12th - 15th June..... Rain, Rain & more Rain.

This past week has been what you might call a 'washout', where as we've been moaning with comments such as it's suppose to be Summer & it should be warmer than this. It's been potentially disastrous for our wildlife, with constant rain & chilly temperatures making it hard work for adults feeding their young, either in the nest or newly fledged. It's just as well our House Martin nests remain unoccupied as the young would have surely perished, due to a lack of insect food, I've seen this in previous years when after only a couple of days of constant rain, resulting in the dead chicks being ejected from the nest.

Our Goldfinches have survived the weather with the adults still incubating, one morning as I peered out of the window both birds were at the nest rubbing beaks.

As I stood at the back door mid afternoon on 13th June sheltering from the pouring rain I could hear the contact calls of a newly fledged juvenile Blackbird, a bit of searching revealed it keeping dry in the wood store, still unable to fly properly, just skimming along above ground level, meaning the dog had to be kept in for a couple of days. The following day it nearly came to a sticky end, only narrowly avoiding the lawn mower, as I cut up against the hedge, there must be a hell of a lot of creatures meet their maker in this manner under all the mechanical garden & farm machinery in use.
A family party of 13 Long tailed Tits passed through the garden on the where a Blackcap is now singing again.


On the evening of 14th I came across a pair of Foxes in a hay meadow, first time I've seen two together. As dusk fell I was pleased to find the Tawny Owl chick had survived all the downpours & was now about 400 yards from the nest site, by the following morning it was back roosting near the nest tree, the wing feathers have developed well, but it still covered in plenty of downy feathers & is able to fly strongly.
15th saw a Grey Wagtail briefly visit the garden pond. Stewart picks up a dead adult Tawny Owl on the road at Hunts Green with a broken neck, presumably the same bird that Robert had been telling me about earlier in the day, that he'd seen sitting on his garden wall there the previous evening, no doubt it was still providing prey for it's growing family, which have struggled through the bad weather this past week, now just have a single parent to provide prey for them. 

Through out the week a young Rabbit & Green Woodpecker have frequently fed on the lawn.
Don.

14th June..... Poplar Hawkmoth.

Managed to photograph all three moorhen chicks in the garden with an adult looking on, later found a poplar hawkmoth underneath a … poplar tree. Stewart.

Images Copyright : Steart Dennis.

12th June..... The next Generation.

Good to see more young birds coming into the garden and feeding.

The moorhens have three chicks and are well looked after and protected from the crows by their parents.

Two woodpecker chicks still being well fed by their parents.

All the juvenile blue and great tits are now busy feeding themselves and hopefully when it stops raining will disperse.

Watched a fox club in the garden Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday morning came across a roe deer in the woods close to home.

Meadow brown butterfly numbers seem to be slowly on the increasing. Stewart.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

9th June..... Young Raven.

It stopped raining for a while Sunday afternoon, my wife and I went for a short walk through the field with the vetch and blue butterflies.
 A young raven circled overhead.

At ground level the butterflies were sheltering from the chilly wind and hanging on in the grasses.

Pyramidal orchids were beginning to show in the same field.

On the way back home found yellow rattle growing with other wild flowers in strips in a grass field where the sprayer had missed.... luckily. Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Bucks Peregrines, Breeding Update.

First the bad news.

Aylesbury- complete breeding failure, no eggs, no chicks and it looks like we've lost the female, either before any eggs, or at some stage after and whatever was there has been predated.

If anyone has seen two adults in Aylesbury at any point in the Spring please contact me. There is a male present.

StadiumMK

Much better news.

The birds went straight to the platform this spring and laid 4 eggs, 3 of which hatched and have done extremely well.

The first one fledged on June 3rd, but something wasn't quite right and it had to be rescued, fortunately a member of staff there has a partner who is a VET, it was found to be dehydrated. It spent a couple of days with the VET where she (it was sexed) recovered well. This fortunately coincided with Rod Stewart performing so we didn't have any trouble with Peregrine chicks causing havoc in the crowd.

