Viewing entries tagged
Autumn

Autumn Migration

I can’t help but feel the tension this time of year, as it’s a race for many bird species, to complete their breeding task and start to make their way south again for the winter. Some of my Nightjar are either during their second clutch, or are thinking about starting one, but they really want to get a move on, otherwise they risk the unpredictable weather of autumn. Pair number 1 are still roosting with their first clutch of chicks, but pair number 2 have finally kicked out the kids and look to be getting cosy again. I know this because she (Pebbles) is starting to roost with Rocky again at his favourite roost site, which I predict is where she is going to lay her second clutch. As a result he’s started to sing a little more, which has spurred on more territorial behaviour from neighbouring Male Midnight, who wasn’t on his usual log today. I suspect he’s on the edge of his territory, to make sure that Rocky doesn’t get any bright ideas and move in on his girl (which does happen quite often with Nightjar).

Their movements, roost site choices and behaviour all makes sense, the more you get to know these birds. Whilst it might appear random to us at first, there’s always a reason for their choice of roost and the more I’ve learned, the more I realise that their requirements are particular, but quite simple. So simple in-fact that there are things we can do, to ensure their breeding habitat stays in suitable condition, for as long as possible. It’s something I intend on discussing with NRW, Woodland Trust and any other land owners that happen to have breeding Nightjar, as their success rate is pretty low, at just 20%, but we can increase their chances that with some careful land management plans.

Nocmig

Finally, Autumn migration is picking up, and I’ve started to get more waders on my Nocmig recordings. I share this experience with close friend Craig Constance, who is also recording at his home, and despite living just a town away from each-other, we are both getting very different results so far. Just this week Craig has managed to get a Quail!, Green Sandpiper and a steady movement of Tree Pipit. Being on the canal, I seem to be getting quite a number of Common Sandpiper so far, but even with the canal, anything could happen, no matter where you live. Always expect the unexpected!

We’ve both been keeping our ears open for key species, Quail was one of the species that we hoped to pick up, so for Craig to get one already, was quite exciting! Wood Sandpiper was also on our list of species to look out for, and before peak has even arrived, there it was! My first Wood Sandpiper, and the classic call too, so no mistaking this for anything else. Who would have thought, over Sebastopol we’d be getting such a variety of species, some of which are quite the rarity. We usually get one or two on the coast, especially picked up at Goldcliff, and now I’ve heard one from my Garden, i’m eager to go and see one on the flesh, so I’m hoping we do find one soon. We do seem to be getting good numbers in the Uk this autumn so it’s just a matter of time.

There isn’t much left singing now, so I was particularly happy to hear two Male Greenfinch in full song on the Gwent Levels this week. Most certainly not a common sound anymore due to declining numbers. Such a pretty song too, which has been on my wish-list to record for quite some time.
The only birds that are still singing, are birds that are second (or third) clutching. You’ll probably notice that Wood Pigeons are quite vocal again too, and I’ve even seen some carrying twigs to build a second nest, or repair the first one.

The only other singers on the levels right now are random Wren’s, Cetti’s, Linnet and Goldfinch, but as you can hear below, the Linnets aren’t giving it their full effort anymore.

The Dawn chorus has been pretty poor the last couple of weeks and I’m not sure if it’s just the winter Robin song creeping in as autumn approaches, or whether it’s birds going for a second clutch, but either way, it’s nice to hear some birds singing in the morning again.

I’ll leave you with a few more photos, firstly of Midnight who’s still roosting on his favourite log. He’s the only Male that has stayed with the female throughout the entire incubation period, which I think is a reaction to the fact that they failed their first clutch due to predation. He’s keeping a close eye on her, and in doing so, gives her an early warning system should another predator come lurking. Two sets of eyes are better than one after-all.

Autumn Migration

To be fair, we haven’t had a bad Autumn so far with regard to the variety of migratory birds turning up. The usual Redwing, Fieldfare and Brambling were a little later than usual but in the last two weeks, with temps and weather deteriorating, we’ve just started to get some sizable flocks coming through. We also had a surprise visit on the Blorenge mountain in Blaenavon in the form of this beautiful male Snow Bunting. Hard to believe this male was totally black and white in it’s breeding plumage but as they move off the snow-covered mountains from anywhere between Scotland to Alaska, they usually end up wintering in areas where there isn’t any snow, so they actually darken their overall plumage to help keep them camouflaged to their surroundings. We usually get one or two arriving this time of year, often picked up on coastal paths, especially during cold winters where they’re pushed further south. If you got to see the bird yourself, you would have seen how tame the bird was around people. It would literally walk straight up to you and feed around your feet: You tend to find birds that are from these high altitudes or harsh environments, that they aren’t scared of people, after all, they very rarely encounter people, therefore haven’t learned to fear us.
As you can see, some of the photo’s are in the actual car park! I included a picture of my car wheel as the background to give you a sense of place.

