Sightings

The latest round of deep flooding in the riverside meadows between Gloucester and Tewkesbury is beginning to drop, but many of the usual bird-watching areas are still inaccessible, and the birds are very widespread, seeking shallow edges difficult to apprach, rather than the deep water still to be found in many places.

At Coombe Hill it is now possible to walk along the towpath (which is very muddy indeed), but only as far as the first gate into the GWT reserve; the lower lying area of towpath between this gate and the entrance to the boardwalk is still under water, which will probably clear in the next few days: 8 Mute Swans, maybe 100 Canada Geese, one Shelduck, Wigeon and Teal very widely spread, but at least 500 each, maybe 50 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 1 Shelduck.  Bird of the day a Curlew, the first of the year in the meadows, suggesting that those wintering on the estuary have begun to move back towards nesting grounds, whether locally or further afield on the continent.

Cobney/Leigh Meadows: the road past the Red Lion at Wainlodes is just passable by car (for the first time today); still extensive flooding, though water is flowing out fast down the Parish Drain and the Chelt to the Severn.  At least 500 ducks on the floodwater, probably more, mainly Wigeon, three Shelducks.

Ashleworth Ham: not accessible at all, because the Ham Road between Ashleworth and Tirley is still partly under water.

Meadows near Chaceley north of Haw Bridge: at least 1,500 ducks on shallowly flooded meadows, visible from the river bank, in a place where they are not normally seen at all.  At least 100 Fieldfares and a couple of hundred Black-headed Gulls feeding on fields recently emerged from the floodwater.

Alerted by a post on the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust website, I went to look at another Gloucester Starling roost today.  GWT says there is a roost “in the Bristol/Stroud Road area”.  I found quite large numbers circling in the Tuffley Avenue area from about 16h45.  There seem to be (at least) two roosts- one smaller one of perhaps 1,000 birds near Tuffley Crescent, which after much quiet circling, finally landed and started chirping in a small group of three or four tallish thickly vegetated conifers (cypresses, I think) in a back garden.  They once again attracted the attention of a passing Sparrowhawk, which again failed to catch any Starlings, before diving into the conifers.  A local resident said they hadn’t been roosting there long.  There appeared to be another, larger  roost somewhere towards Linden Road, which I’ll find another day.

Are these roosts present all through the winter?  Or do they gather only in late winter, just before the birds depart on migration to breeding grounds in eastern and northern Europe?

As in previous years, there is a fair-sized Starling roost in central Gloucester, in Great Western Road, just behind the station.  This evening, flocks were in the air from just before 16h45, going silently round and round, never straying more than a few hundred yards from above the site of the roost.  More and more birds joined them – there were perhaps five thousand (?) at the end.  A passing Peregrine took no notice, but twice a Sparrowhawk showed interest, without attempting to catch one.  The roost is in a line of conifers, seven trees, maybe twenty metres high, in about fifteen yards,  They all dived into the conifers at about 17h20 (very close to lighting up time), and started to chatter on landing, whereas they had been very quiet before.

Why this flying round before they roost, which must use up a lot of energy in midwinter?

Passers-by seemed to enjoy the sight, though nobody had parked their cars along the roadside beneath the trees.

About 4 inches of snow fell in the Severn Vale this morning. When it was falling most heavily there was a Collared Dove calling in the garden.  Perhaps it had nothing better to do than sing. In the arable field opposite was a long line of birds facing into the wind, including 32 Lapwing (mostly standing), about 40 Common Gulls and as many Black-headed Gulls (most of which were sitting down low in the snow), with the occasional Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a few juvenile gulls.

When the snowstorm eased we went for a walk and were surprised to see a huge limb fallen from an oak.  We imagine this happened this morning as the hole where Jackdaws had nested was in the lee of the fallen branch, but full of snow.

The heavy flooding that submerged the meadows for the first ten days of January is now dropping, leaving lots of shallow floodwater in the Coombe Hill, Cobney/Leigh Meadows and Ashleworth/Hasfield Ham areas.  The Red Lion Road at Wainlodes on the east bank, and the Ham Road between Tirley and Ashleworth on the west bank, are now open (they were impassable until about Friday last).  At Coombe Hill, the meadows can now be seen from the towpath (but the boardwalk leading to the Grundon Hide is still under deep water), or from Wick Lane by Apperley.  At Ashleworth the road hides are easily accessible (though the one has had its foundations lifted out of the earth by the flood).

