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fairweather
16 May 2024 08:38:24

Exciting news today for me. I have 3 little ponds  - one in the front garden and two on the back lawn. I've been watching the dragonfly nymphs climb the reeds and keep finding empty cases but I've not seen a dragonfly emerge yet. There's still quite a few in the pond and as I was watching them one surfaced and I thought wow that was quick. I looked again and saw it was a newt! I've been waiting for an amphibian of some kind for two years since I put these ponds in and finally one has arrived

We used to get frogs in the old pond at the top of the garden (which was so silted up I converted it into a bog garden last year) but I haven't seen a frog or toad in the garden for years which I assume is because of the cats that visit or the foxes who seem to use our garden as one of their homes.

And until today, never a newt. So a good day 😀

Originally Posted by: Northern Sky 


That's great. Although I have to tell you that we got the transition from frogs to newts but from a breeding point of view newts seem to be dominant. The frogs are still spawning in March but the newts are eating all of the spawn so no new tadpoles or subsequent frogs.
S.Essex, 42m ASL
fairweather
16 May 2024 08:52:49
Something's up.😞 The blue tits have failed for the third year in a row. Ten eggs were laid in our cam nest box and 8 hatched just before May Bank Holiday. The cold and wet bank holiday caused 4 to perish overnight, or at least I assumed at the time that was the reason. The male was either predated or went AWOL leaving the female to feed the young. This wouldn't normally be an issue but hard as she was working she rarely seemed to return with fat juicy caterpillars. tried getting her to get mini mealworms from various feeders but generally she either ignored them or Sparrows or Robins got them all first. A further one succumbed and their growth and development seemed slow as it was now ten days since they hatched. Yesterday morning I awoke to find the last three were dead and just a Bluebottle left in the box. 😪
I'm sure this is due to malnutrition. The box was successful to a greater or lesser extent with at least some fledging for many years previous to the last three. If anything this year, except for the Bank Holiday Monday the weather has been pretty good, with just a bit of light rain, mainly at night and mild night temperatures. Anyway they will have coped with this for thousands of years. The gardens are more mature than they were 15 years ago and next door's, being empty for 4 years has completely rewilded. My only conclusion is that there are less moth caterpillars about or we have reached a tipping point with the climate where they are now so out of synch that there is not enough food. 
Any thoughts and how are yours doing?
S.Essex, 42m ASL
tierradelfuego
16 May 2024 12:51:37
That's not good to hear, we seem to be fine here with our Blue Tits and in reality the only year we had a number die was a very hot year when they had 12 in the nest, so the odds weren't great anyway. Not sure on thoughts though apart from food, seems strange to be 3 years in a row. Do you think there is good food around, e.g. do you see leaves eaten in the garden or on hedges with neighbours?

We are probably lucky living in a rural location outside a village as we walk out into woods and common land, so there is food galore I think, hundreds of caterpillars hanging off the oaks.

One of our cam boxes has 6 chicks which I reckon are a day or two away from fledging, the other box is either 5 or 6 but probably a good week at least behind.

We also have an apple tree with a big bow fallen off resulting in a sizeable hole in the trunk (eventually the tree will die I reckon) and I'm not sure if it was because I stopped feeding early this year (this is the tree with our feeders on) but for the first time we have a Great Tit nesting in the hole in the tree.
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
fairweather
16 May 2024 18:57:40

That's not good to hear, we seem to be fine here with our Blue Tits and in reality the only year we had a number die was a very hot year when they had 12 in the nest, so the odds weren't great anyway. Not sure on thoughts though apart from food, seems strange to be 3 years in a row. Do you think there is good food around, e.g. do you see leaves eaten in the garden or on hedges with neighbours?

We are probably lucky living in a rural location outside a village as we walk out into woods and common land, so there is food galore I think, hundreds of caterpillars hanging off the oaks.

One of our cam boxes has 6 chicks which I reckon are a day or two away from fledging, the other box is either 5 or 6 but probably a good week at least behind.

