In bird watching terms the definition of a "Local Patch" is: Local - meaning you can walk, cycle or drive a short distance to, and Patch - an area of bird friendly habitat with either woodland, scrub, fields, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, or even the sea, which you can visit on regular intervals throughout the year, noting and counting the birds which occupy any pre-determined boundaries. The list of birds which frequent these spaces could be limitless and it really depends on how much time and effort you can afford to give up in pursuit of patch birding, with the list of birds seen at your chosen site ultimately dependent on your current choice of residency, whether this be a flat in an urban city environment or a cottage near to a coastal marine habitat. It's been said many times before but watching and finding birds on a local patch is probably the most rewarding and at times the most frustrating type of bird watching which, in equal measures ensures patch birding is part of the essential make up of every birder!
Since picking up the bins again and getting off my backside, I've been looking, almost searching for a local patch I can visit regularly in hope of watching birds within a stones throw away from where I live. The problem I have come up against is where? From where I currently live nothing really stands out as a potential "local patch", some people may say this is quite negative as even a local park or even a school playing field could be deemed as an ideal place to start but as a teenager growing up on the coastal fringes on the east side of the river Thames. Without realising it at the time, I was spoilt with the type and variety of birds to be found, from waders on the foreshore to warblers in the reed bed, wildfowl in the winter and Raptors on passage. This has only added to my dilemma as if I was to watch a local playing field I fully expected to get bored fairly quickly due to the limited habitat for encouraging new birds into an area and the repetitiveness of seeing the same birds each time I visited the site - it is only so often you can count the number of Common Gulls amongst the Black-headed gulls or note the number of Robins you have seen on a given day!
So, purely for selfish reasons and my own sanity I've decided to give the school playing field a miss and have drawn up a small short list of possible "local patch" contenders:
Wanstead Park/Flats - By far and away the stand out contender, I can't walk here but I can cycle or drive, a good selection of habitat is on offer with ponds and lakes, broadleaved woodland, large open fields with pockets of scrub and gorse. However this is already well watched by a good band of birders, who do an excellent job of recording the birds at this site, and I wonder do they really need another pair of eyes pursuing that Wheatear?
Highams Park Lake - This has potential with a good size lake surrounded by a small broadleaved woodland and open parkland. But having visited here on several occasions, it has yet to inspire me with not much return in the way of birds despite frequent visits, and this has now turned into one of those nice places to visit with the family as it has a great children's playground!
Connaught Water - Another good size lake surrounded by mature woodland in the centre of Epping forest but once I've circled the lake and counted the Mandarin ducks what next - buy an ice cream? Unfortunately this too has been discounted, based mainly on its own popularity with a large number of visitors all trying to utilise a ridiculously small car park!
Knighton Woods, Epping Forest - This is a small pocket of mature ancient woodland with a couple of small ponds, its always been an enjoyable walk round especially if you own a dog! All the woodland bird species you would expect to find are here, but it's limited in terms of keeping you interested and so would I get out of bed on a cold, wet February morning just to see another Great Spotted Woodpecker - I'm not sure I would!
Rainham Marshes - This really has it all in terms of habitat and diversity of birds on offer but it's not exactly local to where I live and I would also have to rely on the A406 not being full of traffic! This site is already massively watched from dawn to dusk, which is not surprising considering how much money the RSPB has ploughed into the reserve turning this area in to a huge success.
So these are my "Local Patch" contenders, I'm sure there are other areas locally I haven't yet discovered or I have overlooked but these are my current choices. If you have any recommendations not too far from where I reside in Woodford Green and which meet the terms of the definition above, please let me know?
What to do next? Up route the family, change the children's schools, find a new career and move to the coast in pursuit of the perfect patch to watch birds - not just yet... For now, I think I will in the short term continue to chase Wheatears around Wanstead Flats with the other birders, whilst enjoying the company of like minded people, and live in hope of seeing and contributing to finding something which possibly hasn't been seen already!