June 6th the other two chicks were still on the platform, but exercising vigorously, one nearly came off, but hung on, fledging imminent. At lunchtime the rescued bird was released at a high point in the stadium and after sitting still for a few minutes it then took off extremely strongly and went straight out of the stadium ! I expect it will return.

 

Mike

County Bird Recorder.

6th June..... Orchid Quest Continues/Little Marlow.

Stewart's Orchid Quest Continues....

This morning we went to see the military orchids at a local site, in flower from mid May to mid June. Other orchids seen there included : fly, bee, greater butterfly, common spotted, common twayblade and pyramidal all growing in a small meadow. Walking on through the woodland a red kite came to close to a raven family, the adults flying up to the kite to drive it away, the ravens then calling constantly.

Found this large skipper. 

Green-veined white.

Dragonfly which remains a mystery, as I can't identify it.

We lunched on sandwiches by the Thames watching common terns over the river, followed by a walked around Little Marlow Gravel pits. A good variety of birds seen on and around the waters edge, common terns breeding on the tern rafts with chicks seen.

Reed Warblers singing in the reeds.

Walking back to the car we saw good numbers of banded demoiselle, (males and females).

Mayflies seen along the river bank. Stewart. 
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Garden News, 4th - 9th June.

A pair of Goldcrests were displaying in the Oak, calling, wings a quivering, male with his crest raised, as a Robin sat close by mesmerized by it all. The Blackbirds are now nest building for the fourth time in the Laurel hedge, two attempts being predated.

4th June. A pair of Pied Wagtails spent around thirty minutes calling from the roof tops in the evening.

First thing in the morning constant twittering from a pair of Goldfinches on the telephone wires, suggested the presence of a nest nearby. In the evening I found the foundations of one in the climbing Dog Rose at the front of the house. Two days later & as I hang out of the bedroom for a better view the nest looks complete. It takes a battering on the 8th as the strong winds blow the Rose around violently, as the one of the Goldfinches look on from the bouncing telephone wire. 9th Adult is sitting tight.

The first Red admiral of the year appeared basking in some late sunshine on the evening of the 6th, a couple of Speckled Wood around aswell. Still no House Martins in residence (though a couple did put in an appearance a few weeks back). Seven empty nests...where have they all gone.

Our front garden is just starting to look at it's best, as the wild flowers begin to come on line.

One of the new plants this spring Meadow Clary, has blended in nicely with the Birds-foot-trefoil & Frog Bit.

The other newie this Spring : Bladder Campion is just about to flower.  

As is one of our two Common spotted orchids.

It's all happening, just need those House Martins to return....

Don.

5th June..... Fly Orchid.

We spent two hours at BBOWT Dancersend this morning looking for butterflies and orchids. Turned cloudy and chilly, to cold for butterflies, amongst the orchids we found three stunning fly orchids.

The fledged juvenile blue tits following the adults around the garden begging for food, the moorhens also brought a chick into the garden today.
Stewart.

Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

Tawny Owl Diary.

It is maybe ten years since I put up a Chimney style Owl box on a large Oak, in which time it's hosted Squirrels all to often, Jackdaws have shown an interest, as have Stock Doves, until this year, when....
On 23rd March, I see a silhouette gliding through the trees at 8-00am straight towards the nest box tree, I know what it is immediately, but dismiss it thinking it can't be true. As when I checked a couple of weeks back a Squirrel's drey protruded from the box, as I make my way towards the tree Magpies are protesting loudly (a good sign), but they head off, I'm thinking they're following the Owl, but as I approach the box, a couple of Chaffinches are perched on the nearby branch carrying on the Magpies protest & there sticking out from the entrance hole is the tail of the Tawny Owl, at last it has the rightful occupant in residence.
I make regular visits, nothing to report until...
April 
20th. Checked the Owl box at 8-20pm, the male 'hooted' from his day roost nearby; the female went ballistic from inside the box replying with a string of 'kwek' calls.
21st. Plenty of movement from the tail as it stuck out of the entrance to the box, must be a sign that she is uncomfortable in the box with the youngsters growing by the day.

23rd. Have the first sight of the top of her head showing at the entrance hole.