We also have an apple tree with a big bow fallen off resulting in a sizeable hole in the trunk (eventually the tree will die I reckon) and I'm not sure if it was because I stopped feeding early this year (this is the tree with our feeders on) but for the first time we have a Great Tit nesting in the hole in the tree.

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 


Good to hear so hopefully it's a localised thing. We are in a more urbanised area whilst although we have a lot of green areas (and gardens are 90 ft back to back so our back gardens are basically 150m by 50m along our road) there has been an oak tree cut down four doors along and more idiots with plastic grass and paved rear gardens. There is more scrub and bushes due to neglect but I think lack of oaks is a problem. We have a very large Silver Birch tree in our garden which used to have a lot of caterpillars but there have been none this year.
S.Essex, 42m ASL
Roger Parsons
18 May 2024 16:17:03
Sitting in the garden at noon today recovering from excessive gardening we saw 2 swifts and a cuckoo fly over.
"Great Success!" 😁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r13riaRKGo0 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
Roger Parsons
20 May 2024 14:36:47
For those of you who would like the 60 Bird list from our Wash Cruise last Friday 18th May, see:
https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/news-blogs/blog/60-bird-species-seen-on-17-5-2024-cruise/ 
I counted 100 seals basking too.
Cruise details if you are ever this way...
https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/ 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+2
Windy Willow
20 May 2024 16:26:17

For those of you who would like the 60 Bird list from our Wash Cruise last Friday 18th May, see:
https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/news-blogs/blog/60-bird-species-seen-on-17-5-2024-cruise/ 
I counted 100 seals basking too.
Cruise details if you are ever this way...
https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/ 
 

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 

Handy to know as it's looking like it's going to be "my neck of the woods" territory, very soon, so won't be that far to go for a day out 😁
South Holland, Lincs 5m/16ft ASL

Don't feed the Trolls!! When starved of attention they return to their dark caves or the dark recesses of bridges and will turn back to stone, silent again!
Roger Parsons
20 May 2024 16:45:02

Handy to know as it's looking like it's going to be "my neck of the woods" territory, very soon, so won't be that far to go for a day out 😁

Originally Posted by: Windy Willow 

That's good news. I like Boston but it's a sort of Baltic wild west now. We lived near Coningsby in Wildmore fen for 35 years and moved to Bardney for our dotage. More civilised! If you want to pick my brains, feel free.
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
Windy Willow
20 May 2024 18:30:04

That's good news. I like Boston but it's a sort of Baltic wild west now. We lived near Coningsby in Wildmore fen for 35 years and moved to Bardney for our dotage. More civilised! If you want to pick my brains, feel free.

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 

We'll be in the South Holland District, in a very small village, so plenty of wildlife, birds and dark, night skies. It's going to be a vast change from the hustle and bustle. Also thank you for the offer of the brain picking 😄
South Holland, Lincs 5m/16ft ASL

Don't feed the Trolls!! When starved of attention they return to their dark caves or the dark recesses of bridges and will turn back to stone, silent again!
Roger Parsons
20 May 2024 19:22:29

We'll be in the South Holland District, in a very small village, so plenty of wildlife, birds and dark, night skies. It's going to be a vast change from the hustle and bustle. Also thank you for the offer of the brain picking 😄

Originally Posted by: Windy Willow 

👍 I had an RE teacher from Donington, Rev John Drinkall. His dad had a shop in a row of houses owned by the Pickups, the Glasses and the Drinkalls! 🤣 John is buried in Lincoln Cathedral. I'll send you a PM.
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
tierradelfuego
23 May 2024 13:19:00
Our first set of Blue Tits have fledged and left the nest, the second set look at max a week away, so another dozen to add to the local population, which is thriving. The Great Tits have also gone, and the Robin in our Jasminoides is busily feeding.

One thing I have really noticed this year is the cuckoo... not exactly my sound of the summer - I prefer hearing the swallows and swifts personally, but it has been worrying that in many recent years there have been at max half a dozen occasions when I have heard one and rarely from the house. This year it has been pretty much every day since the 23rd April and still going strong.

