gnsadminA Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) was sighted this morning (18 April) at 10:00hrs in the garden of Gloucestershire Archives in Kingsholm. It was positively ID’d (via the 2014 Crossley ID Guide) and exhibited classic Redstart behavior.
Update (at 12:30 on 18 April) I should have said that the above sighting was a male bird. However a female Redstart has now also appeared in the garden and the two are in fairly close proximity so may be a breeding pair?
Water levels at Coombe Hill are currently quite high, because of recent rain and the high level of the Severn, made even higher by high tides between 6 and 12 April. On the morning of 9 April, Andy Lodge was lucky enough to see and photograph three otters very close to the Grundon Hide. There have been more and more records of otters along the Severn in recent years, indicating that this once scarce species is returning, and that water quality must be improving, but not many people get such good views; the Lapwing was clearly interested too!
Horrid weather with snow showers early in the morning, leaving probably the heaviest snowfall of the year on the Cotswolds and a little snow on the southern end of the Malverns, and bringing large numbers of hirundines down over Coombe Hill; once the snow passed, fair numbers of singing summer migrants; no sign of the cranes seen yesterday by Andy Jayne. Water levels continuing to rise (over the top of the stage boards again, water on the boardwalk) , making life very difficult for any ground nesting birds but nice variety pof breeding and passage waders.
4 Mute Swans (one with nest by board walk); 6 Greylags; 2 Canada Geese; 6 Shelducks; 3 Wigeon; 6 Gadwall; 150 Teal (still lots of them about, are they going to nest??); 20 Mallard; 20 Shoveler; 3 Tufted Ducks; 3 Little Egrets; 2 Grey Herons; 1 Cormorant landed; 15 Coot (family still with four growing chicks on canal); 2 Oystercatchers (mating seen); 20 Lapwings (lots of aerial display, and some display on the ground with raised tail, but no sign of any sitting birds, either on the reserve which was under water, or on the barley field which has recently been ploughed and sown); 1 Little Ringed Plover; 2 Snipe; 1 Curlew (only a bit of bubbling); 1 Whimbrel; 1 Black-tailed Godwit (in bright summer plumage); 2 Redshanks (very lively, lots of trilling and display, looks as though they would like to nest if the water levels ever drop); 1 Green Sandpiper, 10 Black-headed Gulls moving through; hundreds of Swallows and dozens of Sand Martins, plus a single House Martin, flying low early on and landing on willows to get out of the wind and snow; 2 Yellow Wagtails; 3 Pied Wagtails; one male Wheatear; at least one singing Cetti’s Warbler; about four singing Sedge Warblers; one singing Whitethroat; 1 singing Lesser Whitethroat; 3 singing Blackcaps; 2 singing Willow Warblers; at least three singing Chiffchaffs; 2 singing Reed Buntings.
This is a short video with Mike Smart about Curlew monitoring.
I work in local conservation in the Severn and Avon Vales, through the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, the Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society, and various other bodies. We have, with BTO, carried out a colour-ringing project on Curlews that winter in the Severn estuary. Thanks to the colour rings we can now recognise individuals, and have confirmed that they are incredibly faithful to both breeding and wintering sites, returning year after year to the same mudflat and high tide roost in winter, and to the same breeding field in summer. Our ringed wintering Curlews breed across a broad swath of land from the Severn estuary to Yorkshire, Suffolk, The Netherlands, Germany and as far as Sweden and eastern Finland.
Though Curlew is generally considered to be a breeding bird of high moorland, a reasonable population continues to breed in the lowlands of south west England; one of the main centres is the Somerset Levels, and there are almost as many in the Severn and Avon Vales upstream of Gloucester. Curlew is very much one of the iconic summer species of the Vales in summer and its lovely bubbling call is a feature of the area, much loved by local people. We are going to do a survey this year, to try to find out exactly how many pairs breed; my “off the top of the head” estimate is 50-100 pairs. The nests are terribly difficult to find as the birds nest in very large flat hayfields in the broad river valleys, where it is difficult to get on an eminence from which you can watch them. We think that one reason for the decline is early cutting of these hay meadows, though predation is clearly a problem too. We have a team of local observers, who are making regular visits to the main sites, and hope to produce a document at the end showing where the main sites are, in the hope that bodies like Natural England will help persuade farmers and land-owners to cut their grass a bit later, when any chicks have fledged.
Mike Smart
On a bright but slightly chilly morning some 25 members and guests joined Andrew Bluett for a walk around Crabtree Hill and to Woorgreens Lake.
Wood Anemones and the Gorse were out in flower, the Great Grey Shrike put on a show, a solitary Tree Pipit appeared, the first few Willow Warblers of the season were singing as were the earlier Chiff Chaffs, a cock Stonechat appeared briefly and Ravens flew overhead a couple of Times. Nick Christian spotted and pointed out a swift flying Sparrowhawk.
At Woorgreens Lake there were numbers of Greylag & Canada Geese, a Merganser, Dabchicks, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and a pair of Mute Swans. The Raven flew over twice, both times being chased off by the male Carrion Crow of a pair that appeared to be nesting on the island. Again, Nick Christian spotted a Long Tailed Tit’s nest under construction for all to see and a solitary Buzzard cut lazy circles in the distance.