As a footnote to this blog entry - I was on Wanstead Flats with Jonathan Lethbridge on Saturday morning which, probably due to the persistent rain was surprisingly quiet, with very few dog walkers, no footballers and no sign of any oddballs! (apart from two birders, in full wet weather gear, pursuing an odd calling Lesser Whitethroat). I did however see my first Wanstead Ring Ouzel, along with returning Hobby, Swifts and Lesser Whitethroat! All of which only added to my conclusion that Wanstead Park/Flats is the current stand out "Local Patch" contender.
Monday 30 April 2012
Tuesday 24 April 2012
The decline of an old garden favourite
A busy agenda almost put paid to any plans of venturing out this weekend, with family visiting and my eldest sons 6th birthday party on the horizon. I was up against it in terms of finding a small window to escape the house for a couple of hours, but late Sunday afternoon after surviving the birthday party and building my second Lego creation of the weekend - a fine twin winged Bi-plane. I hot footed it over to Wanstead Park for a quick check of the lakes in hope of seeing any returning Swallows or Martins. Once at the park and putting my best listening skills to the test, I soon picked up the song of a Blackcap, Chiffchaff and then a Willow Warbler. It was when I was listening to the Willow Warbler I could hear the rustle of leaves in a patch of sparse brambles behind me, at first I dismissed this as probably a grey squirrel searching for last autumns buried acorns or even a blackbird turning over the leaves in search of earthworms or slugs, but as the rustle continued I became a bit more intrigued and couldn't resist trying to find who or what was creating this noise! As I walked closer to the area I could see the leaves moving, half expecting a blackbird to give its alarm call and fly out of the brambles I was surprised to see what looked like a mammal - a rat was my first thought but as I got closer and moved a few old leaves and twigs to my surprise a hedgehog appeared, sniffing its nose in the air! This spiky little fella probably only recently out of winter hibernation seemed to be oblivious of me standing within only a couple feet and instead of curling up tightly into a ball upon discovery, carried on searching through the fallen leaves, presumably looking for his next meal. After watching him forage for a couple of minutes I lost sight of him as he went deeper into the undergrowth - although I could still hear him.
It's not until you notice something you haven't seen for a while, whether this be a mammal, bird or insect that you stop and try to remember the last time you did, and I tried to recall the last time I had seen a hedgehog, thinking back it must have been over two years ago on a farm in Norfolk - which just goes to show how scarce these once common garden mammals are becoming!
We have all read or heard stories in the press about the loss of wildlife in our gardens due to the lack of habitat and change in gardening methods effecting our bees, butterflies and song birds, however hedgehogs are equally in decline. Through our paving of once grassed front gardens to create driveways to enable us to park our beloved cars onto, making stronger boundary fences for our back gardens using bricks or wooden fence panels to ensure that perfect divide between you and the neighbouring garden, or the preference to have a tidy and well kept plot with manicured lawns and perfectly weeded flower beds but unfortunately conforming to these ideas has only added to the decline of natural homes for hibernating hedgehogs, thus reducing their natural food resources and hugely restricting their movements between our gardens in the quest for food - I'm as guilty as the next person but unfortunately this has had a huge impact on our much loved spiky friends.
So what can we do? "Hedgehog Street - City of Wildlife" is a great initiative to gets us home owners thinking about hedgehogs, not just individuals but whole streets and even communities potentially coming together to create homes and habitats hedgehogs require to thrive and make a welcome return to our gardens once again.
I urge you to take a look at the link below and read all about Hedgehog Street and the work they are doing in trying to increase awareness of the plight of hedgehogs by encouraging us to change the way we see our gardens. See if you can't make a small change to the way you garden or maybe next time you think about repairing that broken fence panel, leave a small 15cm gap to allow a hedgehog to come and go or even better still, replace that wooden fence with native hedging plants like Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Hazel, Birch and Beech all of which, in time, will not only benefit commuting hedgehogs but also create cover, homes and food for all kinds of visiting garden wildlife.
http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/hedgehog-street.html
I couldn't resist adding a couple of pictures of my wonderful Lego creation - I secretly had fun building it!
