A 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.
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.
The level of the River Severn is dropping again, though quite gradually; paradoxically therefore, the river is dropping but the shallow flooding on meadows in the Vale continues to rise slightly, because the drop in the Severn level is not enough to allow water to begin flowing off the meadows. It seems likely that levels on the meadows will start to drop in the next few days
At Coombe Hill the floodwater on the meadows is still rising very gradually, and there is very little unflooded grass left for birds to graze on. The Grundon Hide is still accessible (with Wellingtons, water calf deep on the board walk). There are still masses of birds, probably 5,000 ducks, 1,000 Lapwings and 1,500 geese (including what is almost a record number of Canada Geese – the highest number ever noted at Coombe Hill was 1,300 in November 2014); the same few hybrid and feral geese are still present and act as markers, suggesting that many of the same individuals are staying in the area. Still a tremendous spectacle of calls, wing beats, huge numbers of birds on the shallow flood.
Detailed records, Coombe Hill first: 6 Mute Swans; 380 Greylags (including the one from Windermere, marked with a neck collar reading PXS); 1,100 Canada Geese, 1 Barnacle Goose, 1 Swan x Greylag hybrid, 5 Canada x Greylag hybrids, 1 white farmyard goose (the same one with black flecks), 2 Shelducks, 2,000 Wigeon and 2,000 Teal (rough estimate in each case, not an exact count), 2 Gadwall, 30 Mallard, 210 Pintail (slight increase) 40 Shoveler, 1 Pochard, 3 Little Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 3 Coot, 500 Lapwings, 100 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Meadow Pipits, 25 Fieldfares, 1 Cetti’s Warbler (couple of bursts of song from Broadmere; this is a Mediterranean species, clearly liking the mild conditions), 100 Starlings, 2 Bullfinches.
At Cobney Meadows: 200 Lapwings
At Ashleworth Ham: 2 Mute Swans; no geese at all (they were all at Coombe Hill!) , 280 Wigeon, 170 Teal, 95 Mallard, 8 Pintail, 3 Shovelers, 1 Grey Heron, 75 Lapwings flying over, 2 Meadow Pipits, 150 Redwings, 10 Fieldfares, 1 Nuthatch, 250 Starlings, 150 Jackdaws, 3 Reed Buntings.
The British Trust for Ornithology organises regular monthly counts of water birds at wetlands throughout the United Kingdom – the Wetland Bird Survey, or WeBS. Counts are carried out on the same day each month at a number of wetlands across the country; in Gloucestershire some sites are on the estuary, some in the Severn Vale and some at pools in the Cotswolds. Today was the day for the December count, and three observers covered the three main sites in the Severn Hams – Coombe Hill Meadows; Ashleworth and Hasfield Hams; and the Leigh and Chelt Meadows along the Chelt between the A38 and the Severn at Wainlodes. There was shallow extensive flooding at all these sites, still rising slightly as the Severn level is not dropping very much, if at all. The main concentration of birds is still at Coombe Hill; but the total at all three sites was best part of a thousand geese, and over four thousand ducks (Wigeon and Teal each at two thousand birds), but no sign of the rare American Green-winged Teal, picked out yesterday among all the other Teal at Coombe Hill by one lucky observer.
Results:
Coombe Hill: 5 Mute Swans, 450 Greylag Geese, 113 Canada Geese, 1970 Wigeon, 1810 Teal, 3 Gadwall, 30 Mallard, 60 Pintail, 50 Shoveler, 2 Grey Herons, 1 Little Egret, 1 Kestrel, 20 Coot, 5 Moorhens, 210 Lapwings, 2 Dunlin, 100 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Stonechat, 10 Redwings, 75 Starlings
Cobney Meadows: 6 Mute Swans, 1 Greylag, 325 Canada Geese (that’s why there weren’t so many at Coombe Hill), 1 White Farmyard Goose (frequently seen at Coombe Hill with the Canadas recently), 40 Wigeon, 30 Mallard, 425 Lapwings, 40 Black-headed Gulls, 50 Starlings
Leigh Meadows (from A 38 end): 1 Cormorant, 1 Snipe, 1 Grey Wagtail, couldn’t find the Green Sandpiper that is often there.
Ashleworth/Hasfield Hams: 4 Mute Swans, 3 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 50 Wigeon, 80 Teal, 60 Mallard, 18 Shoveler, 2 Grey Herons, 1 Cormorant flew downriver, 1 Buzzard, 1 Water Rail squealing, 6 Lapwings, 2 Snipe, 40 Black-headed Gulls, 5 Lesser Blackbacks, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Meadow Pipits, 10 Fieldfares, 10 Redwings, couldn’t find a Stonechat, 3 Bullfinches, one lone Reed Bunting (they are really not numerous in winter!).
The Severn level has been dropping sharply for the last few days, but not enough yet to allow all its tributaries to discharge their waters into the main river; so while water has dropped on some riverside meadows, such as Upham Meadow along the Avon near Twyning, or the Severn Ham and Breakingstone Meadow at Tewkesbury, paradoxically, water levels on meadows at Coombe Hill and Ashleworth Ham continue to rise.
At Coombe Hill the top of the stage boards on the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserve (at 1.00 metre) are now under water; the footpath to the circular walk is under water and impassable for the moment; there is just a little water on the lowest part of the boardwalk leading to the Grundon Hide, but the hide is easily accessible with wellingtons still. Shallow floodwater everywhere, as is normal at this time of year, and a fantastic wildfowl spectacle of sound and colour.
