goldcrest Archives - Lower Bruckland Wildlife Gardens & Nature Reserve

October Birding Update: Redwing, Goldcrest, Siskin

Thanks to Steve Waite for the following!

Although the month remained unseasonable mild throughout, there were the first signs of winter by the end of the first week of the month. A couple of Cetti’s Warbler could be heard calling from the reeds (with one remaining all month), the first Water Rail was seen to run from cover to cover, and the first few Redwing flew low overhead. Redwing are a thrush that breed in Scandinavia and only winter in the UK – so this really was a sign of winter!

Mute Swan with autumn colours in the water © Steve Waite www.stevesbirdingblog.blogpost.com

Goldcrest numbers have also increased, and last year’s wintering flock of Siskin have returned, although far fewer at the moment with no more than 20 birds present.

The highlight of the month came late on, with (as predicted in last months post) a lovely Yellow-browed Warbler around the top pond for a few days from the 30^th. This ‘striped-up Chiffchaff’ breeds around the Urals and east, but every year seems to be increasingly using the UK as a regular migration route. They tend to arrive on the east coast of the UK from mid September, then filter down through the country and we see them here in the south west from a week or so later. The willows and water at Lower Bruckland Ponds provide ideal insect feeding conditions.

November 7, 2016Nature in DevonPermalink Leave a comment

September Birding Update: Mute Swans, Yellow-Browed Warblers

As ever, thanks to Steve Waite for the birding round up!

September is always the month when autumn moves on, and it is all change in the bird world. In the first half of the month birds that have spent the summer in the UK leave for their winter haunts, South Africa in most cases. But from mid-month most of these birds have left, and now autumn migration is about birds that arrive in to or pass through the UK from other countries. A lot of our autumn and winter birds come from Scandinavia or further east (i.e. Russia), or from the true north – the Arctic.

mute swan in the mist — Mute Swan in the mist © Steve Waite www.stevesbirdingblog.blogpost.com

This has been reflected at the Ponds, the Willow Warblers that were present at the start of the month have all gone and been replaced by Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests. Only the occasional Swallow and House Martin can now be seen over the Ponds, far from the large flocks present at the start of September. It won’t be long until the sky is full of the calls of Fieldfare and Redwing too.

Sadly we have one less juvenile Mute Swan, but if they manage to get the remaining six off then it will still be a good year for them. That’s six more Mute Swans in the world!

Hopefully increased mist netting efforts at the Ponds over the next few months will reveal the presence of a scarce bird or two. A record number of Yellow-browed Warblers have already been reported on the east coast of the UK and these will filter down through the country of the next month, one of these would be much appreciated by the author of these posts!

A sunny autumn morning at Lower Bruckland Ponds © Steve Waite www.stevesbirdingblog.blogspot.com

October 4, 2016Nature in DevonPermalink Leave a comment

October Birding at Lower Bruckland

October Birding Update from Steve Waite [Thanks again, Steve!]

Despite the unusually mild start to the autumn, the birds know the season is changing, as do the trees with leaves dropping in some quantity over the last half of the month.

It’s been a really exciting month for birds, with the first Redwings and Fieldfares of the winter noted, along with a single fly over Brambling on the last day of the month. A couple of Redpolls have been lingering around the area, and for the entire month the alders at the bottom of the Ponds have hosted a beautiful flock of up to 45 Siskin. The flock consists of both the bright yellow males (pictured left), and much browner streaky females, and are often mixed in with Goldfinches that are also feeding high in the alders.

The willows usually contain flocks of feeding Long-tailed Tits, often accompanied by Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and other species of tit. These birds flock up at this time of year, it helps with the feeding but also offers them safety in numbers.

On the water it would appear the parent Mute Swans have chased away their young now, which is far earlier than last season, and Teal and Wigeon have been noted among the Mallards on the top pond. A real surprise on the 12th was this usual duck, identified as a Gadwall x Mallard hybrid (pictured below, the bird with the brown and green head). Not something the observer has ever seen before!

November 6, 2015Nature in DevonPermalink Leave a comment