It's not until you notice something you haven't seen for a while, whether this be a mammal, bird or insect that you stop and try to remember the last time you did, and I tried to recall the last time I had seen a hedgehog, thinking back it must have been over two years ago on a farm in Norfolk - which just goes to show how scarce these once common garden mammals are becoming!
We have all read or heard stories in the press about the loss of wildlife in our gardens due to the lack of habitat and change in gardening methods effecting our bees, butterflies and song birds, however hedgehogs are equally in decline. Through our paving of once grassed front gardens to create driveways to enable us to park our beloved cars onto, making stronger boundary fences for our back gardens using bricks or wooden fence panels to ensure that perfect divide between you and the neighbouring garden, or the preference to have a tidy and well kept plot with manicured lawns and perfectly weeded flower beds but unfortunately conforming to these ideas has only added to the decline of natural homes for hibernating hedgehogs, thus reducing their natural food resources and hugely restricting their movements between our gardens in the quest for food - I'm as guilty as the next person but unfortunately this has had a huge impact on our much loved spiky friends.
So what can we do? "Hedgehog Street - City of Wildlife" is a great initiative to gets us home owners thinking about hedgehogs, not just individuals but whole streets and even communities potentially coming together to create homes and habitats hedgehogs require to thrive and make a welcome return to our gardens once again.
I urge you to take a look at the link below and read all about Hedgehog Street and the work they are doing in trying to increase awareness of the plight of hedgehogs by encouraging us to change the way we see our gardens. See if you can't make a small change to the way you garden or maybe next time you think about repairing that broken fence panel, leave a small 15cm gap to allow a hedgehog to come and go or even better still, replace that wooden fence with native hedging plants like Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Hazel, Birch and Beech all of which, in time, will not only benefit commuting hedgehogs but also create cover, homes and food for all kinds of visiting garden wildlife.
http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/hedgehog-street.html
I couldn't resist adding a couple of pictures of my wonderful Lego creation - I secretly had fun building it!
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| Take off! |
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| Engines on |
Sunday 22 April 2012
Titchwell - rarely disappoints
No visit to north Norfolk would be complete without a trip to the Titchwell RSPB reserve. Some of its early charm may have been lost as it has grown in popularity over the years, with an estimated 140,000 visitors a year making this the RSPB's busiest reserve, but even with the increase of human visitors our avian visitors continue to be impressed with the diverse habitat on offer; from the ever maturing trees and hedges when you first arrive around the car park, the broadleaved trees as you follow the trail towards the visitors centre or the vast freshwater reed bed when you walk along the wooden boardwalks towards the main footpath which continues up past first the freshwater lagoon and then the brackish saltwater lagoon and finally the tidal marsh, before arriving at the sand dunes and the beach with the North sea staring you in the face. Titchwell really has got it covered when it comes to habitat with more plans afoot to extend the reserve creating even more trails and another freshwater lagoon to the east. All of this along with its excellent facilities and array of birds on show, it's no wonder Titchwell continues to grow in popularity.
I started my visit early and despite a less than optimistic weather forecast I was determined to make the most of my opportunity, arriving at a virtually empty car park just before 7am with light rain in the air I passed a fellow early starter who had camera and large lens in hand and was already returning from the marsh - he hadn't actually come to Titchwell for the birds but in hope of seeing a glimpse of the Chinese water deer which have been seen on the reserve, up until then I thought these were just Muntjac deer but my friend kindly explained the differences, the most obvious one being the large protruding tusks in the adult bucks. Unfortunately his visit had been unsuccessful and the deer had eluded him and his camera this time!
