Migration...

The last couple of days have been entertaining and literally full of surprises, some pleasant, some not! Yesterday a very brief view of a male Ring Ouzel in flight with a mixed bunch of Fieldfare and Redwing as they disappeared into the hedgerow and was sadly not seen again. Today the bulk of the winter thrushes have gone and there was no sign of the old crescent chest. Still, plenty of time for more and hopefully a photographic opportunity at some stage soon, I like Ouzels! There are a few White Wagtails, the continental counterpart of our own Pied Wagtail moving through at the moment with a nice trio in the fields close to Kings Lock. Yesterday I failed to see a couple of Red Kite that were reported over the Southern Section or a Hawfinch which was also apparently seen yesterday...aaargh! Last couple of days have produced fantastic views of the Buzzards though with up to three birds in the air and with so much moisture , particularly low flying birds. Our Water Rails seem to be showing themselves a little more at the moment and have certainly surprised interested dog walkers as they charge around squealing. It was great to hear and see a couple of Skylarks song flighting over the southern section as its almost a blast from the past these days as the population has declined dramatically here (Aylestone), surely this is the true sound of the British countyside. The Fox was again hunting out in the fields the last couple of days, its great to be able to watch a lovely animal going about its business.
There is an interesting owl around at the moment which appears to be occasionally flushed from its roost either by dogs or our alternative crowd! This is the problem - I've seen this bird going away from me through the back of the plantation but got nothing on it. It has also been seen by a couple of other people recently including a sighting yesterday and from the description, the habitat and the fact they're all daylight sightings it's probably a Long-eared Owl. This isn't the first time we've had LEO's although it's getting late in the season. The problem is with so much suitable roosting habitat, blackthorn scrub etc they can be very difficult to locate especially when your bushes are full of oddly behaving men!

It's all happening now....

Little Egret


Fieldfare


Drake Goosander

A brilliant morning on the Meadows! Initially quiet when I first arrived but building very quickly to a fabulously varied and productive walk covering both north and south sections. The Chiffchaffs are now singing away with good numbers on both sections particularly around the boardwalk area. Chiffchaff are onomatopoeic (I had to look up how to spell it), their name is literally a translation of their song so whilst your wandering about, listen out, it's very distinctive. I found some wader footprints on the new scrape which I would guess had probably been made by a Common Sandpiper as we don't get too many wading birds through the area and this species is one of the more frequent visitors. Still it's exciting, didn't take them too long to find it, its only been built a week! On the Southern Section behind Fosse Park I watched a Fox hunting out in the open for about twenty minutes though trying to stalk feeding Woodpigeon was just plain daft. I guess, judging by the rather brazen attitude and hunting during late morning that their are cubs nearby. A Little Egret flew over and landed on the floodplain briefly before continuing along the Biam and I lost sight of it. I can't believe I actually hitched to North Norfolk in the early eighties and spent two days looking for my first one, nowadays thanks to global warming they seem to be everywhere, the slow but steady push north. The fields adjacent to the ring road are today alive with thrushes, an incredible sight. The numbers of Fieldfare have probably tripled in the last few days and there must be at least 150 with equal numbers of Redwing together with good numbers of resident thrushes. The walk also produced three Green Woodpecker territories, two pairs of Kingfishers and at least five pairs of Reed Bunting holding territory. The big surprise, because I thought they had already left were six Goosander which are still using the favoured pools together with a pair of Great Crested Grebe.

When the North Wind Blows!

After the rather bleak, snowy weekend I half expected to find some casualties whilst I was out, Fortunately, this was not the case though seeing Chiffchaff's feeding in the snow is slightly more than surreal. Today there are still plenty of Chiffchaff moving through, particularly along the Grand Union/Soar Valley's more protected areas. I've been out looking, perhaps prematurely, for Ring Ouzel, a striking 'mountain' thrush which favours our area during migration. We tend to get a few through in Spring and generally anytime over the next few weeks, though last years exceptional six in April is unlikely to be repeated. I didn't find any today but there are still good numbers of both Redwing and Fieldfare, particularly in the Southern section to check through. The only new bird today was a very brief female Wheatear on the rough paddocks close to the ring road which vanished when the feeding thrushes were disturbed. Sadly no chance of a photograph but hopefully they'll be more through during the week.

Spoke to soon!