It’s still quite difficult to assess waterbird numbers, because there is so much suitable habitat, but we got a fair count; we stationed ourselves so as to avoid the risk of double counting:

Coombe Hill:  8 Mute Swans, 583 Canada Geese, 215 Greylag Geese, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 12 Shelducks, 3340 Wigeon, 1900 Teal, 10 Gadwall, 165 Mallard, 162 Pintail, 26 Shoveler,  80 Tufted Ducks and 10 Pochard, (unusually high numbers here for diving ducks and a sign that the water is still deep), 2 Grey Herons, 2 Moorhens, 40 Coot, 570 Lapwings.

Cobney /Leigh Meadows:  9 Mute Swans, 4 Canada Geese, 24 Shelducks (lekking actively, not seen in such numbers here of late), 1000 Wigeon, 150 Teal, 10 Gadwall, 50 Mallard, 30 Pintail, 4 Tufted Ducks, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant, 110 Lapwings, 1 Snipe (the only one found in icy conditions).

Ashleworth/ Hasfield Hams:  3 Mute Swans, 370 Canada Geese, 1 Barnacle Goose, 15 Greylag Geese, 1 White Farmyard Goose, 75 Wigeon, 250 Teal, 30 Mallard, 10 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 15 Coot . (Les Brown and Mike Smart).  Also a Chiffchaff feeding in the hedges at Hasfield.

That makes quite a lot of ducks – about 5,500 at Coombe Hill, 1,500 at Cobney/Leigh plus 400 odd at Ashleworth.   Mainly Wigeon and Teal as usual, with no sign (yet) of influxes of Pintail, as sometimes occur in these conditions.  We didn’t see any such numbers of ducks (though the geese were there) during the big flood of late December and early January: they could have been on site and overlooked because so many areas have been inaccessible; though this seems unlikely because why would they be on such deep water where they can’t feed?  They may well have been off at sites like Minsterworth Ham and Walmore Common where quite large numbers of ducks have been recorded in recent days.

Mike Smart, David Anderson, Les Brown

Huge numbers of wildfowl on the still extensive flooding at Minsterworth Ham today, the most I’ve seen in this area. The highlight was a family party of five Whooper Swans. Other sightings included 15 Mute Swans, nine Shelduck, 1500 Wigeon, 32 Gadwall, 1300 Teal, 60 Mallard, 100 Pintail, 12 Shoveler, eight Grey Herons, two Little Grebes, a Sparrowhawk, a Peregrine, three Golden Plover, 400 Lapwing, one Snipe, two Little Owls, two Ravens and a Chiffchaff.

Finally a lovely sunny day with no rain. There is a patch of Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) in bloom in Randwick churchyard on a warm and sheltered south-facing bank. Usually this is a March flower. A golden welcome for 2013.

Thanks to everyone who has give their time, support and records to Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records during 2012: here’s to a biodiverse (and hopefully a bit more clement) 2013!

We are currently enjoying some armchair recording of the birds in Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s wildlife garden here in Robinswood Hill Country Park.  It’s lovely to see the birds from the office window, but I can’t help feeling they’re a bit depleted in diversity, if not numbers. Not seen so far: Greenfinch,  Starling or any kind of thrush (although Fieldfares and a Songthrush have been spotted nearby).

We’ve had one unwelcome visitor: an apparent case of Avian pox. Earlier this week a Great tit turned up which appeared to have a growth on its face, about peanut-sized, next to the beak.  I  chucked out a couple of old, grubby feeders yesterday and gave the remaining ones  a good clean with dilute bleach.  I haven’t seen the bird since but will try to get a picture if it turns up.  It’s such a nasty condition;  we need to remind everyone to keep bird feeders as clean as possible to reduce the risks.

Seen on our feeders, apple tree and bird table in December:

Goldfinch,  Blue tit, Great tit, Coal tit, Dunnock, House sparrow, Chaffinch, Jay, Rook, Blackcap (only a male), Collared dove, Blackbird

The Jay is great fun: almost worth seeing the peanut feeder get trashed just to watch him/her figuring out how to get the lid off!

The cold snap with freezing fog has produced some lovely sights. Here again is one of my favourite plants.