Anyone else heard more this year?
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
Roger Parsons
23 May 2024 13:44:37

Our first set of Blue Tits have fledged and left the nest, the second set look at max a week away, so another dozen to add to the local population, which is thriving. The Great Tits have also gone, and the Robin in our Jasminoides is busily feeding.

One thing I have really noticed this year is the cuckoo... not exactly my sound of the summer - I prefer hearing the swallows and swifts personally, but it has been worrying that in many recent years there have been at max half a dozen occasions when I have heard one and rarely from the house. This year it has been pretty much every day since the 23rd April and still going strong.

Anyone else heard more this year?

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 

You might find the following links of interest:

Thousands of migrating birds arrive on coast 11/4/2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5n7593jl9o 
BTO Cuckoo satellite tracking project
https://www.bto.org/cuckoos 2024 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
tierradelfuego
24 May 2024 08:24:23

You might find the following links of interest:

Thousands of migrating birds arrive on coast 11/4/2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5n7593jl9o 
BTO Cuckoo satellite tracking project
https://www.bto.org/cuckoos 2024 
 

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 



Thanks Roger, the tracking project looks like an interesting website. As it says on there, and as I understood it, the numbers are down a lot and that's exactly why I found it strange that this year seems to be a reversal of the trend... here at least.
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
+1
Devonian
26 May 2024 10:10:39
A local lad (and BTO trained ringer) has just been around checking our bird nests and nest boxes. We have two swallow nests (as last year, but many less than the eight we have had in the past) one with advanced chicks (they got here v early and have got well ahead). We have loads of house martins, like last year.

But our big news is we have barn owls in our nest box and four eggs 👏. It's amazing to see them as I last saw a barn owl around here at least 40 years ago. What's changed? Our bit of east Dartmoor is less farmed than it was (though only a mile away the reverse is the case), our wildflower meadow and that we no long let our field be cut for silage are possibilities that come to mind.
+2
Roger Parsons
26 May 2024 10:29:21
Looked out of the bedroom window this morning [7am] as a roe deer was running down the main street of the village in a panic. For a moment I thought it was an escaped foal going crackers in traffic. On a walk yesterday 7+ housemartins were collecting mud from, a puddle on "The Viking Way". The Local Barn Owl camera is down so I won't post the link to it until it is working again - but they have 4 chicks, growing fast. Here's some images from it:
https://www.lenpicktrust.org.uk/news/category/lenpicktrust/owlblog/ 

Update: Our chicks have been ringed! 15 June 2024 - Camera is working. Enjoy!
https://www.lenpicktrust.org.uk/owl-project/ 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
NMA
  • NMA
  • Advanced Member
26 May 2024 13:25:10
Good building weather and materials for housemartins this year.
I'm planning to visit the sandmartins in an old gravel pit.
 
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
+1
Roger Parsons
04 June 2024 07:55:50
Four peregrine falcon chicks born at Cathedral 👍
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crggzjpxkjpo 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
Windy Willow
08 June 2024 08:58:20
I've been up close and personal with a family of Goldfinches in my back garden this morning. They've been about for a few days now as they have a very distinct sound, compared to the other usual birds. They were seeking out bugs, I believe, on the Morello Cherry tree. Quite delightful!
South Holland, Lincs 5m/16ft ASL

Don't feed the Trolls!! When starved of attention they return to their dark caves or the dark recesses of bridges and will turn back to stone, silent again!
+1
Roger Parsons
08 June 2024 09:16:13

I've been up close and personal with a family of Goldfinches in my back garden this morning. They've been about for a few days now as they have a very distinct sound, compared to the other usual birds. They were seeking out bugs, I believe, on the Morello Cherry tree. Quite delightful!

