Worse season than last year?

The wind continues to blow from the Northerly direction at speeds of over 20mph. Yesterday saw much heavy rain and winds gusting over 50mph causing trees and branches to fall at Stithians. Luckily not those with nest boxes on.

Passerine activity was again very low key this morning so I decided to check the boxes. One has deserted already leaving 7 boxes in use from 32. Very poor.

After lunch a trip to Hells Mouth was aborted after 5 minutes when I found myself struggling to hold up my binoculars let alone keep a scope still.

A check of some boxes down the road has given another two incubating Great Tits. This year I have far more activity from Great Tit's than Blue Tits.

Deserted eggs

 

6 Tit eggs

A tale of two halves

This morning was same ol' same ol'. 20+mph winds that reduced passerine activity at Stithians to virtually nothing. Two Sedge Warbler territories now appear to have pairs but no evidence of building yet. A Blackbird was seen carrying food but frustratingly lost to view in the overgrown, unmanaged habitat that exists around the lake. After some three hours I left empty handed of new nests. The Carrion Crow eggs have now hatched, 4+ blind young on the nest. The morning was so depressing I actually began to question whether it was the weather or me. 

 

After lunch I put the waders on and had a wander up around the Northern Cut Off.  Within 5 minutes faith was restored when I found these two Coot eggs.

 

 

On the other bank the Moorhen is now incubating 7 eggs (below)

 

 

The Coot at the back has added considerably to it's nest area during the last week.

 

On the way back to the car this patch of raised weed was checked -

Careful scraping away of the top revealed 4 Little Grebe eggs.

Over on the reservoir the Little Grebe nest has failed but en-route to the Great Crested Grebe nest this Coot nest was found  

and this one

 



 

The Moorhen nest that had 3 eggs and a floater last week now has 6 eggs

reservoir habitat like this is slow going, care needs to be taken to avoid accidents

and finally - the Great Crested Grebe nest - clutched on 3 eggs

 

Over to the Southern Cut Off and I had waded 90% of the way round without finding anything until -

 

something moving caught my attention. A newly hatched Coot chick!   

 

In the bottom left of the nest a 2nd chick can be seen

 



And if you click on the image to enlarge you can see the egg that is second from top is starting to hatch 

 

Talk about saving the best until last.....

 

More nest failures, what chance the newborns?

As per usual when on annual leave, the weather has been crap again today. Within 30 minutes of getting up it turned from dry to drizzle. I chanced it at Stithians, it was still dry there but after ten minutes it came in wet - very wet.

I decided to move over to the coast and thankfully Hells Mouth was dry. Another Cormorant nest has failed, on Friday the nest had two dead young and one surviving whose wing feathers were "in pin". There was no adult present which is odd, it is very rare to see a Cormorant nest unattended. Today it was three dead chicks with no sign of the adult. It did return however, proceeded to brood the young before standing up. Another nest that could be declared a failure later on in the week has been subject to predation. On Friday, once again a rare move, a Cormorant got off it's egg, covered it over and left. Within 15 minutes a pair of Herring Gull nesting only six feet away started to rob the nest of material eventually finding the egg. After they had picked it up four or five times between them and looking at each other they left it. The Cormorant returned, pulled around some nest material before settling on the egg again. Today the bird was standing on an empty nest so it'll be interesting to see whether it lays any more or game over. From the original 22 eggs laid in March only 6 young now survive.

The Shag are just starting to hatch now, with the current temperatures and rain I think mortality could be high for these as well.

By mid morning it was home for the rest of the day as rain stopped play. Thankfully it cleared up after tea and I was able to get out for an hour around two old tin mine engine houses at the top of the village. I did find a Chaffinch nest in a gorse bush after tapping the female off, no eggs but hopefully something on Thursday as I run out of time. Four days left to hammer nesting before I am weekends only again. 

Frustrating.

The weather is frustrating me. With winds once again today over 20mph nesting was difficult. It was looking unpredictable in the morning for rain so I decided to go into the woods down the road from me. I have permission to erect nest boxes in one section of this wood, enough room I reckon to get 30 boxes up. The wood is nice and sheltered but despite tapping hedgerow I turned nothing up.

