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Recent rain in Gloucester hasn’t raised water levels at the GWT reserve at Coombe Hill; the north scrape is completely dry, and the south scrape is almost dry – just a dribble of water left yesterday 29 July.  There is still water on the Long Pool however, though the Long Pool hide is closed (as in previous years at this time), because of a hornet’s nest.

Interesting stuff however: at first sight, there were no birds on the north or south scrapes.  But occasional Little Ringed Plover calls could be heard from the Grundon Hide; after a while these became ever more anxious, as two Kestrels landed in the short aquatic vegetation in the north scrape; the Kestrels appeared to be an adult female accompanied by a juvenile, probably recently out of the nest, and were clearly hunting on the ground.  The adult LRP kept running around on the floor of the scrape, then undertaking nervous circular flights round  and round; the chicks (which ought to be fledged by now, as they were first seen on 3 July and someone recorded them during the week as fledged) never showed any sign of flying and stayed round the scrape – there was no sign of LRPs on the Long Pool.  Not sure what the outcome was: the Kestrels were never seen actually to catch any prey, while the chicks were never seen to emerge from the vegetation unscathed.

Surprising, on one hand that the chicks didn’t try to fly, but just lay doggo, on the ground; they can’t yet be confident of flying away; and on the other that Kestrels were trying to catch them on the ground: any other raptor, you might have thought, but surely the windhover is an aerial predator.

Otherwise, mostly on the Long Pool, which still attracts passing waterbirds:  eight unringed Canada Geese, 100 Mallard, 180 Lapwings, five Green Sandpipers, and two Snipe; still at least eight Sedge Warblers (generally churring rather than singing) in the thick ditch side vegetation through the reserve.

And lots of wild flowers now; Corky-fruited Water Dropwort and Flowering Rush among others

Yesterday 22 July we carried out another of the regular Constant Effort Site ringing sessions at Ashleworth, where no hay has as yet been cut on the GWT reserve.

Outwardly, it appeared that there were few birds about: scrapes almost dry, little or no birdsong, not much activity.  But the ringing showed that in fact there were large numbers of recently fledged young birds present, recently emerged from the nest, often just completing their post juvenile moult, before setting off on their long migration journeys to the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa.  It is very likely that all these juveniles were locally bred, as they would hardly move off before completing this moult, and almost none of them showed any additional fat (which migrants arriving from outside the reserve would be likely to do).  So, this represents a snapshot of breeding attempts and successes.  After Friday’s fairly heavy rain, conditions were surprisingly favourable: windless in the early morning, with a light cloud covering which made the nets more difficult for the birds to see.  We had a catch of 93 birds, slightly above the average for the mid July visit, and made up as follows:

• One juvenile Kingfisher; unusually, no Redstarts caught, though there had been several adults earlier in the season; one juvenile Grasshopper Warbler (particularly interesting, as on earlier visits we had caught an adult male and female in breeding condition: this is a very strong indication of local breeding); no Reed Warblers caught or heard, which suggests that they did not attempt to nest this year; nine Sedge Warblers (mainly juveniles, but a couple of ringed adults, caught earlier in the season; so they haven’t left yet, but will be going soon); as many as 32 Whitethroats (all but one were juveniles, showing that this species has increased greatly in the hay meadow hedges in recent years); seven Blackcaps (two adults and five juveniles, probably birds that had nested in slightly higher ground round the edges of the reserve, and were now moving into lower areas; like Whitethroat, more than usual); no Lesser Whitethroats this time, though we have caught juveniles on previous visits; eleven Chiffchaffs (every man jack of them a juvenile); two Willow Warblers (one adult and one juvenile); nine Reed Buntings (again, all juveniles; late hay cutting may have helped this species which nests in long vegetation in hayfields).  Also, as usual, a variety of resident breeders: one juvenile Dunnock; seven Wrens (nearly all juveniles); three juvenile Robins; one juvenile Great Tit; one juvenile Blue Tit; five Long-tailed Tits, mainly juveniles; one adult Linnet; one juvenile Goldfinch.