I had hoped to spend more time around the car park (not something I usually do) checking the trees and bushes for summer migrants, this area is often overlooked as visitors head directly for the comforts of the visitors centre but the rain started to get heavier and apart from a couple of bravely calling Chiffchaff's and a small party of Siskin, there was very little else on offer. I made it quickly to the Fen hide overlooking the freshwater marsh, at this point the heaven's opened and I was thankful for the dryness of the hide. I had hoped to see the marsh harriers circling the reed bed but along with most of the other birds they were sensibly taking cover, conscious of the time and despite the rain I decided to cut my losses and head for the recently built very 21st century Parrinder hide which overlooks both fresh and salt water lagoons. I remember the old wooden Parrinder hide which may be more to the liking of the traditionalist but I like the new modern design of hides which are less bird hide these days, more "outdoor educational classrooms" with increased space, excellent visibility and various displays and information on show. I made my way along the main path with woolly hat pulled down below my ears and with the persistent rain ever increasing I did question my decision to come out today because at this point I hadn't seen very much, even raising my binoculars into the cold driving rain seemed more and more of an effort! After finally making it to the shelter of the hide and decamping of my wet clothing there were one or two good birds to be seen with a nice selection of waders on offer, first up was a smart almost full summer plumage Spotted Redshank and then this was quickly followed by Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Curlew and of course several Avocets. A distant female Red-crested Pochard was a nice surprise and Swallows and a single House Martin flitted over the lagoon, a couple of continental White Wagtails amongst our Pied Wagtails was as a nice comparison and were good to see.
The thought of continuing my route along the path to the sand dunes and the sea didn't really wet my appetite in the current weather conditions, although a braver soul may have been rewarded for their efforts as sea watching in this weather may have produced some good birds - my thoughts were more of breakfast and a hot bath! I spied an opening in the dark clouds and may be a brief respite in the rain, I decided to make a dash for it back in the direction of the visitors centre. This brief stoppage in the weather had the desired effect on the birds as I picked up a distant pair of Marsh Harriers over the reed bed and two Wheatears along the footpath, freshly in from their wintering grounds. Summer visiting Sedge Warblers started to make their noisy rambling warbles within the reeds without yet revealing themselves and their identifying parachuting displays. I then heard the distinctive "ping, ping, ping" of Bearded Tits fairly nearby as then a male bird climbed the reeds and showed off its black moustache contrasting on its pale grey head. Then lastly as I walked the wooden boardwalk through the reeds and vegetation the unmistakable sound of a Cettis Warbler caught my attention as it exploded into song in the dense undergrowth up ahead, this usually difficult bird to see kindly showed itself to me for an all too brief couple of seconds before disappearing again. Continuing my dash back to the car before the next deluge of rain came, the Chiffchaff's were still calling as the car park began to fill with the steady stream of visitors keen to see what delights Titchwell could offer up!
Was it worth getting up in the dark and looking for birds through steamy binoculars with the lenses covered in rain drops ...........you bet it was!
More about the reserve at Titchwell and Chinese water deer can be found on these two links.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/titchwellmarsh/
http://www.bds.org.uk/chinese_water_deer.html
I started my visit early and despite a less than optimistic weather forecast I was determined to make the most of my opportunity, arriving at a virtually empty car park just before 7am with light rain in the air I passed a fellow early starter who had camera and large lens in hand and was already returning from the marsh - he hadn't actually come to Titchwell for the birds but in hope of seeing a glimpse of the Chinese water deer which have been seen on the reserve, up until then I thought these were just Muntjac deer but my friend kindly explained the differences, the most obvious one being the large protruding tusks in the adult bucks. Unfortunately his visit had been unsuccessful and the deer had eluded him and his camera this time!