I’m almost done with my Mimicking Firecrest writeup. It’s taken some time to accumulate my data recordings into anything conclusive but I realise now that It’s not always possible to draw conclusions from one season so I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. I have found a few more mimicking species this week though, this time in the form of a Blue Tit, which was following a Long-tailed Tit flock around, as most small birds do this time of year for security. This mimic makes a lot more sense to me, as in order to keep up with a Long-tailed Tit flock, which are constantly on the move, you either need the same high energy, or you need a tactic to slow them down, which is exactly what I believe this bird is doing. Long-tailed Tit families are loyal to each other and won’t leave a man behind. They ensure this by constantly communicating with each other to ensure they don’t stray away too far from each other and it’s this behaviour that I believe the Blue Tit is exploiting. By mimicking the LTT call, whether the Long-tailed Tits think it’s one of their own or not, they will come to investigate, which is exactly what happened in the middle of this recording where a single call made was actually a LTT. See if you can pick out which one is the real LTT, if you can’t, then the Blue Tit has done a good job!

Calm Before The Storm

Summer is coming to a close with wet and windy breaking up whats left of those long drawn out days. It’s probably a little early to talk about autumn, but for me, it feels so far away from spring already. I was reminded of this while watching one of my Nightjar chicks fledging this week, both of which are nowhere to be found now, so I suspect they’ve travelled to more suitable feeding grounds while preparing for the big fly back to Africa!. Here’s a pic of the Chick before fledging. I think their first clutch failed, or they were just very late breeding this year. The parents are the two birds photographed in my last blog here. Look how short his/her bill is! Pretty adorable.

While we’re on Migration. I was sent this by my friend Craig last week. For those that wonder how these birds migrate over vast oceans, well, sometimes they do need a rest! And what better way todo that than on a big quiet ship deck? Check these birds out! Some really rare stuff too but the best by far is at the end.

Tomorrow we’re due for another storm, and today you could feel the calm before the storm as it was beautiful and really low wind! It’s not very often that I can take the windshield off around the coastline but conditions were perfect today so I tried to capture a Long-winged Conehead with the rising ride in the background.
As our Coneheads reach to almost the limitations of our hearing range, I’ve slowed the recording down slightly so you can appreciate the quality more but it’s not too slow that you can’t hear the sea background.

Long-wined Conehead

Rainy Day at Wentwood Forest

Spent a dark hour at Wentwood today. Plenty of Crossbill, Redwing, Fieldfare and the odd Brambling within fairly large Chaffinch flocks. I usually time my visits to Wentwood for autumn / winter with the intent to find a Great Grey Shrike. No luck today, so my attention went to the forest floor, where I found lots of Deer Signs, Fungi and autumn colours to keep me happy.

Colour

If you didn't know, I am actually colourblind. Colourblindness isn't what most people expect though, I can see colour, I'm just limited with certain shades of particular colours. For me Autumn is hard to appreciate, not just because everything gets colder and wetter but because I can't really appreciate the full spectrum of colour that everyone has come to love as the trees change over. I lack the ability to see Red, this includes colours that include Red in their spectrum so most colours wouldn't look the same to me as everyone else. Not only do I lack Red, I am overly sensitive to Yellows, Greens and Oranges, so that makes it ever harder for me in a sea of green. Once the leaves start turning yellow, that is when I start to appreciate the colours but by then its not really autumn anymore. 

I've mentioned this because the picture below, for me takes a way a lot of distraction for me. Simplifying this photo of kingfisher taken in the summer has actually made me appreciated the detail more. I'm going to call this the 'neon' project. I'll hopefully be able to do this same editing technique on some more of my colourful photographs and strip the photos down to the most vibrant colours only. Will be an interesting project which may not be for everyone, but I like it. 

(Plus I've been ill for a while and needed to do something..)

Coastal Migration

Autumn/Winter Migration is hot topic right now in the Uk because Birds that I've already mentioned in previous blogs like Redwing, Fieldfare and Brambling have all come from up north from countries like Scandinavia. 

Birds don't always migrate across the sea though as some of our native breeding birds remain in the Uk but still move south or to the coast-line. This is called local migration and for some birds like Redpoll, local migration is really important. On our very own coastline of the Gwent Levels, you can expect to see a lot more Redpoll turning up to feed on various seeds that autumn provides in our coastal plants. Redpoll will often stick in flocks this time of year (like many other species) and throughout winter, the seeds in which they seek are often in open areas which exposes them to predators like the Sparrowhawk. 

Stonechat's are another species that end up in random places along the coast and despite some birds actually breeding along the coast line in spring, most have travelled from our uplands. 

Moving down in altitude can make all the difference to survive our cold winters. 


Autumn/Winter Projects

This Autumn/winter I have a few target species that I'd like to get photographs of and also record the sound of. Other than the typical winter Robin singing, there are a few spectacles that bring incredible sound opportunities: 1 of which is the Starling Murmuration. That spectacle isn't just incredible to watch but it's incredible to listen to! You can hear the movement of the flock as they swoop together as one unit and when they land, thousands of Starlings gather in a very small area and that is well worth listening to as they communicate with each other in complete darkness!. 

My photography list is reasonably short this winter but that means I can be more productive with my time. 1 species on that list isn't actually a bird, but a Red Squirrel!. I've never seen one before so just seeing them will make my winter better but I have already arranged a trip out with a few other professional photographers NEXT WEEK! (Weather permitting) so hopefully you'll see some half decent shots of Red Squirrels here in a couple weeks time.