Few other birds of note around the reserve: one adult male Peregrine perched on a dead willow; about 20 House Martins and 20 Swallows hawking insects (probably locally bred juveniles as well).Mervyn Greening, Mike Smart

Mervyn Greening, Mike Smart

We have several raised beds with strawberry plants, and nearby another bed with courgette plants. They are all contained in a cage covered in chicken wire, to keep out the deer and pheasants, among other animals that would eat our vegetables. This is out in the country, near Caudle Green.

We noticed that we were not getting many strawberries and sometimes we found unripe ones cut off from their stems and lying on the ground under the plants. Today we found part of the answer. On going to pick some courgettes we found this huge stash of rotting strawberries. A creature has been picking the strawberries and carrying them to the courgette bed.

We have a huge population of voles in the garden, so perhaps it is them, or perhaps a mouse?

Richard and Jenny Beal

I had a very interesting day looking at Curlews along the River Avon, both the Worcestershire  and Gloucestershire banks, on 1 July.  One site on the Gloucestershire bank is a Lammas meadow, cut late for hay (not silage) and above all, cut gradually, strip by strip; access by the public is not allowed in the breeding season from 1 March to 31 July, to avoid disturbance of ground-nesting birds.  Rather little of the hay had been cut (less than 10%), but the Curlews, both young and old, seemed happy feeding on the cut strips.  Looking along the cut strips from a distance with a telescope, I could see two young birds of the year: one was already able to fly (which is a very early date, last year I saw fledged birds from 9 to 23 July); it was obviously a young bird from the short, only partly de-curved beak, and from the bright spangled plumage on the upperparts – dark centres and buff edges, recalling juvenile Ruff.  The second youngster was nearly full grown, but with no proper tail and only a fluffy ball of down at its rear end, and the wings not yet fully developed, not showing beyond the tail, so not yet flying; presumably two different broods.  When I approached, the fledged bird flew off on its own; the other one disappeared, no doubt lying doggo and burying its way into the grass; one adult (apparently a male) hung around, very anxious, repeatedly giving the two note alarm call (“cour-LEE”, accent on the second syllable, repeated rapidly), which is no doubt the signal to big chicks to lie doggo.  Another adult got up a bit further on in the long grass, doing the five note alarm: I suspect this call means that there is another brood in there, with perhaps slightly younger chicks.  At this site last year, a little group of fledged birds of the year were present for a few days, in a group together, after the last adults had left; I took them to be locally bred birds, but they might of course have been passage birds from elsewhere; I’ll be interested to see if the same happens this year.

I then moved to the east bank, in Worcestershire.  In one hay meadow there, I have seen fledged young in the last couple of years.  On previous visits this year, I have found adults present on this field, but on my last visit, there was no sign of them, though I walked right through the field.  I walked right round the field again on 1 July, and had almost completed my circuit, without seeing any Curlews.  Then, suddenly, only ten yards away, a very agitated adult rose, calling desperately, and I heard quiet calls, apparently from young birds.  When I looked closely  I found two freshly hatched young, with large remains of eggshells still in the nest, (see pictures); they were so young, they didn’t even run away or burrow;  I think they must have hatched that very day. This shows, firstly, how closely birds will sit, without rising at the approach of an observer: it’s very easy to overlook birds acting so secretively.  Secondly, this is an incredibly late date for hatching: it must be a replacement clutch.  The young won’t be flying until about 5 August, even if they manage to escape hay-cutting: I’ve spoken to the farmer, who is sympathetic, but he needs to cut his hay some time!  After this, I then visited another nearby field, where the farmer purposely leaves his fields uncut until the Curlews have fledged.  He has already seen young in this field, and on my visit there was an anxious adult doing the five note alarm: I’m sure there is at least one young bird in the long grass.  At this site, there was a flock of up to 15 adult Curlews in mid-June: I take these to have been failed breeders or non-breeders, gathering in a flock before departing to moulting and wintering sites on the estuary and coastline.  No sign of them on 1 July, just the one anxious adult.