 

After lunch I chanced my arm at Stithians for some Sedge Warbler activity. Five territories were checked, four contained singing birds but one territory had gone relatively quiet. A churring male did appear several times but after an hour there was still no sign of building or a female. The habitat below at Stithians for Sedge Warbler is quite tricky as can be seen below. 4ft high bramble is not exactly friendly. 

 

The male was quietly churring and did not go into full song or song flight.  He had a favourite perch on a piece of dead gorse (arrow) and disappeared into the bramble bordered with the black line on four occasions. Hopefully the weather tomorrow will be better than the forecast and I can watch this bird again. Sedge Warbler stop singing once paired up, they do not sing to defend territory.

13 new cards

An attempt at Stithians this morning for open nesting didn't go all that well. Sedge Warblers still singing, no sign of building Whitethroat and very quite on the whole, not unexpected with 20+mph winds.

After a couple of hours I gave up and did a nest box round. 8 boxes now taken, 50% down on the previous two years.

After lunch it was over to Hells Mouth where two new Cormorant nests now have eggs and a Lesser-Black-backed Gull has gone down on 2. I thought I had to Razorbill as well until a Peregrine flushed them revealing nothing.

Down the road and two more boxes now have eggs, tapping ivy on a wall gave me a Dunnock nest with 4 blind young and my other box area in woodland owned by Mrs Harvey - well, when I knocked on her door she showed me a Blackbird nest in her Ecuba bush that had just started incubating.

A day with the Nestfinder General

Today myself and my mentor (Dan) drove up to Dartmoor to spend some time with accomplished Stonechat nest recorder Mark Lawrence and his mate Mark Penney. Words cant really describe the morning. The view at 07.30 was awesome, low lying mist in the valley, sun shining, Yellowhammer singing, Cuckoo's (at least 3) calling, Wood Warbler made itself heard briefly. A trek up the moorland and we met up with Mark and Mark for a mornings nesting. It soon became quite apparent these guys knew their area and their chosen species - Stonechat and Meadow Pipit.

Both Mark's gave pointers on what to watch for activity from single males, watching females, expected times off the nest to feed etc. A good mornings work produced 4 Stonechat nests and 2 Meadow Pipit nests

Below are the group images with the wonderful backdrop called Dartmoor

Left to right - Myself, Mark L, Dan E

 Left to right - Mark P, Mark L, Dan E  

9 new nests, 2 new species and a drenching

This morning after work I decided to get the waders on at Stithians and check out the Coot nest and Great Crested Grebe nest I saw yesterday. I was dubious about both, you see somewhere around the Coot nest is a deep channel that feeds the reservoir and the GC Grebe's nest is a fair way out. I decided to go for them in the end, don't try, don't get and after all - with nesting you only get out what you put in.

 

No sooner had I hit the waters edge for the Coot I came across an unexpected Moorhen on 5 eggs. The water to the Coot site was quite deep but manageable and I was able to get the record - 6 eggs. I haven't been in this part of the reserve before and was amazed with how large it is behind the willow scrub. More Sedge Warblers singing in the back, an area of open bramble and sedge reed that cannot be seen from the road.

 

A quick drive down to the other end of the reservoir for the GC Grebe site. The route to this one is a tricky one - lots of willow scrub, a lot of it dead and under water, peaks and troughs in the ground that you cant see. One the way out I came across my first ever Little Grebe nest (1 egg). Having battled gingerly through the sallows with the GC Grebe nest in site the inevitable happened, - my stick caught the edge of a trough, my feet caught the middle of it and the water came right over the top of my chest waders. It was bloody freezing and I had to stand there trying to breathe it was so much of a shock. Having composed myself it was onward and upward and the nest was reached - 1 egg. On the way back soaking wet I came across a Moorhen nest with 3 eggs and a damaged one floating nearby . Luckily I had a change of clothes in the car but as someone was in the hide, the car became the changing room. Hardly 5 star luxury.

 

The afternoon saw a trip to Hells Mouth where 3 new Cormorant nests have eggs and a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls have nested (2 eggs). The GBB Gull is my first record for this species.

 

Coot nest

Great Crested Grebe nest

Little Grebe nest with egg partially covered

Little Grebe nest

Moorhen nest with 1 egg floating and damaged

Moorhen

 

I'm wondering if I'm brave enough to re-visit these nests in shorts and trainers - it might be easier in the long run!.....