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| Adult buck Chinese water deer |
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| The contrasting old and modern style of bird hides |
The thought of continuing my route along the path to the sand dunes and the sea didn't really wet my appetite in the current weather conditions, although a braver soul may have been rewarded for their efforts as sea watching in this weather may have produced some good birds - my thoughts were more of breakfast and a hot bath! I spied an opening in the dark clouds and may be a brief respite in the rain, I decided to make a dash for it back in the direction of the visitors centre. This brief stoppage in the weather had the desired effect on the birds as I picked up a distant pair of Marsh Harriers over the reed bed and two Wheatears along the footpath, freshly in from their wintering grounds. Summer visiting Sedge Warblers started to make their noisy rambling warbles within the reeds without yet revealing themselves and their identifying parachuting displays. I then heard the distinctive "ping, ping, ping" of Bearded Tits fairly nearby as then a male bird climbed the reeds and showed off its black moustache contrasting on its pale grey head. Then lastly as I walked the wooden boardwalk through the reeds and vegetation the unmistakable sound of a Cettis Warbler caught my attention as it exploded into song in the dense undergrowth up ahead, this usually difficult bird to see kindly showed itself to me for an all too brief couple of seconds before disappearing again. Continuing my dash back to the car before the next deluge of rain came, the Chiffchaff's were still calling as the car park began to fill with the steady stream of visitors keen to see what delights Titchwell could offer up!
Was it worth getting up in the dark and looking for birds through steamy binoculars with the lenses covered in rain drops ...........you bet it was!
More about the reserve at Titchwell and Chinese water deer can be found on these two links.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/titchwellmarsh/
http://www.bds.org.uk/chinese_water_deer.html
Sunday 15 April 2012
North Norfolk
I've just returned from a family holiday to one of my favourite parts of the UK - north Norfolk and its wonderful coastline. I feel I have a special affiliation with this part of the world as when I first left school I spent a summer working with the RSPB at their Titchwell reserve as a voluntary warden, most of this time was spent maintaining the reserve for the public with a couple of excellent projects to keep you busy. Like the time we created habitat for bitterns by wading up to our waistline into the reed bed, cutting the reeds down below the surface of the water to create small open pools within the reeds for bitterns to feed, or sitting in a one man hide in shifts of up to four hours, overseeing a nesting colony of little terns on the shingle beach (sadly gone now) or trying to build up the natural sea defences by increasing the height of the sand dunes by laying cut down branches onto the existing dune in hope this would build up the height over time and protect the salt marsh from the rising tides, all of these activities were under the watchful gaze of Norman Sills (warden) who had a never ending passion and energy for conservation. After leaving Titchwell, Norman went onto manage the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath to continue his good work, anyone who has visited Lakenheath can see what a great success he has achieved - I look back fondly on the efforts of that summer and despite the hard work I found the whole experience rewarding and educating.
Although family commitments reduced the amount of time available for birdwatching in general I did manage a surprise visit to the NNT Holme reserve after finding out our planned trip to Brancaster had to be postponed due to the hide tide covering the only road to the beach! We spent a couple of hours on the beach with the children collecting shells, crabs and digging holes in the sand. Whilst walking along the shoreline we unfortunately discovered a dead Bar-tailed Godwit which by the looks of things had been deceased for some time! And this wasn't the only dead bird we found that day, we also found an adult Fulmar in pristine condition which after closer inspection looked like it had died from natural causes - we decided to bury the bird in the sand as I did my best to explain to the children the bird would go to some kind of 'bird heaven'.
All the time we were on the beach I kept a close eye on the skies and picked up my first swallows of the spring heading north closely hugging the Norfolk cost line, Sanderlings were still in their wonderful white winter plumage running up and down the sandy shore, looking out to see there wasn't much movement apart from the odd flock of Bar-tailed Godwit and a distant large flock of Brent geese. We decided to make tracks and head back to the car as the northerly breeze in off the sea kept the temperature's low and we were all starting to get hungry! On our way back to the car park through the sand dunes we flushed a couple of Wheatear's and as I approached the bushes around Gore Point, whilst still keeping an eye out for any arriving summer migrants I noticed a thrush shaped bird sat up on one of the bushes - RING OUZEL! a male, fantastic, after watching the bird for only a matter of seconds and kindly handing my bins to Mrs Brown for a quick look a second bird arrived and then quickly disappeared into cover, deciding to move around the bushes for a better view 'chuck', 'chuck', 'chuck' came the call and THREE birds flew out of the cover and headed in the general direction of Hunstanton further along the coast - what a great end to a day on the beach, especially as I had been on Wanstead Flats the previous weekend looking for a Ring Ouzel without success.