Thanks to all who took part, a good meeting with signs of the Spring to come.
A note on the Curlew survey and a requests for records was posted on the GNS website earlier in March. Below is a summary of activities during March, the first month of the survey:
Thanks, first of all, to the many observers who have submitted reports of Curlews in the last month. Some salient points:
Please submit any records to Mike Smart at smartmike@btinternet.com
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust run a number of wildlife and ecology courses. This PDF document gives full details: 20160331 Wildlife Trust Courses 2016 A4
You can also visit their website, http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/whats-on
The Stroud Valleys Project charity runs a number of events which may of interest to GNS members. This link goes to their events calendar.
http://www.stroudvalleysproject.org/index.php/walks-talks-and-community-events/events
People book by phoning the office on 01453 753358. Then they are given joining instructions, once they have booked.
Message from Gordon Kirk, Chairman of the Gloucestershire Ornithological Coordinating Commitee (GOCC):
“For many people the wonderful ‘bubbling’ summer song of the Curlew is one of the iconic sounds of the countryside, but sadly it is heard less and less; the UK’s breeding population is estimated to have fallen by 43% in 20 years. Curlew has very recently been added to the “Red List”, and is now considered by many to be the UK’s highest conservation priority bird species, because of the high proportion of the international population that breeds in UK. Curlews are not raising enough chicks to sustain their population; predation, habitat change in upland breeding areas, and modern farming practices seem to be the main reasons. Although most British Curlews breed in upland habitats, there are also important lowland populations, mostly in hay-meadows but also in various habitats where there is rough grassland. In Gloucestershire and Worcestershire Curlews still breed in the Severn and Avon vales, and there are a few pairs on the Cotswolds. These birds can often be helped by involving farmers and other landowners and working with them; for example it may be possible to delay the hay harvest in some fields for a few days to enable young birds to fledge.
“To try to help Curlews, a local project is aiming to find all our breeding birds in 2016 and see what help can be offered to them and the landowners on whose land they are nesting. The area involved is Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire and the partnership includes the Wildlife Trusts, Natural England, RSPB and the Gloucestershire Ornithological Coordinating committee. A small team of experienced volunteers will be studying the well-known sites, but because Curlews can be quite catholic in their choice of habitat we are also asking people to report any Curlew seen or heard in potential breeding habitat between 1 March and 31 July so it can be followed up. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you are a farmer or landowner with Curlews on your land.
“Please report your sightings to Mike Smart, either by email smartmike@btinternet.com or by phone (landline 01452.421131, mobile 07816.140513).”
A small group of members took part in a field meeting at Minsterworth Ham on Sunday 20 March. This is one of the “Severn Hams”, the large grassy meadows in the floodplain of the Severn, which take up winter floodwater, and are cultivated, mainly as hay meadows, in summer; other Severn Hams include Ashleworth Ham, Coombe Hill Meadows and the Severn Ham at Tewkesbury, all popular and well covered by naturalists. Minsterworth Ham (which also includes the so-called “Corn Ham”), on the other hand, has been rather neglected, perhaps because it is rather isolated (in the large southward bend in the course of the Severn between Minsterworth and Over), though it is hardly remote, being only a few miles from the centre of the City of Gloucester. Being very close to the course of the Severn, a number of birds pass over the site, which has regularly been mentioned as a possible for wetland restoration.
The participants used public footpaths to walk down to the river through the Corn Ham, returning by a parallel footpath. The landscape is one of very wide open spaces, punctuated by very deep drainage ditches, with hedges of hawthorn, willow and oak; one of the attractions of the site is the chance to see well known features from a new angle – not just the Cathedral, but the looming presence of the Landfill Site, the reserve at Hempsted, and Windmill Hill and Elmore Back.
Initial impressions were that much of the present grassland has at some stage in the past been ploughed up, so that the botanical interest of the vegetation may be limited (but more visits later in the flowering season will be required to confirm this). One of the birds being sought was Curlew, for which a breeding survey is being organised this spring in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, as well as other lowland counties; no display flights were noted, and only a single bird was heard (though it was a cold windy day and conditions may not have been perfect). A couple of Lapwings showed signs of breeding display, and about a dozen Shelducks, mainly in pairs, may well have been seeking nesting sites in holes such as rabbit holes or pollarded willow boles. Half a dozen Cormorants, some in flashy summer plumage, were loafing in a tree on the river bank. One unexpected finding was a couple of male Ruff, feeding round a shallow pool remaining from the winter floods; a few of this species have recently been seen round floodwater at Ashleworth and Coombe Hill, no doubt migrants on their way to breeding grounds further north in continental Europe. Minsterworth Ham used to be popular as a resting place for gulls from the Landfill Site across the river; with the decreasing numbers of gulls present at the Landfill Site nowadays, only a couple of hundred were found during the GNS visit, some Black-headed Gulls coming into summer plumage and a few Common Gulls, as well as the ubiquitous Lesser Blackbacks and Herring Gulls. A large flock of some 500 Fieldfares was feeding on the grass, so there were clearly plenty of invertebrates in the soil.
A number of Lichen records were made, some frog spawn was noted in one ditch, and the mammals seen included fox, rabbit and grey squirrel.