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The BTO project to colour-ring Curlews on the Severn Estuary below Lydney (66 ringed in September 2010, another 29 ringed in September 2011) has generated considerable interest (see previous posting about a colour-ringed bird seen at Coombe Hill).

Over the last week or so, there have been several new developments: John Sanders has continued his observations of high tide roosts on the estuary.  It’s very difficult to approach the birds close enough to read their colour-rings; they are very nervous and fly off if they notice the slightest movement; so John has developed a movable hide, which he places just below the lip of the warth (see picture below), and sits and waits for a long time until the birds are pushed into range by the tide.  On 28 March there were still as many as 500 Curlews between Aylburton and Wibdon Warth; clearly they have not all yet left for continental breeding grounds.

In addition to the many readings made at Aylburton Warth by John, Martin McGill has found one of the colour-ringed birds at high tide at Slimbridge.

One of the colour-ringed birds (Blue Red Red) was seen, as previously reported, at Coombe Hill from 20 to 26 March; it has appeared by day and also in the evening, when surprisingly large numbers of Curlews congregate round the scrape to roost, 36 on 26 March, 35 on 31 March; they come in at the very last minute when it is nearly dark, so the ring may have been overlooked at times.  Where do all these Coombe Hill Curlews come from, and what are they doing?  Are they migrants on their way to those continental breeding places?  Or are they local breeders?  Ian Ralphs saw Blue Red Red on 1 April at Ashleworth Ham, with a second bird, behaving like a pair preparing to breed.

Any new observations of colour-ringed Curlews, from anywhere in the county, would be very welcome.

Horsbere Brook Flood Storage Area is a recently created site, aimed at relieving flooding in Longlevens by th3 Horsebere Brook: worth a quick look (while your wife is in Sainsburys?); by the Gloucester Northern bypass, nearly opposite Premier Inn, convenient lay-by.  Depression full of shallow water, might well attract a passing migrant wader or two; couple of Pied Wagtails on the water’s edge tonight, some Lesser Blackbacks coming in to wash.

Ashleworth Ham this morning, bright and sunny with a fair grass frost.  Water levels much lower than usual at this time of year, partly because of the drought, partly because the boards have been removed from the sluice slightly early, in the hope of attracting breeding waders.  Still 30 Wigeon grazing round the edges of the scrape, 5 Teal, pair of aggressive adult Mute Swans, chasing off two unfortunate immatures.  Four Lapwings doing aerial display, two bubbling Curlews Ashleworth Ham side, 1 Green Sandpiper.  One Chiffchaff and one Blackcap singing in Meerend Thicket, but no other summer visitors, still no Willow Warblers or hirundines.  Two Roe Deer grazing along the main ditch (they’ve been seen here quite frequently in the last couple of years).

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) are in bloom before the end of March. Seen yesterday in a hedgerow in Standish, and today in a wood at Highnam. I always used to think of them as a May flower!

The Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is in full bloom. It is coating the Gloucestershire hedgerows like snow. The idea of Blackthorn Winter also incorporates the notion that, despite warm presages of summer to come, winter is not yet over and we can still expect frosts.

As reported in a previous issue of GNS NEWS, a number of Curlews were caught amd marked with a series of colour rings on the Severn Estuary below Lydney in September 2010 and September 2011.  One of these birds made a spectacular appearance at Coombe Hill on 20 March 2012 (and was present again today, 21 March).

The bird was colour-ringed with a blue ring on the left tibia (i.e. above the “knee”)  and two red rings on the right tibia.  See below the picture of this bird, taken at a high tide roost at Ayblurton Warth by John Sanders.  Resightings since ringing on 26 September 2010 are as follows:

22.03.11  Coombe Hill
23.03.11  Coombe Hill
28.03.11  Ashleworth Ham
01.04.11  Ashleworth Ham
12.08.11  Guscar Rocks
15.08.11  Guscar Rocks
17.08.11  Guscar Rocks
27.08.11  Guscar Rocks
29.08.11  Guscar Rocks
31.08.11  Guscar Rocks
30.09.11  Guscar Rocks
04.12.11  Oldbury Power Station
20.03.12  Coombe Hill

Thus the bird was ringed on 26 September 2010, seen four times in late March /early April 2011 at Coombe Hill / Ashleworth Ham, two wetlands close together, both Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserves in the Severn floodplain between Gloucester and Tewkesbury, where there are actually breeding Curlews in the hay meadows.  We wondered last year if the bird was a local breeder, as it seemed to be staying in the area for some time, but it wasn’t seen again after 1 April, so we supposed that it had stayed off-passage for a few days, feeding up at Coombe Hill, and had then moved on, to breeding grounds in northern Europe (some of the ringed birds go as far north as Finland).  It reappeared with all the others on the Severn estuary in August 2011 at the usual haunt where up to 1,000 Curlews regularly gather in late summer, autumn and winter, and was seen there by John Sanders and myself; it also popped across the river into South Gloucestershire, where it was seen by Pete Hazelwood at Oldbury.

Another of the ringed birds, seen by John Sanders at Aylburton on 16 February of this year, was resighted in the Netherlands on 24 February, and is still there now, behaving like a breeding bird.  Now, much later in the migration season, Blue Red Red has reappeared on 20 March, almost a year to the day from last year’s first observation, at Coombe Hill.  Les Brown and I were fantastically lucky to see it and read its ring, as the chances of seeing it are pretty slim.  It was one of a group of ten birds that arrived in mid-morning; they wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the local breeders, already on site, and fed as a group on the surrounding fields.  I assume from this behaviour that it was a migrant, stopping off on its way north, and presumably intending to go further north (where the snow will clear later) than all the birds that have already passed through; it will probably hang on for a few days, then move on.    So maybe those that don’t go so far north to breed are departing earlier?