I've since found out there had been a decent influx of Ring Ouzel's over the last few days along the north Norfolk coast with up to seven birds seen together at Cley and several other birds dotted along the coast - Still nothing beats the thrill of finding your own birds!
Although family commitments reduced the amount of time available for birdwatching in general I did manage a surprise visit to the NNT Holme reserve after finding out our planned trip to Brancaster had to be postponed due to the hide tide covering the only road to the beach! We spent a couple of hours on the beach with the children collecting shells, crabs and digging holes in the sand. Whilst walking along the shoreline we unfortunately discovered a dead Bar-tailed Godwit which by the looks of things had been deceased for some time! And this wasn't the only dead bird we found that day, we also found an adult Fulmar in pristine condition which after closer inspection looked like it had died from natural causes - we decided to bury the bird in the sand as I did my best to explain to the children the bird would go to some kind of 'bird heaven'.
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The skull of the long deceased aforementioned Bar-tailed Godwit
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I've since found out there had been a decent influx of Ring Ouzel's over the last few days along the north Norfolk coast with up to seven birds seen together at Cley and several other birds dotted along the coast - Still nothing beats the thrill of finding your own birds!
Thursday 5 April 2012
Easter Holidays
It's the last day at work before the four day Easter long weekend and I'm contemplating what to do! Summer migrants have been relatively thin on the ground recently, probably due to the northerly wind and the return to wintry cold weather conditions which we have been experiencing over the last couple of days, with only willow warbler and swallow having been reported locally at Wanstead Flats to add to the recent arrival of Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Wheatear.
I recently enjoyed a talk by the 'Urban Birder' David Lindo on his life and travels, including growing up in London and in particular the joys and rewards of 'patch' birding with his local patch being Wormwood Scrubs. He described the time when he said to himself "Today I will find a Ring Ouzel on the patch" and as he walked his usual route around Wormwood Scrubs, low and behold as if by magic one appeared before his eyes! This all sounds too good to be true but in all probability this is not as unlikely as you might think. Ring Ouzels are passage breeding migrants from the thrush family (Turdidae) and breed in the higher grounds of Scotland, Wales and northern England having spent the winter months in the Mediterranean regions. On route to their breeding grounds in the spring they have to stop to feed and this is when you have an outside chance of seeing one of these birds on your local patch! The birds love open ground like playing fields or parks surrounded by bushes or trees for cover and will stop over for a day or two to feed before continuing their journey north, they can be particularly difficult birds to see as they can be quite nervy and will often quickly take to cover if disturbed, when in the open they can be seen on the ground in the grassy fringes of a field feeding in the same way you would see a blackbird or song thrush feeding, looking for grubs, insects or earthworms in the grass. The autumn gives you another chance to see these birds away from their usual breeding grounds, perhaps even more of a chance than in the spring if it has been a successful breeding year, as there will be a greater number of birds moving south with juveniles in tow, stopping again to feed on route before heading on to warmer climates.
Next time you are over the park with children or grandchildren in the spring or autumn and you see a blackbird feeding on the ground just take a moment and have second look to ensure you haven't just found yourself a Ring Ouzel!
So, to start my Easter weekend and in the words of David Lindo "I'm going to find a Ring Ouzel on Wanstead Flats tomorrow" - We shall see!