I was a bit premature with my nothing about note this morning as this afternoon it all started to happen. I took a walk down the canal to survey the southern section and discovered there was indeed quite alot of movement today. In the riverside bushes close to the ring road I found a group of five and then another trio of Chiffchaff busily feeding away in a manner that indicates they'd just arrived. Eight Chiffchaff in a stretch of no more than fifty meters, just brilliant! This 11cm waif is traditionally one of our earliest migrant warblers and are birds that have probably wintered in the southern med and north Africa, though some do overwinter here in the uk. A bigger surprise was two Swallows that were quartering the fields and canal hunting midges which were thankfully abundant this afternoon providing a well deserved meal. The Swallows are early!

Still waiting.....

As there has been some movement of migrant birds in the last few days particularly Sand Martins and Wheatears arriving on the south coast I half expected to bump into something new today. Although I only had a brief walk I actually saw very little. The councils environmental department are busy improving certain areas of the site and I think the use of heavy machinery has probably kept most birds quiet. They are improving the pools around the gas towers and the new scrape looks very promising and will undoubtedly attract migrants later in the year, and despite the diggers, the Teal are still present which bodes well. I did have a strange encounter with the woodpeckers this morning. Whilst looking for a very vocal Green I ended up finding five woodpeckers, three Green and two Great Spotted in the same tree, in dispute over the best nesting site! I was surprised just how dominant the smaller Great Spotted was compared with the more placid and usually solitary Green. I found two fresh holes, one clearly of each species no more than four metres apart. I have never seen this before, two active attempts in the same small tree, watch this space, I'll keep you posted!
Oh and I finally found some toads, two attached to the backs of female Frogs?

Now this makes me angry! Anyone seen anything? Copy and paste the link into your browser - Badger shot on Aylestone Meadows

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132384&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232710&home=yes&more_nodeId1=132393&contentPK=20174046

Now't better than a Newt!

Breeding Male Smooth Newt, adorned with 'Leopard' spots and fluorescent orange belly, which you cant see because I didn't want to stress him out!

Finally, a bit of activity in the ponds! Over the last few days I've noticed an increase in movement around the edges of the Meadows ponds and thought I'd have a sit and wait session to see if the Frogs or anything else had awakened from their winter slumber. There were a trio of grappling pairs of Frogs at least though they're often a little elusive and spend a great of time sitting on the bottom, only appearing to come up for air. Activity will increase dramatically over the next month providing we don't have another cold snap and as amphibians are having a hard time globally, especially frogs, I particularly enjoy seeing them locally. I haven't yet seen a Toad but am surprised that our Newts seem to be emerging in greater numbers earlier than usual. There are three species in the Uk, the biggest, the Great Crested is also the rarest, having declined at an alarming rate across its range. Britain has a particular responsibility for the conservation of Great Crested Newts because it holds the strongest populations of this species, which is threatened in Continental Europe. Leicestershire, certainly east, has a healthy population but so far, I've never found it in the Aylestone area. Mind you, I can't really survey the area for them properly as you need a Licence from English Nature to even touch them, which would be required to document the sighting. The smallest is the Palmate Newt, a species which prefers softer water and a species I've only occasionally found in the southern part of the Meadows. The commonest is the Smooth Newt, the males have an impressive crest and are sometimes confused with the much larger Great Crested. They're actually easier to see at night, certainly surveying with a torch and last night produced six males and a female though the meadows isn't a good area to be nocturnally! Still they can be watched during the day, it just requires a still patch of clear water and some pond weed. In all three species, there is an elaborate courtship ritual in which the male "dances" in front of the female, undulating his crest and showing off his fine colours. After mating, the female lays her eggs singly - using her hind feet to fold the leaf of an underwater plant around each one.
All native British amphibians are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.

Almost!

Just in case you're wondering - a Great White Egret taken recently in Thailand not Watermead!

Spooky! My last post talking about our nearest Heronry at Watermead and today's news of a fine Great White Egret found this morning in the Heronry. So close, I wonder if it will wander down and grace us with its presence, especially as it's only a few miles downstream! I hope so, this would be a nice addition to the Meadows list, especially now we've had a couple of Little Egrets to join the 80's Night Herons. Generally the last few days have been quiet and obviously, the increased wind has not helped viewing conditions. There has been a couple of Buzzards patrolling regularly and appear to be frequently checking the area around the Walkers Stadium. I wonder whether they're expecting LCFC casualties?
There is another/returning flock of around 150 Fieldfare in the rough paddocks on the South Section, a small group of Teal on the gas works pools on the North Section and Sid the Stonechat's well into his second week on site. Other than that, Nowt new, fingers crossed and eyes peeled for a 'white' heron!