Rachel Taylor of the British Trust for Ornithology will be the main speaker at the GNS Annual General Meeting on Friday 23 March; she will be speaking about the fascinating things that can be learnt by colour ringing waders.

P.S. Les Brown reports that the same colour-ringed bird was at Coombe Hill again on 22 March, making it three days in a row.  how much longer will it stay?

Saw my first Red Admiral of the season here at St Briavels this morning.

Water levels continuing to drop slowly in the meadows; not a lot of indication of summer visitors yet, apart from singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap – no sign of Sand Martins yet at the colonies in the banks of the Severn; but more song from resident birds.

Coombe Hill GWT reserve: Still 171 grazing  Wigeon, 9 Shelducks (several paired), 40 Teal, 21 Shoveler, 15 Gadwall, 2 Tufted Ducks, 2 Oystercatchers (apparently a pair), 16 Lapwings (lots of display, apparently preparing to breed), 4 Curlews, 1 Redshank, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, 3 Skylarks singing, 1 Treecreeper singing, at least eight Reed Buntings singing, 1 Yellowhammer singing.

Haw Bridge: one Blackcap singing.

Ashleworth Ham GWT reserve: 98 Wigeon, 38 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 3 Shoveler, 1 Peregrine, 1 Snipe, 1 Chiffchaff singing.

Lower Lode Brickpits; as many as 35 Cormorants, both adults and immatures, loafing on trees round the water, with a chorus of grunts and squawks – this seems to have become
the favourite resting area for Cormorants along our stretch of the Severn.  One Grey Heron, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 11 Coot, 10 Teal, three Tufted Ducks.  And one Nuthatch calling in parkland round nearby Forthampton Court – a species rarely found near the Severn banks – only on slightly higher ground with mature trees.

Dull misty day; still some winter visitors about (ducks, Fieldfares and Redwing)s and some signs of spring (displaying waders, first Chiffchaff song in the Severn Hams area, Skylarks and Reed Buntings settling in).  River Severn very low, despite high current tide cycle (lots of cars with elver nets on the roof in the evenings).

Coombe Hill. Water levels continuing to drop very gradually: 12 Shelduck; 205 grazing Wigeon; 8 Gadwall; 60 Teal; 31 Shoveler; 2 Grey Herons.  No doubt the same two Oystercatchers, looking like a pair; 16 Lapwings including several  beginning courtship display quite actively; only four Curlews left, most of those present over the last ten days have probably moved on to breeding grounds further north (as far as Finland); one Redshank; one Snipe; two or three drumming woodpeckers, all turning out to be Great Spotted.  Short burst of song from one Chiffchaff; three Skylarks singing, four singing Reed Buntings, one singing Yellowhammer; flock of 50 Fieldfares.

Leigh Meadows: one territorial Curlew, one singing Goldcrest.

Ashleworth Ham: 187 Wigeon, 63 Teal, 13 Shoveler, 6 Gadwall, 76 Lapwings, 5 Snipe, 1 Peregrine on the pylons.

The Leigh village: big flock of 300 Fieldfares and 50 Redwings on maize stubble: no doubt migrants returning north.

The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) is a national survey organised by the British Trust for Ornithology.  Volunteer observers count water birds once a month at wetlands over the British Isles (and indeed counts are carried out all over the world), to produce a picture of water bird numbers, and the sites they use.  Among the sites covered in Gloucestershire are three wetlands in the Severn Vale (the GWT reserves at Coombe Hill and Ashleworth Ham) and Leigh and Cobney Meadows, along the River Chelt upstream of Wainlodes.

Counts carried out today produced the following results.

–  At Coombe Hill:  3 Mute Swans, 33 Canada Geese, 12 Shelduck, 220 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 28 Teal, 37 Mallard, 58 Shoveler (one of the biggest counts of the winter for this species), 10 Coot, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Oystercatchers, 19 Lapwings, 9 Curlews, at least 6 Reed Buntings, 1 Yellowhammer.  (Counts made by Les Brown and David Anderson).

– At Leigh/Cobney Meadows: 30 Mute Swans (the wintering flock still grazing), 1 Shelduck, 15 Mallard, 35 Wigeon, 2 Grey Herons, 4 Stock Doves, 2 Meadow Pipits, 2 Fieldfares. (Count made by Mike Smart).

– At Ashleworth Ham, after a misty start: 2 pairs of resident Mutes (plus some of the swans that were grazing at Leigh Meadows, which had roosted at Ashleworth before flying across the river); 15 Canada Geese; 210 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 120 Teal, 10 Mallard, 20 Shoveler, 4 Pintail, 2 Peregrines on the pylons, 28 Coot, 180 Lapwings (a big excited flock, no doubt mainly migrants), 20 Snipe, 1 Curlew, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in Meerend Thicket, 30 Fieldfares, 10 Redwings, 1 Goldcrest singing in Meerend Thicket, at least six singing Reed Buntings (relatively recent arrivals, and a sign of spring).  (Count made by Les Brown and Mike Smart).