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Neill goes cuckoo (again)

Posted by on May 15, 2007 7:05 PM | 

Cuckoo.jpg

Neill Hunt got down to Marshside this mornin', and captured some damn fine images.....over to the man.....

"Hi J.
Spent a couple of hours down the marsh this A.M resulting in 1 year tick and a Marshside photo tick.
I've decided to start a Marshside Photo List to ease the unrepenting lack of action that we call spring and today Cuckoo takes pride of place as a real "blocker".

Whinchat.jpg

It was on the point being closely followed by every passerine within a mile range.
Also today 1 Whinchat (yeartick) sev. Wheatears, 3 Reed Warblers, loadsa Whitethroats, sev Sedgies + Blackcaps, Chiffys and Willow Warblers on point/golf course, 119 Dunlin (Nels) 17 Ringed Plover. 1 Curlew Sand and all the usual stuff.

Whitethroat.jpg
2 pairs of Avo's now have young."

Thanks Neill.
Me?
I've gone Green and am getting the train into the city early doors each day - lots of Whitethroats on the railside wires between Formby and Hightown at high speed, and er, that's about it.
Saw a nice Peregrine circling over Lime Street yesterday though, which was nice.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies....
PS Apologies to anyone who has tried to get in touch with me with items of news for the Daily Post column - I've been in the office less than Rubythroat sticks around in the autumn (big time workload at present).
Thanks to Rich Steel for his blinding shots of Groppers, Sedgies etc from Frodsham and thereabouts, which I'll post later in the week - sorry for the delay Rich!

Comments (3)

john bannon wrote...

Hi John - re the Birdrace on Sunday, here's how we got on...

Our team, "Hobby Harriers" were on 127 on Sunday last, as the monsoon from hell swept in from the east and effectively put paid to the day's activities.
Previously had ticked-off all of the difficult bird race ticks like Common Gull, Barwit, Water Rail, Yellow Wagtail, Little Owl, Ring Ouzel, Pied Fly and almost our first bird of the day was Gropper.
We found the Garganeys at Leighton and even Greenshank at Stocks and Whimbrels everywhere... but 'Lady Luck' (aka the bitch) decided to give us her thumbs down at Brockholes when the rain started to bucket down.
However, it did provide us with the amazing spectacle of a minimum 2,500 Common Swifts over the pools; more than I have ever seen anywhere at any time and surprisingly the Wood Warbler was also seen and heard well in the pouring rain at the Crem Woods.
A further 17 species including a sea watch and shorebirds were likely/probable/possible when we called it a day, however £ 338.40p was raised in sponsorship for bird conservation and a jolly good day out was had by all.
So, as far as I'm aware, the 'official' Lancashire and North Merseyside 24hrs single calendar day Bird Race record, held under the National Bird Race/Birdwatch rules, remains unchallenged at 141 and as you know (you were on the team after all) is held jointly by our goodselves in 2002 (as Subbuteo Scorers B) and another team from East Lancs.
Out of interest I added up ALL the bird species recorded on my May Lancashire bird races since the first in 1995 and it amounts to an amazing 171 different species, including Savi's Warbler, Black-winged Stilt, Red-throated Diver, Quail and Honey Buzzard.
TTFN John

Posted by: john bannon  | May 15, 2007 7:27 PM

Ken Woods wrote...

I'm an avid reader of your column in the Daily Post each Saturday and I'm writing to tell you about a disturbing spectacle that my wife and I observed from our conservatory yesterday.
I have a made couple of nestboxes and placed them at the bottom of our garden with holes in the front of the boxes just small enough for the blue tits to nest inside.
As we were watching the blue tits coming and going with food for their brood a great spotted woodpecker appeared and proceeded to very quickly to enlarge the hole sufficient to get its head inside.
It then started to throw out the nesting material from inside of the box and then take away the young blue tits obviously to feed its own young.
It came back at least six times to take away a young bird until the box was empty.
The blue tits are now starting to nest build again this morning in the same box.
Over the years I have placed other nest boxes in woods opposite our property and have noticed several of these boxes have also had their access holes enlarged.
In fact we have heard in the early hours of the some mornings woodpeckers hammering away at the boxes presumably we thought in the process of building their own nests.
It is now clear that they were stealing the young birds from these boxes. I was wondering if this aggressive feeding by great spotted woodpeckers on young small garden birds has been taken into account for the demise of our garden birds. I have also seen magpies take small garden birds.

Posted by: Ken Woods  | May 17, 2007 12:44 PM

Stephen Menzie wrote...

Ken, I'm sure John will also have something to say on the matter but I might as well say it as well...
The reason for Great Spotted Woodpeckers taking young from next boxes is due in the most part to the modern obsession with tidiness and many of the health & safety legislations brought in by local councils. As soon as a tree is dead, or looks at risk of dying, it is removed. Thus the Woodpeckers' natural food source (the grubs that would live in the decaying wood) is also removed and to survive they have to find an alternative food source. Peanuts are fine for the adult birds but not for the young who rely of something a little more "fleshy". The damage done by the Woodpeckers will be minimal in terms of the population as a whole and, although distressing to see, is almost certainly not a reason for the decline in songbirds. The number of chicks taken by Woodpeckers is insignificant when you look at e.g. the mortality rate of recently fledged birds due to cars and cats. By leaving a few dead trees in the area, Woodpeckers will always go for the grubs living in the decaying wood and under than bark when given the choice.

Posted by: Stephen Menzie  | May 18, 2007 6:22 PM

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