Grey Herons

Grey Heron in breeding plumage - The bills flushed pink with blood, the bare skin in front of the eye has gone a purple/blue and of course, the rest of the plumage is immaculate


The 'Cheeky Chappie", Great Spotted Woodpecker playing Hide and Seek


Today was another good day, warm and bright with a light breeze, perfect conditions for a scout about. 'Sid' the Stonechat is still in his favoured field and I've named him Sid because he's a bird with attitude and is literally taunting the Sparrowhawks. Life and death in the avian world and he doesn't appear to give a monkeys. The woodpeckers, both Green and Great Spotted are really active now. The Green Woodpeckers laughing call can be heard right across the northern section and gives a clear insight into why the birds old name was 'Yaffle'. The Great Spotted has just started 'drumming' on the old dead tree close to the gas works and this should intensify over the next few weeks. There are normally a couple of Grey Herons along the boardwalk, usually fishing the Biam but today I noticed them performing courtship dances over a period of about an hour. They were also observed checking out the trees in a rather suspicious manner. The nearest Heronry is, as far as I know at Watermead, I'm wondering what I'm seeing could be the beginning of a new one, fingers crossed!

Kingfishers - A better boardwalk blue!

Male Kingfisher - on the lookout for a meal


Male Kingfisher alongside the boardwalk today, you can tell it's a male as the bill is all black, females have extensive red on the lower mandible.

Despite my little moan yesterday I was back today, armed with a binbag to collect the offending rubbish and determined to enjoy the good weather. Some kind soul had beaten me to it leaving me to enjoy the birds....thanks Lisa, greatly appreciated!
As the Kingfishers been performing well I thought I'd have a go at attempting to get some shots, especially as one bird in particular regularly uses certain 'observation' posts. The Stonechat is also still present and narrowly missed being caught by the female Sparrowhawk which is particularly active at the moment. Things are looking up!

What's Wrong with People?

I was looking forward to my walk today but now I wished I hadn't bothered. The Stonechats still present and did finally put a smile on my face as I was going back to the main entrance but the rest of the walk, well......
Today there is very little about and its either moved off or got its head down. There has evidently been a huge party at some stage during the night. The boardwalk looks like theres been an accident at an aluminium recycling plant and is now being sponsored by Fosters Lager (In my experience, the Aussies don't actually drink it, just export the idea here) There's only so much I could collect but still, at least they didn't set fire to anything and hopefully, the little 'B******'s' are nursing the mother of all hangovers. I'm all for people enjoying our little green oasis but take out what you bring in, there are bins!
And whilst on the point, dog walkers, and yes I am one. It's commendable that you collect your dogs deposit in that wonderful invention, the plastic bag, just don't then lob it into the bushes, it may still be there next century!
And finally, as I met two this morning, a message to our East European cousins..... STOP NICKING THE FISH!

Spring Migration - The Early Beginnings

Male Stonechat, he should be around for a few days if the Sparrowhawk doesn't nail him


Male Stonechat...Lovely!


Male Stonechat, looking rather 'dapper'


Its generally been very quiet on the meadows since my work abroad (click on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper link to see my images), apart from the carpark that is, which appears particularly busy especially today! Authorities take note - Do we have to put up with this?
Todays a good day wildlife wise though. There is a large group of Redwings with a few Fieldfares in the horse paddocks opposite the boardwalk. Judging by the intensity of their feeding, they're not long on these shores, especially as they appear to be in 'bullet-proof' mode and are giving superb viewing opportunities, quite unlike the flighty behaviour a month ago. The Kingfishers are busy checking out potential nesting sites and I even had the male land only a few feet away, sadly camera in the car...doh!
New in today is a stunning male Stonechat which is using the rough paddock near the car park to hunt insects. Thankfully the councils environmental department have the foresight to leave this area 'rough' and it's a potential goldmine for passage birds, fingers crossed for the coming months!

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Link has vanished from the Surfbirds News page so here it is - http://www.surfbirds.com/sbirdsnews/archives/2008/02/wintering_spoon.html

Great News from Myanmar!