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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Upton Warren (15 Viewers)

The Moors today 9am till 11am
GCG 9, Little Grebe on broadmeadow pool - I am sure they are nesting on here.
Tufted 25, Gadwall pr ( report of chicks seen yesterday ???)
Oystercatcher 4 ads and 3 chicks (1 + 2) two broods, Lapwing 6 ( 1 sitting) no other waders at all. Common Tern 6 (3 prs),
A few swifts, swallows and sand martins passed through
At the Flashes 11.15am till 5pm
Shelduck pr, gadwall pr
Avocet 37, LRP 6, Lapwing still 3 sitting ( 2 have abandoned) only 2 chicks now 20 days old. Dunlin 2 male and female schinzii,
10 broods of Mallard and 4 broods of coot.

while trimming the overhanging bushes along the board walk I noticed what I thought was sheep wool in the hawthorn just before the main flashes hide.
Closer inspection revealed caterpillars wrapped in a silk cocoon, any ideas what species? Gav or Des or anyone else with any knowledge of the subject.
B :)John

Hi John. The caterpillars might be of the Processionary Moth. John Sirrett is looking into them. First for the reserve if they are.

Who is Phil Bottom?

Des.
 
The Moors today 9am till 11am
GCG 9, Little Grebe on broadmeadow pool - I am sure they are nesting on here.
Tufted 25, Gadwall pr ( report of chicks seen yesterday ???)
Oystercatcher 4 ads and 3 chicks (1 + 2) two broods, Lapwing 6 ( 1 sitting) no other waders at all. Common Tern 6 (3 prs),
A few swifts, swallows and sand martins passed through
At the Flashes 11.15am till 5pm
Shelduck pr, gadwall pr
Avocet 37, LRP 6, Lapwing still 3 sitting ( 2 have abandoned) only 2 chicks now 20 days old. Dunlin 2 male and female schinzii,
10 broods of Mallard and 4 broods of coot.

This is the best count of Dunlin (3) all year, rather down on previous years. Shame about the Lapo chick and the abandonments, it was all looking so positive.

Does anyone have any more info re the Gadwall; if confirmed this would be only the third breeding record for the reserve.
 
How long now untill the chicks grow sufficiently enough to not be predated (eg can easilly escape)????, I noticed the huge difference in the growth rates between the Avo's and the Laps, but fail to understant a reason why???
Is it food sources or genetic programming??
MB

Hi Craig
The lapwings are slow growers naturally feeding on small insects initially and then moving to wet grassy areas where large worms help them grow rapidly. At present though they are confined to the channel in front of the hide and grass just beyond. But due to the dry spring worms are not readily available to them. The time will come when they will have to venture from this area to seek the desired food but they will have to run the gauntlet of the 'gang'.
Re predation: they will never be big enough to evade predators, until they can fly. They have passed the magpie/jackdaw threat but LBBG and crows are still a problem although the combined effort of Avocets and lapwings usually see's them off. Fox's are always a problem but as long as the fence holds up then fingers crossed. Years ago I watched 4 chicks grow up to a day from fledging when a fox systematically hunted all of them, since then I never count them until they fly.
Re Avocet food : they eat large items almost immediately and you have probably noticed almost every sweep in the water they catch and swallow sizeable prey. One of the broods has four chicks, one of them hatching 3 days later than the others. it is almost half the size of its siblings. But I'm sure it will soon catch up. One of the reasons for the rapid growth of the Avos is the density of food (which is also shared by many mallard broods - although they get short shrift from the Avo parents ruthlessly protecting their territory)
With so many Avocet territories this year they are confined to very small areas each of no more than 20 yards long in the 'core' zone but enough food is available to them to be viable. As they grow it will be interesting to see if the territories are still sufficiently large enough to deter the cross border skirmishes that as yet are not too intense.
See Dave's (woodchat) photos of the daphnia in Saturday's post (14th May)
B :)John
 
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while trimming the overhanging bushes along the board walk I noticed what I thought was sheep wool in the hawthorn just before the main flashes hide.
Closer inspection revealed caterpillars wrapped in a silk cocoon, any ideas what species? Gav or Des or anyone else with any knowledge of the subject.
B :)John

There have been some 'outbreaks' of ermine moth caterpillars- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-13425031

Don't know if these are the same, though.
 
This is the best count of Dunlin (3) all year, rather down on previous years. Shame about the Lapo chick and the abandonments, it was all looking so positive.

Does anyone have any more info re the Gadwall; if confirmed this would be only the third breeding record for the reserve.

Sorry Phil only 2, my fault forgot ,,,,,,,,,8-P
 
Sanderling at the Moors

Just had a call from Des (UW82) to say there is a sanderling on the main shingle island at the Moors...best viewed from the west hide. This was possibly the bird earlier reported as a little stint.
B :)John
 
Fox at Flashes

Fox's are always a problem but as long as the fence holds up then fingers crossed.

I meant to report earlier that I saw a fox trotting south along the east side of the second flash (in front of the sewage works) on Monday morning at about 7am. I lost sight of it after half a minute and didn't see where it went, but as far as I saw it didn't take anything.
John
 
I meant to report earlier that I saw a fox trotting south along the east side of the second flash (in front of the sewage works) on Monday morning at about 7am. I lost sight of it after half a minute and didn't see where it went, but as far as I saw it didn't take anything.
John

Thanks John - this is unfortunate news.

Any sightings of fox INSIDE the fence would be welcomed so we can try to identify where they are emerging from.

Cheers
Phil
 
I meant to report earlier that I saw a fox trotting south along the east side of the second flash (in front of the sewage works) on Monday morning at about 7am. I lost sight of it after half a minute and didn't see where it went, but as far as I saw it didn't take anything.
John

Thanks for the info John

Yesterday the single chick brood that has been feeding along the east shore of the 2nd flash was suddenly called into the water by its parents and swam to the left island. After half an hour it returned to feed. However just a few minutes later it swam off again, I didn't see anything untoward but instinct told me that there was something amiss this would tie in with your observation John :-C
This could be the same fox that climbed over the fence on Saturday, oh well at least we know where one of the problems lie...we can sort that for next year.
We will have to keep an eye on the situation in case remedial action is required
 
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Today's highlights.

MOORS:

Sanderling (originally reported as a Little Stint)
LRP (2)------Common Tern(6 inc one sitting on an island)
G C Grebe (12)-----Redshank
Swift (50+)

FLASHES:

Avocet (34)-------Dunlin
Redshank---------LRP (6)
Curlew (1)--------Lapwing (6+2 young)
Gadwall (2)-------Shelduck(2)
Peregrine---------Marsh Harrier (m) reported early evening.


Des.
 

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