Plenty of singing but nowt else. Tit's incubating

This morning as per usual at the weekend the weather was crap. Drizzle put paid to any nest recording so I was forced to partake in one of the worst human activities possible - shopping!

Luckily it had cleared away by lunch time so a 5 1/2 mile walk around Stithians Reservoir was had to map singing Sedge Warbler and look for any signs of pairing. No signs of females but 17 singing males were present. All birds were using bramble for habitat with many favouring it mixed with gorse. One was using bramble and blackthorn, one using bramble and willow scrub, some just bramble and only one was found to be using bramble and sedge reed. Two were found singing within 30m of each other.

Tomorrow after work it's waders on to check out the Coot and Great Crested Grebe that I saw sitting today. The boxes at Stithians are still quiet with only 3 boxes with eggs and nothing incubating.

Down the road from where I live 2 Great Tit have started to incubate, 2 eggs in another box and 5 more ready for eggs.

Blue Tit eggs

Unfortunately for the second week running I had to go into work on Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon with 4hrs in between. Not much happening at the reservoir yesterday with a moderate N wind blowing, Hells Mouth for the Cormorant was bleak. Did see my first Swift of the year though.

 

Thankfully today was much better. With a light S blowing i saw my first House Martin of the year and heard my first Cuckoo. More importantly, 9 Sedge Warbler and two Whitethroat singing at the reservoir. The Sedge Warbler are the red dots, Whitethroat the yellow. Unfortunately it doesn't look as though any female Sedgies have arrived yet.

 

One of the two occupied nest boxes at the reservoir now has an egg, the other one is lined ready. The Carrion Crow nest I found last week is now clutched on 5 eggs. 

 

 

Boxes kicking off

The nest boxes are now kicking off. Although 29 of the 31 checked down at the reservoir on Friday were empty things have started to happen since. A walk down the road to check boxes only erected two weeks ago gave six nests from 14 boxes. My gut feeling is that four of these are Blue Tits, 1 Great Tit and the last I have no idea. Why do I think its Great Tit? - because the lining of sheep's wool and horse hair is a bit of a mess.

A Mute Swan is nesting at work, two attempts to see the contents have failed. First time she wouldn't lift herself, on Monday when I tried again the male was standing guard.

At the moment I'm thinking about how to approach nest recording - do I continue to play the numbers game or specialise on Sedge Warblers.

Cormorant misery

Started off with checking some Tit boxes last night, 31 boxes with 29 of them still empty. One was N3 (3/4 built) and one was NL (nest lined).

Stithians this morning gave me my first record here this year - 5 minutes into my walk and I found a Carrion Crow sitting on 2 eggs. Plenty of Willow Warbler singing and a single Sedge Warbler.

Over to Hells Mouth and the Cormorant have been pummelled. Three empty nests, two young on the rest meaning 8 chicks and 1 egg currently survive from 22 eggs.  Four of the young were still blind so it's possible there may still be a couple of eggs that may have been out of sight for me but my gut feeling is that there isnt. It's potentially worse than last year when only 9 fledged from 36 eggs.

It's getting better

Having checked out the weekends weather forecast, Sunday appeared to be the best nest recording day so Saturday was WeBS counting. With the winds having swung round to the South a good fall of migrants had appeared. Stithians produced 30+ Swallow feeding, singing Willow Warbler and Chiff Chaff. A lone Teal was hanging on. Over to Pendarves Lake and more Swallow were feeding over the water with my first Sand Martin for that location.

Having left the mists of Saturday behind a quick nesting session at Stithians in the morning on Sunday brought little. A Dunnock flew out from behind a gorse bush acting suspiciously on some bramble. With a quick glimpse of something else moving i realised he was watching the female feeding off the nest. Unfortunately when i was on the right side of the gorse ready to search i decided against it - 4ft bramble isn't my idea of fun.

After lunch it was over to Hells Mouth where the wind was so strong the telescope made Cormorant viewing very difficult, too difficult to be honest. A check of a freshly built Raven nest in a lovely sheltered spot gave a 45 minute wait only to find that he/she was incubating sheep's wool! At least i know there should be eggs there this weekend.

Cycling past Stithians this morning on my way to work gave the first singing Sedge Warbler there so it is getting better. First nest box round this Friday after work.

