Another quick update from Steve Waite who came upon a pair of kingfishers recently at Lower Bruckland. Steve tells us “as you can see Kingfishers are very calm and relaxed birds in the hand, often resting on your open palm without flying away”.
Thanks for the photos Steve!
Back again with an update from the prolific Steve Waite, who aside from his own fantastic blog has been kind enough to compile a July update on the various species around Lower Bruckland. As always, huge thanks to Steve for sharing his findings.
July 2015
Although autumn seems a long way off to us, it is well underway in the bird world. The first signs were on the 15th during a very productive bird ringing session, when a Common Whitethroat (pictured right) was trapped and ringed, a species which doesn’t breed at the Ponds. Also on 15th a Green Sandpiper flew over heading west towards the Estuary, a bird that breeds in the far north east corner of Europe and beyond into Russia. By the end of the month the trees were full of migrant birds feeding up before their long migration south, including a few Willow Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher. Overhead Sand Martins could be seen flying back south towards their wintering grounds in Africa, and on the ponds were the first returning wildfowl with three Tufted Ducks (pictured below) and two Gadwalls.
There’s still plenty of young birds about, notable Coot, Moorhen and Little Grebes, and of course the Mute Swan family than can always be found in the area. Young Kingfisher can also now be encountered daily, but you have to be lucky! Learning their distinctive call will help your chances no end.
It’s been great to see healthy numbers of the rare Small Red-eyed Damselflies in recent weeks also, this was the first breeding site for this species in Devon (pictured below right).
Finally, another treat from the ringing session on 15th was a magnificent Sparrowhawk (see below), this one a young male. The presence of this species at the Ponds shows just how many small birds are present here, because without small birds you simply wouldn’t have Sparrowhawks. Just look at those eyes!
June 2015
The Ponds have been very busy this month, with wildlife all over the place. It is such a joyous place to be at any time of the day this time of year as there is just so much to see. If it is flowers you want, there are many on show at the moment including Southern Marsh Orchid (see photo), swarms of butterflies include numerous Large Skippers (see photo), along with thousands of emerging dragonflies and damselflies, with now being a good time to see the rare Scarce Chaser (see photo). You may even be lucky enough to come across one of the larger mammals, with Roe Deer and this young Fox (see photo) recorded this month.
Birds have been busy as well, with young birds aplenty. On the ponds at least two pairs of Little Grebe have got small young, along with numerous young Coot (see photo) and Moorhen. The Swan family were down to six cygnets by the middle of the month, if they can keep all of them it will be a very successful year.
A bird ringing session on 26th proved breeding of Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Robin and Blackbird. All these birds caught were juveniles not long out of the nest, which is tremendous news. Out of all the birds caught during the whole session only two were adults, a Reed Warbler and a Swallow (see photos). The Swallow was especially interesting as it was already bearing a ring, and not one fitted by anyone locally. It will be exciting to find out where and when it was first ringed, but unfortunately this information may take a while to glean from the BTO.
(Steve Waite, June 2015)
This is the latest of our birding updates from Steve Waite. As always, thanks to Steve for sharing!
May 2015
Despite the lower than average temperatures for this month, breeding success has been good and several species have fledged young. Families of many of the commoner birds species have been seen in the trees and bushes around the Ponds, such as Great and Long-tailed Tits, Wren, Robin and Chaffinch. On the Ponds themselves, Moorhen and Coot chicks are now away from the nests, as are the Mute Swans with seven cygnets all looking well at the end of the month.
There are though still some species in the early stages of nesting, in particular the summer migrants that have not long arrived. Pleasingly there are two singing male Reed Warblers at the Ponds this summer, and fingers crossed they can attract mates and nest succesfully. A Blackcap has also recently set up territory along the southern boundary hedge. The House Martins and Swallows that feed over the Ponds on a daily basis will have nests not far away, and the eggs in these nests should be hatching about now.
Dragonflies and Butterflies are also appearing now, with a some of the Ponds specialities having already been seen, namely Scarce Chasers and Dingy Skippers (see photo). For better numbers though we need a temperature increase, and it looks as though June will be giving us this.
(Steve Waite, May 2015)
The following April birding report and photos on the bird life here in our little corner of East Devon was written by Steve Waite — thanks Steve for making this available! If you don’t know about this already, Steve has one of the best UK birding blogs on the web. Go and read it!!
April 2015
April is a busy month for birds, nesting begins for most species with some already having young to feed. A preliminary breeding bird survey revealed up to 22 different species of birds breeding at the Ponds, from Mute Swan (which are now sitting on eggs) to Reed Bunting. This reflects the fantastic diversity the ponds have to offer.
Just after dawn is often the best time to hear bird song, and every morning the sound of the Song Thrush is very dominant. There are two Song Thrush territories at the Ponds, one along the northern boundary hedge, and the other in the southern boundary hedge. The males use their voice to remind the other that this is their territory and to stay well away, as both have probably got females sat on nests. Learning the different bird songs and calls brings a whole new dimension to bird watching; you are able to view the ornithological world in a completely different and much more intimate way.
Many of our summer migrants are in now, including Swallows, House Martins and even a few Swifts. The first Swifts of the spring were seen from the Ponds on 19th, and at the same time a Red Kite flew over east (see photo). Although Kites don’t breed in the county, every spring young birds are seen cruising over the south west as the adult birds push them away from breeding areas, and 2015 has been a record year for this spectacle.
(Steve Waite, April 2015)