Wintering in southern Africa. Wheatears have one of the longest migration routes of any songbird.
Birds spotted in the UK are summer visitors and passage migrants. Some birds do breed in the UK these are mainly found in western and northern Britain and western Ireland, although smaller numbers do breed in southern and eastern England.
This bird is a female I spotted today at Calshot point Hampshire this morning.
The Dartford Warbler is found in a few localised places in the UK. Back in early1960’s following servere winters Dartford warblers numbers crashed and only10 pairs remained (They only eat insects and do not migrate for the winter, which means it is vulnerable to cold weather and prolonged snow cover ). On a positive note today, there are about 3,200 pairs nesting.
They are dependent on dry heath habitats, particularly on gorse in good condition. It is a ground-nesting bird, preferring to breed under the protective cover of dense heather or compact gorse. It makes a grassy, cup-shaped nest, in which it lays three to five eggs. It can have up to three broods from April to July.
A bird I only saw once in my childhood today I know of 4 places where they are doing well close to my home.
Wordless Wednesday
Some small birds spotted on a walk in the New Forest yesterday. Walking on marked paths/trails to avoid disturbing ground-nesting Curlew and Lapwings. Much of the New forest is Heath and Moor and an important habitat for these ground-nesting birds.
Distant and high flying Skylarks were fairly abundant on my walk.
The flowering Gorse bushes provided some good spots for the Rare Dartford Warbler. They nest deep in these bushes and the thorns give the nests vicious and effective protection from praditors.
Some of these birds seemed to be collecting cobwebs I presume for glue for their nests.
Others were collecting insects so I think there must be some nearby nests.
Dunnock’s caught me out a couple of times pretending to be a Dartford Warbler until I got a bit closer!
Also spotted a Male Chaffinch.
I found these duck eggs which had been predated probably by a crow or a magpie a fair distance from any pond or river.
As well as bird insects are starting to appear.
The round-leaved sundew a heathland plant found in the New Forest has round leaves which have sticky, ‘dew’-covered tendrils that tempt onto it unsuspecting insects as prey. The ‘dew’ is very sticky, trapping the insect; the sundew’s tendrils detect the presence of its stuck prey and curl inwards to engulf it. After a while, the whole leaf wraps around the insect which is digested. The acidic habitats the round-leaved sundew lives in don’t provide enough nutrients, so it has evolved this carnivorous way of life to supplement its diet.
Today I spotted this year’s 1st cygnets – only a few days old. Three youngsters doing well.
Often heard singing deep in reedbeds, this morning I got a good view of this medium-sized Warbler. This is a bird of the reedbeds and wetlands When spotted singing they are often perched on reeds or in willow bushes.
Mallard with ducklings Titchfield Haven.
The terns are back in town. Common Terns have arrived back at Meon Shore on the Solent and will be heading into Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve soon to nest.
Red Kites in the Brecon Beacons- A success story. 35 years ago I saw my 1st Red Kite they were on the brink at that time and about only 25 pairs were in a stronghold in the Brecon Beacons. Over the years their numbers have increased and their range increased. It has now been successfully re-introduced to England and Scotland. It is estimated that there are now 4600 pairs in the UK, While we were on our recent campervan trip to Mid-Wales we visited a Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm near Rhayader.
The farm became an official Kite Feeding Station in the winter of 1992/93 following a request from the RSPB. Today it welcomes many visitors for a daily feeding session where up to 600 birds come to feed.
The Skylark is a LBB {a little brown bird}. It is a streaky brown colour with a small crest, which can be raised when the bird is excited or alarmed and a white-sided tail. It can fly, vertically up in the air. Often you can hear them high above fields singing their hearts out. When you locate it , it is often just a tidny speck up in the sky – it is a bird you hear before you see it.
In the Brecon Beacons in Mid Wales, I spotted this Skylark on the ground.Thenfirst time I was able to photograph one. They are ground-nesting birds and this is one of the reasons why their numbers have dramatically decreased in recent years and are now on the “Red List”.
Continued Reflections from my World. 