Boxes galore

The weather hasn't changed, still cold and miserable. The reservoir is still silent as I found out this morning whilst erecting the final two nest boxes.

Friday evening I wandered down the road to a couple of houses nr the woods hoping to gain permission to erect nest boxes this week and then later in the year for the next season. The first house I knocked on presented with me an old lady. Hmm I thought. Anyway, after explaining who I was, what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it the lady agreed to let me put boxes up in her small woodland over the weekend. I showed her an NRS leaflet to which she replied - "ahh, the BTO. I counted the local Rookeries for them years ago, must have been around the mid 70's." Wow, meeting some-one who took part in the 1975 Rookery Census is impressive because reading the annual County Bird report for 1975 and 1976 take up in Cornwall was abysmal with only 30 people surveying. A follow up county survey in 1976 didn't fare much better with only 100 people taking part from a bird club membership of 1000. Mrs Harvey's area at the time consisted of 50 nests. Today it consists of nothing. Five minutes up the road Stennack Wood consisted of 20 nests, once again nothing today. There is a small colony of 11 nests in Troon but the decline is evident.

Over the road and Mr and Mrs Piper have allowed me to put boxes up in the section of wood that they own. Reckon they'll be somewhere between 30-50 boxes when I've finished, ranging from Tits to Nuthatch and Woodpeckers.

Yesterday over at Hells Mouth the Cormorant chicks have begun to hatch with one nest containing two young and one egg and another nest containing at least one chick with the other contents unknown. Two nests still contain the full clutch of four eggs and one nest has been dismantled again for the second time. From four Raven sites only one is in use at the moment and no sign of any nesting activity from the resident Raptor's. Three Shag's on eggs, the rest still standing on empty nests.

Never assume

I didn't actually post last week for a good reason. The reservoir was covered in a damp mist suppressing any nest recording. Only thing of note was the Black Redstart that appeared in my garden leaving just as quick as it came.

Today at Stithians there was a lull in the recent weather. Light Easterly wind but still cold. Hardly a thing singing. In approx 2 miles of walking my total of singing birds amounted to 1 x Dunnock, 2 x Chaffinch, 1 x Reed Bunting. Plenty of feeding Chiff Chaff over the waters edge but no sign of any nesting activity from anything.

A try over at Hells Mouth gave mixed results. Upon arrival my blood was boiling when I saw the Coastguard on a training exercise over the cliff face right where the Fulmar sit. All of them flushed. Funny how the only time I see them train in this very public beauty spot is on sunny Bank Holiday weekends when they are guaranteed an audience. This time they brought the Police and RNLI out for a jolly as well. The Cormorants are now fully clutched with four on four and two on a small clutch of three. One nest still empty and a new one being built. Two Shag now on eggs, one on a full clutch of three and one on two. A small walk down the path and a new Raven nest was found, fully built but not yet in use.

Oh yes, I said never assume. A couple of hours after I got home Daniel rang to say some-one had committed suicide at Hells Mouth!

GS Wood's take up residence?

Had to go into work for a couple of hours this morning but out in time to get the last of my House Sparrow boxes ready, sort out repairs to two Tit boxes and check my Great Spotted Woodpecker box before lunch. A box was all but wrecked last season when a deep Great Tit box found itself being used by GS Wood's that scraped all the sides and floor to wafer thin thickness to create it's nest. Replacement box was put up this time with a 51mm hole, 12" depth and packed to the lid with a wood  chip product called Easibed. The wife uses it for her rabbits. Anyway, a quick check of the box today after hearing drumming yesterday  and 75% of the bedding has been thrown out so here's hoping.

Over at Hells Mouth and two Cormorant's on 4 eggs, two on 3 eggs, one on 2 eggs and one empty nest. Still no sign of the Raven re-using their nest on the islet in Hodder Cove. Fulmar numbered 90 and all Shag nests are still empty.

Hits and misses of Garden Birdwatch

I hate going to work. 40hrs a week Mon-Fri is a chore and a bore. I spend time every day looking at the weather forecast for the weekends deciding what to do. Weekends cant come round quick enough

The forecast for today has been crap all week however, upon waking up, it was sunny, no wind and looking good. An hour of garden birdwatching brought my first Goldcrest for the garden with something else flying across and landing in a bush in next door's garden - I had just missed recording my first Chiff Chaff for the garden.

