Nature Notes: August 2014
Making Hay While the Sun Shines
We are currently bathing in a spell of glorious hot summer weather yet, surprisingly, there are signs of autumn coming all around us. Rowan trees on high ground such as moorland are laden with fruit that is already ripening to a bright red colour. If not eaten by hungry young blackbirds, these will provide welcome fuel when the winter thrushes arrive in October. The continued spell of sunshine has allowed cereal crops to ripen in good time and wheat and oats are already being harvested. Indeed, near Bristol in the third week of July, I have already seen a field being ploughed after harvesting accompanied by the usual band of following gulls looking for worms and grubs.
On the bird front, waders have finished breeding in the Arctic/sub Arctic and are already finding their way back south and feeding on favoured estuaries such as the Axe in east Devon and around the Exe. Summer visitors such as swifts and sand martins are already departing away from southern headlands whilst the light winds make for easy flying. This vanguard of migrants will soon be joined by many more species of birds as the warblers and other summer visitors get moving. Juvenile black-headed gulls are also arriving on our coast, having been virtually absent through the summer.
The good weather has been great news for nesting birds this summer after the trials and tribulations of the last two years and should help to restore numbers. All the common species seem to have young in abundance and must be successfully producing second and third broods. Indeed, I know of two swallow nests in my village which are on their third and, incredibly, their fourth broods respectively. Couple this with good numbers of young house martins and we have more than 100 hirundines flying over the village some evenings. This in turn provides a great attraction to a local hobby that comes darting through trying to get a meal, its presence betrayed by the agitation and alarm calls of the hirundines.
What to look out for this month
For those wishing to travel a little bit further, a long-staying rare Ross’ Gull is currently at Bowling Green marsh, Topsham and around the Exe estuary. This small and delicate, normally Arctic-dwelling gull, has been present for some months. It is in fairly plain first summer plumage (having arrived as a juvenile), other than the delicate light pink with black collar of a full adult. Hopefully, if it stays during the winter, it will start to moult towards adult plumage.
As well as the Ross’ gull, wader numbers at Bowling Green are building up nicely with some retaining remnants of their summer plumage, such as the brick red colour of Black tailed goodwits. Around two hours before high tide is the best time to view as the birds get pushed off the estuary by the rising tide. Closer to Dartmouth, if the weather turns windy and stormy, look for seabirds such as
Kittiwake
Kittiwake
and kittiwakes off Slapton beach and Prawle point. They could easily be hassled by a Great or Arctic skua trying to steal a meal.
By the Dart August 2014
