It’s been a difficult breeding season in the wood this year especially for blue tits and great tits probably because of the cold spell at the end of April and early May. Lots of desertions and low fledging rates have meant far fewer fledglings than usual. Only 105 blue tits fledged compared with 273 last year and over 200 every year previously for the last 6 years. Fledging rate was only 44% compared with around 70% normally. Unlike 2102 when we also had a cold snap and there were lots second broods this year there was only one with two fledglings still in the nest on July 1st.

Great tits did no better: only 30 fledglings compared with 105 last year which was amazingly good, the usual is around 70. Fledging rate was even lower than the blue tits: only 38% compared with 94% last year.

Pied flycatchers fared better with 7 nests compared with an average of 4 the last few years. They started breeding a week later than usual so missed the cold spell. Nevertheless fledging rate was lower than usual, 68% compared with 90% normally (only 70% last year) probably as a result of scarcity of food. Certainly the shredding of the silver birches by caterpillars has been markedly absent this year. Still, 32 fledglings isn’t a bad result and each one was ringed so it’ll be interesting to see if they come back next year.

The highlight of the spring was the tawny owls which again outwitted the mandarin ducks for dominance of the favourite box. Two chicks fledged, one nearly a week before the other such was the difference in size. The big one let me take a picture and I also managed to get a picture of mum as I surprised her when she was dozing. For once I had camera at hand and managed to snap her just before she took off.

At the beginning of our walk in May we stood on Froggatt Bridge and watched
a grey wagtail with nesting material in its beak. It was reluctant to show
us its nest site and now I know why. A month later I was standing in the
same place watching the same grey wagtail with food in its beak when a
neighbour of mine came along and asked me what I was looking at. I showed
him the wagtail and I said I thought the nest was somewhere on the bridge
probably on the parapet that runs along the bridge about three feet under
the wall that we were leaning on. As I said this I looked over and saw
immediately beneath us three fledglings sat cosily in a nest behind a stand
of ragwort growing out of the parapet. Both parents are still feeding the
youngsters as I write this on June 26th. They haven’t moved despite a stream
of people crossing the bridge and no doubt stopping right above them to
admire the view completely oblivious of the family drama a few feet below
them.

Brian Shaw

Things have got off to a flying start in the wood this spring. A mistle thrush has been sitting on a nest for nearly two weeks in a fork in a sycamore tree that I had hacked about during the winter in an attempt to kill it with a view to providing dead wood for a woodpecker. Obviously the thrush hasn’t read my master plan. And a robin has rather perversely built a nest on the ground only a few feet from a footpath which the highland cattle churn up with their big feet while what would appear to be a much safer option, namely an open fronted box on an ivy covered tree just a few meters away has been spurned. Robins always seem to nest on the ground round here – and there are plenty of robins so they must know what they’re doing.  Not more than 20 meters away a long tailed tit has nested in the same gorse bush as last year when it fell victim to the snow. No such problems this year (hopefully).

The big story however is the ‘owl’ box. Last year a pair of mandarin ducks raised eight ducklings in it. This year they returned but a quick pic on April 3rd showed that things weren’t quite as simple as we imagined: three tawny owl eggs and two mandarin duck eggs. We assumed the owl had laid first and the ducks had taken over. A few days ago (10^th) however the owl was seen leaving the box and two days later the ducks were loitering with intent (photo). What’s going on! If only I’d bought that camera I saw at the Carsington Water bird shop I’d know. What a great saga it could be for Spring Watch. Anyway I’ll keep you posted.  Oh yes, and the first pied flycatcher returned on April 11^th, the earliest I can remember.

Brian Shaw

Mary and Mike were on the first shift and arrived in mist at 06.50.

Early morning is probably the best time as everything starts to stir.  They started with Raven, 2 juv Sparrowhawks being harassed by magpies, Kestrel and a Buzzard.  Approx 200+ Starlings flying off.  Plus of course the usual stuff.

Judith and myself arrived at 9am and saw a nice flock of around 30 Meadow pipits and a couple of Wheatear on the bund but quite a lot of coming and going

Derek was next to arrive heard the meadow pipits in the field and had a stonechat near to the hide.  A bit of excitement as 6 mallard took to the air as a sparrowhawk buzzed overhead then flew off over the lagoon not catching anything.  On the way back to the car he saw 3 Curlew.

I arrived mid afternoon and Stuart soon after.  Late afternoon/early evening is always very good too.  We were kept quite busy finding what was around on the lagoons and flying over. From around 6pm the starlings first and then the gulls started coming in, first in small flocks building up to at least 1000 starlings dropping in the reeds to roost (after a few spectacular displays) by 7.35pm

We were able to count the gulls until just after 7pm but with being distracted by the starlings gathering and displaying we looked at the gulls on the water and we were only able to estimate numbers!   The last estimate before we left, of those on the water in front of the hide was: LBBG’s:C600 and BHG’s: C400.  There was also a field full of gulls at the far side that had settled there and not included in this count.

Going back over the field, on the lagoon near the gate we were able to do a rough count of another 200+ LBBG’s AND 250+BHG’s roosting there – altogether, so at least 1500+ Gulls altogether.

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7 Ravens flying over my garden (Bakewell) mid-morning 29th August. Lots of noise and some aerobatics. Possibly adults pushing this years young out of their territory?
Alan Gladwin

An Osprey seen with a fish over the river at Haddon on Tuesday 20th August (per Rod Askew) and a Roe deer seen at Meadow Place Farm (also per Rod Askew) on the same date.
As far as I am aware this is a new location for Roe deer.

from Alan Gladwin

It’s been an exciting year in my bit of woodland on Froggatt Edge despite a slow start as a result of the late spring. Usually a pair of tawny owls would have taken up one of the owl boxes by mid March but this year a pair of mandarin ducks took over.  A non birding neighbour who lives next to the wood called me at the end of April to say there was a colourful duck sitting in a tree by the box. I immediately rushed up with the camera and got close enough to get a reasonable photo. The same neighbour, at the end of May, said he hadn’t seen any activity for a while so I climbed up and stuck the camera in the box, one handed, and clicked. The result was a perfect picture of the female sitting on her eggs. It transpired there were 10 of them. Later in June I cleared the box and found lots of egg shells and two infertile eggs.  The wood is a kilometre from the river Derwent, across a main road, so I wondered how the ducklings had fared. No worries it would seem: I spotted the duck and eight ducklings on the river a couple of weeks later, of course I could be adding two and two and getting eight but I like to think they were mine..

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It was a reasonable year for pied flycatchers, one pair in the wood fledged 7 young and four pairs in total from boxes which I look after. Spotted flycatchers nested for the first time, only 10 meters from the pied flycatchers, but unfortunately the young were predated by a jay. The last great tit fledged on July 16^th, a very late date.

Perhaps the most unusual occurrence was an immature crossbill which spent a few days at the end of June hanging off the bird feeder right in front the shed. Very tame it was too: here it is sharing the feeder with a siskin.

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Right now the swallows are congregating on the wires outside my house, many of them young birds which is encouraging: the warm summer seems to have paid dividends.