Down to the reservoir and a walk around the wet woodland area was first up looking for Long-tailed Tit activity in the gorse. Soon as I got there in came the heavy sleet. Cleared up for half an hour but no Long-tailed Tits. A few Chiff Chaff though so obviously a recent fall. With the showers getting more frequent and heavier it was time to call it a day and it was only 9.30am

Funnily enough not long after getting home a pair of Coal Tit appeared in the garden, only my second ever garden record.

Eggs at last

The day started with a bit of time watching the feeders down on the patch deciding whether to finish them this weekend or keep it going for one more week thinking of the cold snap that is forecast for Monday. The feeders were quiet with only 15 Chaffinch, no Brambling etc. The Long-tailed Duck has gone from the reservoir as things move out whilst conditions remain favourable. I'm still undecided to be honest what to do with the feeders. A walk around looking for Long-tailed Tit building brought nothing although two Carrion Crow were seen building. One should be gettable, the other I think looks as though it's the wrong side of the fence on private land.

It was then over to Hells Mouth where things are getting better - A pair of Kestrel on territory, a Raven sitting on a nest that I cannot see into properly for an egg count, 70 Fulmar on their ledges and - 3 Cormorants sitting. One nest containing three eggs, one containing two and one containing one. It's about time considering Cormorant eggs in Looe and Plymouth only 60 miles away are now hatching.

Also driving around I have seen a Magpie carrying material and a pair of Jackdaw placing sticks into some-ones chimney.

Tomorrow is my last WeBS count until September then it's nest recording all the way......

The Weekend

Saturday started off by trying to nail the three Brambling that have been sighted on my feeding station down at the reservoir. It didn't take too long for the first to appear with the second one shortly afterwards. A 30-45 minute wait finally produced what I didn't think I was going to get - the third one. A nice surprise came just before I left in the shape of a pair of Collared Dove. The station is running for it's fourth season now and this is the first known sighting of this species.

Over to Hells Mouth in the afternoon very hopeful that the Cormorants would have started laying - unfortunately not. Incredible to think that Cormorants 60 miles up the road are not only on full clutches but are almost ready to hatch. A Raven was seen nest building but still no records here either as the site can be seen through a telescope from half a mile away but no close up view of nest contents can be had due to angle and the overhang in the cliff face.

Another visit to Hells Mouth today and still no eggs......

Did find another small Shag colony though, I'll check this out properly next weekend when I have more time.

Tantalisingly close

This morning was one of those lovely mornings with no wind, clean crisp air. On my way to work, set against the red sky of a rising sun a Kestrel hovered hunting its first meal of the day. Topping up the feeders at the patch listening to the birds singing re-iterated just why I have the urge to retire as early as I possibly can to enjoy many many more of these moments.

The weekend saw a check of the sea bird colony at Hells Mouth. The Cormorants are now surely only days away from laying. A fifth nest has appeared, two others now look as though they are fully built. The Shag are now sitting comfortably on their nests rather than standing although eggs are probably still two weeks away yet. It felt strange watching both species bringing in nest material whilst it snowed heavily. Luckily the snow was only in for a few minutes.

On the patch at Stithians and a 3rd Great Crested Grebe has turned up. 3 pairs existed last year but only two pairs bred. No other signs of activity although in the cold NE wind that doesnt surprise me at all.

Below are two images of Hells Mouth. The first shows the area used by the Cormorant year on year and the second shows the current Cormorant territories in red with Shag in white. A completed image will be posted later in the year. The top of the ridge used by the Cormorant is around 4ft wide with the South West Coast path affording a splendid viewing opportunity without causing disturbance.

Quiet weekend

Yesterday i undertook a short walk on the reservoir's East side looking for singing birds, any signs of early nesting  by Long-tailed Tit etc. Pretty much drew a blank. A few Chaffinch singing, couple of Reed Bunting and that was about it. A single Great Crested Grebe is now a pair so these will provide great interest. The reservoir is currently full unlike last year when their nests were washed out time after time by rising water levels.

A trip this afternoon to Hells Mouth and nothing has changed with the Cormorant - still four nests under construction. No sign of Raven at all and  a huge drop in Fulmar numbers. Ranging from 75 to 88 all year, now numbering 28 this afternoon. Possible they may have been feeding, guess I'll have a better idea next weekend.