Originally Posted by: Windy Willow 

We are just back from a walk in Scotgrove Wood. Full of birdsong, the smell of honeysuckle, the sound of a Roe Deer barking loudly and orchids in flower. Hard to believe this peaceful place was the site of Thor Missiles during the Cold War and before that the base of "The Other Dambusters". Back then local kids, mostly girls, used to "adopt a Lancaster, count it out and, sometimes, count it in again, sometimes not. Hard to imagine...
https://www.visitlincolnshire.com/things-to-do/walking/bardney-short-walk/ 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
12 June 2024 08:13:23
Nicholas Watts, a Lincolnshire farmer known to Roger and others, reports in his latest 'News from the Farm' bulletin that some years back he persuaded the local drainage board to cut only one side of the local ditches alternately each year and that only once. The result has been more reeds, hence more reed warblers, hence more cuckoos which he now hears daily as compared to 40 or 50 years ago when there were none. This year a bittern has turned up.

And the drainage board has saved money!
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
+1
Roger Parsons
12 June 2024 14:06:47

Nicholas Watts, a Lincolnshire farmer known to Roger and others, reports in his latest 'News from the Farm' bulletin that some years back he persuaded the local drainage board to cut only one side of the local ditches alternately each year and that only once. The result has been more reeds, hence more reed warblers, hence more cuckoos which he now hears daily as compared to 40 or 50 years ago when there were none. This year a bittern has turned up.

And the drainage board has saved money!

Originally Posted by: DEW 

Well remembered and perfectly correct.
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
Retron
12 June 2024 17:09:13
I've just pulled the curtains overlooking the patio (as for once it's dull and gloomy) and while I was holding the pull-cord I spotted three birds in a procession across the lawn... a blackbird, and two brown birds with black beaks following closely behind. I carried on watching as the blackbird led the other two around the lawn for a minute or so, then all three flew off to land in an elderberry bush. Looking it up online confirmed what I was thinking - the brown birds were fledgelings and I guess it was dad showing their territory to them!

That follows on from seeing a half dozen or so young starlings perched on the conifer last week, and judging by the quietness in my bedroom the sparrows resident in the eaves have said goodbye to their youngsters too. And while I was using the exercise bike earlier (positioned by the front window of the living room), a blue tit randomly landed on the window sill and stayed there for a few seconds - first time I've seen one in my garden.

It's not just birds visiting, either. I've got a bumble bee nest for the second year in a row, and they've been very busy on the sumac (three or four on some of the cones), as well as the fuschia, which they seem to adore. The former was planted by my mum in the 80s and now extends for 20 feet along one side of the garden, while the fuschia arrived in a large pot after the Kent County Show around 20 years ago... my dad, ever savvy for a bargain, bought one of the large display plants from a car dealership stand (they always sell them off cheaply at the end of the last day). It's now a massive bush, 8 feet high, 6 feet round and absolutely festooned with pink and purple flowers. The bees love it - there have been honey bees on it too, visiting from the hive on the nearby farm.

People may be complaining that it's a few degrees below average right now, but the wildlife doesn't care one iota!

EDIT: A couple of photos I took yesterday.

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/bee1.jpg?a 
UserPostedImage

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/bee2.jpg?a 
UserPostedImage
Leysdown, north Kent
+1
Roger Parsons
16 June 2024 15:28:56

Update on Barn Owls.
Our chicks have been ringed! 15 June 2024 - Camera is working. Enjoy!
https://www.lenpicktrust.org.uk/owl-project/ 

 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
17 June 2024 16:10:02
The Head gardener at West Dean, where I do some voluntary work in the gardens, has over the last couple of years left increasingly large areas of meadow uncut until late in the season.

It's a truism that if you provide the habitat, the appropriate species will turn up - and so they have. This year there are a number of hares sheltering in the long grass. Trouble is, they don't stay in the meadows and eat the grass, but like to vary their diet with the new plantings elsewhere in the Gardens.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
Roger Parsons
22 June 2024 10:52:53
Good walk in the local limewoods today. 25+ White Admirals enjoying the blackberry flowers. Buzzards calling. Perfick.

White Admirals.
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/white-admiral 
Don't forget the Big Butterfly Count - Friday 12th July 2024 and will run until Sunday 4th August.
https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ 

 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830

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