ insidious impact stretches to even the most far-flung areas.

Over-grazing, habitat destruction, pesticides, disturbance and acidification are all reckoned to be having a negative effect on these fragile ecosystems.

The number of Curlew, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Snipe, Redshank and Common Sandpiper nests do wax and wane considerably, but the overall trend is definitely downwards.

One study carried out by D.Lamacroft in the summer of 1999 found that there were just 3 pairs of Golden Plover, 7 pairs of Lapwing, 3 pairs of Dunlin, 10 Pairs of Snipe, 20 pairs of Curlew and 1 pair of Common Sandpipers in the huge Mynydd Hiraethog SSSI.

Help is at hand however, as many conservation bodies and governmental organisations have woken-up to what is happening and started to take action.

Only time will tell if these undertakings spark an upturn in fortunes, ameliorate the current situation or do nothing to mitigate the decline.

So, my advice is: one day over the next few months, lace up your boots, get your map out and go walkabout...you may just get lucky...and it beats looking through thousands of gulls on a minty rubbish tip any day of the week!

Until later.

And we're off...

A glorious sunny day and the first sprinkling of migrants surely mean that spring has now finally arrived for good.

A long day in the field began with a sprightly signing Chiffchaff at the Point of Ayr and ended in the blink of an eye when the harsh realities of nature were played out right in front of my eyes when a female Merlin nailed a Wheatear at Burton Point.

The time in between was spent at Connah’s Quay. All the visible signs of spring were all in place here too: Peregrine on nest, check. Ravens displaying, check. First butterflies of the year on the wing - singles of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell, check. Diminishing numbers of waders and wildfowl, check.

Two more Chiffchaffs and an incredible fifty-five Pied Wagtails near the nature trail were nice additions to the recipe too.

With news of Wheatears at Burton Point filtering through, Stan Skelton (whom I had bumped into at CQ) and I decided to head over to Cop Hole and walk across the embankment to a hoped for rendezvous with the African migrants.

Cop Hole itself held the usual winter garrison of Tufties and Pochard, but our real birds were a good twenty minutes walk away.

Typically, the Wheatears were located behind the sheep pens and there were not two birds, but three, plus a healthy count of at least six Stonechats in the nearby scrub.

The birds – like the birders – were enjoying basking in the evening spring sunshine, until a female Merlin burst on the scene from over the brow of the hill.

A quick pursuit resulted in the falcon successfully capturing the passerine. Keith’s text to Stan had been right after all: Burton Point, Wheatears 2.

The day culminated with myself finding an Owl pellet that I have a poor picture of below. After reading up, I believe it is from a Short-eared Owl. Unless anybody thinks different?

Point of Ayr 13.3.11

1 Chiffchaff
1 Snipe
1 Sparrowhawk

Connah’s Quay

1 Peregrine
1 Kestrel
2+ Raven
2 Chiffchaff
55+ Pied Wagtail
1 Small Tortoiseshell
1 Peacock

Burton Point/Cop Hole

3, then 2 Wheatear
1 Merlin (female)
6+ Stonechat

Until later.

Rumpy Plumpy

After suffering the indignity of neck collars, the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust has now decided to monitor the size of Bewick’s swans’ backsides.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/scientists-study-swans-bottoms-2239168.html

The theory is that the birds are not putting on sufficient weight when on their overwintering grounds, thus reducing the chances of a successful breeding season.

There is plenty of empirical evidence that an ample posterior or ‘pie arse’ can increase one’s chances of successful reproduction.

Personally, after four months visiting Rhyl Job Centre, I can certainly attest that there’s a strong correlation between chunky cheeks and the propensity to produce offspring.

Moreover, a former work colleague from Cameroon who went by the name of Devine confessed to a predilection for a well padded bum; Freddie Mercury was convinced that fat bottomed girls made the world go round; and I’m sure that Benny Hill’s character in the Italian Job had a catchphrase along the lines of.....I like ‘em BIG!

I think the WWT are onto something...

Until later.

Jackanory

With the risk of sounding like a sententious and pompous arse, I quite easily fended off the temptation to go warbler-worrying and headed down to the Point of Ayr for my weekly constitutional around the old colliery site.

A pair of Peregrines was a pleasant surprise; not least because they were busy running sorties on and around the scrap metal yard?

A Sparrowhawk was also on the look out for some action, but it was a stunning jack Merlin that stole the show – perched on a small bush near the lagoons.

Like a finely tuned athlete in the starting blocks or a champion race horse in the stalls, the raptor looked like it was on the point of exploding with energy.

The sunlight played the role of starting gun, for when its rays burst through the thin cloud a Skylark rose instantaneously from the rough grass and in the blink of an eye the Merlin was in fast pursuit.

The next bird to shoot out of the blocks was a Jack Snipe that ached silently in to the air. Sometimes I am never quite sure with these skulking waders, but this individual looked impossibly small and had a very short bill too. Flintshire tick one hundred.

Point of Ayr 6.3.11

Peregrine 2
Merlin 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Jack Snipe 1

Until later.

Shaddup Your Face

The pioneering spirit of birds knows no bounds – after one of the coldest winters in living memory a Dartford Warbler – sans snood – has decided to blaze a trail to Ruabon Moor.

Sadly, one fears the toughest challenge the dainty Warbler will face in the near future is not from harsh climatic conditions, but from the inevitable stampede from local craparazzi intent of thrusting an expensive lens in its face.

Dartford Warbler is a Schedule 1 species in this country and this has raised a number of questions in my mind.

Firstly, why did the finder of the bird – somebody called Steve Culley – decide to disseminate news of the sighting to the wider birding public?

As in the case nowadays, many birders feel the kudos gained from finding a rare bird usurps the bird’s right to not being disturbed. Surely he was fully aware that the welfare and potential breeding success – albeit slim – of the Dartford Warbler would be compromised by publishing news of the sighting.

His temerity is compounded by the fact that this species is especially vulnerable given that its choice of habitat and diminutive size invites close attention from the selfish few.

Secondly, why have website such as Birdguides decided to carry news of the bird?

At the end of March last year I sent an email to Birdguides detailing the sighting of a Ring Ouzel – clearly on passage – very near to World’s End, yet they chose to not carry the information on their website, probably thinking it was a potential breeder.

Why then, carry information on the Dartford Warbler?

Like some of Joe Dolce’s countrymen, one feels ‘Omerta’ would have been the best policy.

Until later.