Numbers of ducks and geese are even higher: on Tuesday and Wednesday there were about 550 Canada, 250 Greylag and one Barnacle Geese, plus the usual crosses: 1 White Farmyard Goose, 1 Swan Goose, at least four of the family of Canada x Greylag hybrids; one of the Greylag Geese had an orange neck collar, inscribed PXS, which identified it as a bird marked in Windermere during the moulting season in June 2015. There were probably some Canada and Greylag Geese with leg rings, but they mainly had their feet in the water so couldn’t be seen.
Even more Wigeon, at least 1,780; at least 900 Teal, 10 Shoveler, 56 Pintail, all the latter in lovely plumage and doing noisy courtship flights. A Water Rail squealing from Broadmere; nearly 350 Lapwings, a Ruff, a Dunlin and a Black-tailed Godwit; slightly surprisingly perhaps, no sign of Snipe at dusk. Also birds feeding on invertebrates pushed to the surface by floodwater: about 310 mixed crows, mainly Jackdaws with some Rooks and Carrion Crows, and a couple of hundred Starlings.
No Canada Geese left at Upham Meadow, but two Buzzards, a Kestrel, about five Skylarks and at least two, maybe three, Stonechats (one definite pair).
The level of the Severn has risen considerably in the last week; the level at Haw Bridge yesterday was 10.36 metres, the highest so far in 2015. This is not a dangerous level – no risk of the river breaking its banks, and is normal for the time of year, but it does mean that all the tributaries (Avon, Swilgate, Chelt, local Parish drains) can’t discharge their waters into the main river, and are backing up, causing shallow local flooding on the meadows – perfect for the birds.
Coombe Hill at its winter best, a real wildfowl spectacle, with fresh flooding providing good grazing and lots of invertebrates near the surface; the level on the stage board in the scrape was on 0.49 on 28 November, 0.69 on 3 December, 0.89 yesterday, waters extending well beyond the edges of the scrapes. Sharp increase in surface feeding ducks round the edges: at least 1,330 Wigeon, at least 630 Teal, 150 Mallard, 31 Pintail, 3 Gadwall, 5 Lapwings; big increase in geese too: 380 Canada Geese and 1 Barnacle Geese (latter unlikely to be wild), 80 Greylags (accompanied by hybrids already seen here and at Ripple in the last couple of months – a White Farmyard Goose with very obvious black flecking, a Swan Goose hybrid, a Canada x Greylag cross). And feeding in the wet grass, good numbers of crows (200 Jackdaws, 40 Carrion Crows, 20 Rooks) and 120 Starlings, all clearly looking for invertebrates brought to the surface by the light floods. Also 1 Grey Heron, 1 Meadow Pipit, 30 Fieldfares and 15 Redwings in hedges along the towpath, 1 Meadow Pipit; I looked for the pair of Stonechats but couldn’t find them, probably too windy for them.
I went to Upham Meadow, Twyning, to see if the Canada Geese seen last week were still present; they weren’t – only 35 left (in place of 350 odd earlier in the week, so they had clearly gone to Coombe Hill). Similar light flooding to Coombe Hill, crows feeding round the edges, plus 30 Fieldfares.
I wonder where all the Coombe Hill ducks came from? I would have guessed they are up from the estuary, taking advantage of teh good feeding conditions. The geese on the other hand clearly came from Ripple (Greylags) and the Avon valley (Canadas).
On Tuesday 3rd November at about 08:30, I happened to be looking out at my back garden (which backs onto Weaver’s Field in Warden Hill, Cheltenham) when I spotted one of the brown rats that live in the area on my (now bare) vegetable patch. The rat was picking up grain left by my chickens. As I was watching, a sparrowhawk (a locally resident one) swooped in from my right and tried to snatch the rat. The rat escaped by virtue of being close to a fence and because it happened to be looking in the direction that the hawk came in from. I’ve never witnessed this type of activity before and don’t know if its typical of sparrowhawks. I wonder whether the hawk was actively targeting the rat or whether it just saw something ‘small, brown and tasty looking’ on the ground!
A total of 22 members and guests joined Andrew Bluett over three evening visits to the Forest of Dean on 18th and 24th June and 9th July 2015. Each meeting began at 9.00 pm with Nightjar activity commencing soon after 9.30. The site visited held two pairs of birds which gave good sightings of flying birds approaching to within 10 metres of the group several times and long bouts of “churring” song.
The warm still evenings did encourage the local Mosquitos to be troublesome but not seriously so, and at the first and last meetings groups of Wild Boar of various ages and sizes were seen near the car park. Song Thrush song punctuated the waiting before Nightjars became active and the clicking of a Stonechat was heard on all three occasions, Woodcock were notable by their absence for most of the time with only a very few roding passes; a young Tawny Owl was heard calling from the denser part of the forest at all meetings.
The Nightjar flights were visible easily when traversing the backlit sky but less so when low down and skimming across the vegetation; one male bird sang regularly from a particular Silver Birch Tree and could be picked up in a torch beam, most especially when the eye caught the light and reflected it back.
At two of the meetings members with Bat detectors were able to locate and identify various species for the group.
Walking back to the car park was rather uneventful at the first two meetings but on the third meeting, a number of variously sized Toads were discovered along the forest track, most of them small and no more than 18 mm long. A rather suspicious rustling in the undergrowth was a little un-nerving until the light of torches brought to bear revealed two Fallow Deer rather than the expected Wild Boar.
My thanks to all those who took part and for those who were not able to attend the meetings, you should get another chance next year..!
Photographs of male Nightjar courtesy of Ken Cservenka – note the white patches in the wings and tail identifying males and a short video by Andrew Bluett at the link below.