29th. Female calling from box at 6-45pm, sitting higher up at entrance to box.
May

4th. Checked during the afternoon, adult watching me as I approached, then kind of ducked lower down. First time I've been able to see the adults eyes above the box entrance, those chicks must be getting bigger.















5th. Female had left nest by 8-15pm.

7th. Female had left nest by 7-30pm & was out hunting, could hear her softly calling nearby, a few minutes later she returned with prey pursued by the resident Blackbirds.

8th. Female is dutifully doing the right thing, shielding her young from the damp wet weather, with her back to the prevailing wind as her tail sticks out from the box entrance at 9-00pm, meaning they'll possible get less food tonight with only one adult doing the hunting.
9th. Checked the box at 7-00am, as I could hear the adults soft contact calls & the Blackbirds making a commotion, surprised to find the adult missing, but with the Blackbirds still 'clucking' knew it had to be in the vicinity, it then flew from a tree nearby, was it out hunting late due to a lack of food the previous night? Maybe not as at 6-30pm I could see the crown of an owlets head just above the entrance hole, maybe they're just getting to large to brood anymore.

10th. Female sitting on nest at 7-00am, with her tail & wings protruding from the entrance, with her head at the rear of the box, but looking out, that must be uncomfortable.

11th. No adult in the box at 8-30am, could her her contact calls from nearby, but unable to locate her, later in the day at 4-00pm with the help of a mobbing Magpie I found her roosting up against the trunk of the Hornbeam to the right of the nest tree. At 8pm she is back on the nest actively attending to the young, when I get my first proper view of a chick as it briefly pops it's head from the box.

12th. Adult attending to young again at 8-00am, 9-40am chick is looking out of the box, bobbing it's head, what amazed me is how long & thin it's beak looked. By 5-15pm the adult is back on the nest again, yet at 6-45pm she is roosting in the Hornbeam to the left of the nest tree.
17th. When ever I check the adult is roosting in the Hornbeam to the right of the nest, just follows me as I walk past, today at 1-15pm it was doing a spot of preening.

18th. Pretty sure the nest only contains a single owlet, which now fills the entrance.

20th. Adult has now taken to roosting in an Oak seventy feet away from the nest tree.

 22nd. It's a brave new world for the Owlet as it spends it's first day out of the nest roosting high up in the nest tree, as the adult sits a few yards away keeping a protective eye on it's offspring. As dusk falls & the world quietens down the youngsters constant begging calls can be heard: psee-ep psee-ep, breaking into a frenzy every time the adult passes over head.

23rd. As I check in the evening the youngster has climbed about six feet further up the tree & can't go any higher, I'm wondering what it's next move will be, I'm soon about to find out...

 ...as it starts to limber up & flex it's wings.

Then with it's head down, it launches itself sideways & down, plunging about fifteen feet, landing unceremoniously in a heap with wings out stretched on the foliage below, guess that's what you would call it's first attempt at flying. This image is the launch position.

24th. By the evening it's back at the top of the tree again.

26th. This evening it's really branching out & is three trees away, a distance of seventy two feet horizontally. Seems to be growing in confidence & ability.
30th. Female sat softly calling in the tree where I last saw the owlet, she leaves calling as she flies. No sign of youngster.
June

1st. As I approach the nest site at 9-45pm a pair of Robins are alarm calling, I catch sight of the adult silhouetted in the gloom on a bare tree staring at me from about fifty feet away, strange it's never upset the Robins before. Then as I watch the reason for their alarm becomes clear as a Fox passes by only twenty feet from me, this sparks the Owl into a frenzy of 'ke-wick' calls, chasing the Fox away, with this behaviour I assume the Owlet must be nearby, I wait a further fifteen minutes 'til I hear the familiar begging calls. Am unable to see it, but at least know it's still alive. Was getting worried having no sight or sound for the last week.





5th. With the Owlet remaining unseen since the 26th & not becoming vocal 'til 10-00pm I've decided now is the time to leave them to themselves. It's been a pleasure & a privilege to be able to watch them at such close quarters.
Don.

Images Copyright : Don Stone.