For more information on Ring Ouzel's, please check this excellent website out http://www.ringouzel.info/index.html
I recently enjoyed a talk by the 'Urban Birder' David Lindo on his life and travels, including growing up in London and in particular the joys and rewards of 'patch' birding with his local patch being Wormwood Scrubs. He described the time when he said to himself "Today I will find a Ring Ouzel on the patch" and as he walked his usual route around Wormwood Scrubs, low and behold as if by magic one appeared before his eyes! This all sounds too good to be true but in all probability this is not as unlikely as you might think. Ring Ouzels are passage breeding migrants from the thrush family (Turdidae) and breed in the higher grounds of Scotland, Wales and northern England having spent the winter months in the Mediterranean regions. On route to their breeding grounds in the spring they have to stop to feed and this is when you have an outside chance of seeing one of these birds on your local patch! The birds love open ground like playing fields or parks surrounded by bushes or trees for cover and will stop over for a day or two to feed before continuing their journey north, they can be particularly difficult birds to see as they can be quite nervy and will often quickly take to cover if disturbed, when in the open they can be seen on the ground in the grassy fringes of a field feeding in the same way you would see a blackbird or song thrush feeding, looking for grubs, insects or earthworms in the grass. The autumn gives you another chance to see these birds away from their usual breeding grounds, perhaps even more of a chance than in the spring if it has been a successful breeding year, as there will be a greater number of birds moving south with juveniles in tow, stopping again to feed on route before heading on to warmer climates.
Next time you are over the park with children or grandchildren in the spring or autumn and you see a blackbird feeding on the ground just take a moment and have second look to ensure you haven't just found yourself a Ring Ouzel!
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| Male Ring Ouzel |
So, to start my Easter weekend and in the words of David Lindo "I'm going to find a Ring Ouzel on Wanstead Flats tomorrow" - We shall see!
For more information on Ring Ouzel's, please check this excellent website out http://www.ringouzel.info/index.html
Sunday 1 April 2012
The sound of summer
Cuckoo? Willow Warbler? No.......The Swift is my sound of the summer..
Of all of our migratory summer visiting birds the Swift is usually one of our last to arrive with most birds first seen towards the end of April or the beginning of May, having travelled over 4,000 miles from their wintering feeding grounds in Central and Southern Africa. At first these elegant masters of the skies silently arrive almost unnoticed but as more birds arrive and their numbers start to increase that familiar sound of a piercing scream fills our skies once again as birds re-equate themselves with former partners, or previous non breeding birds vie for the attention of a potential new partner as they race past at breathtaking speeds. Once the short breeding season is over and the juveniles have fledged, adults and juveniles join together in a noisy and acrobatic display in the skies above flocking together in 50 or more before their all too brief summer visit is over for another year and, as the end of August approaches, they start to make their return trip south again for warmer climates and better feeding grounds ahead of our cooler autumn weather and once again our skies fall silent for another year.
Where I live in a Edwardian terraced street in north-east London, where the houses were built more than a century ago, I'm lucky enough to see these birds every year as they breed and make their nests under the eaves, in a gap in the wall or under a broken or slipped tile. Unfortunately, due in main to the modern methods of building new houses and the materials used, these enigmatic birds are at risk with recent research and studies showing their numbers have plummeted alarmingly by 50% over of the last 20 years with estimates suggesting there are now less than 50,000 breeding birds left in the UK.
With this in mind I decided to make a couple of Swift boxes, the easy part was constructing the boxes the difficuly came when I had to install the boxes under the guttering of my house on the north or east facing wall 60ft high!
To install the Swift boxes I looked at a couple of options, Plan A was to contact a roofing friend I know and borrow a set of long ladders and scale the side of the house but after surveying the site and for my own personal health and safety it was decided this was a bit too risky, especially due to the narrow lean of the ladders and the slope the house sits upon!
It was then decided to put Plan B into action - open upstairs bathroom window, lean out carefully and attach the boxes to the underside of the fascia board beneath the guttering, probably not the best location available for the boxes but a lot safer, but even this position caused its own problems and I had to settle with installing the boxes slightly lower than first planned! There was a Plan C which involved calling the local fire service - probably not the smartest of ideas!
The boxes are now up and as I patiently await the arrival of our summer visitors, I can reflect upon the sounds of last summer and hope the boxes will be successful in attracting a breeding pair of Swifts this year, but should the boxes be unused this summer I still feel a sense of achievement in at least trying to make a difference no matter how small.
For more information on Swifts and building your own nest boxes
http://www.londons-swifts.org.uk/ is an excellent resource.
Of all of our migratory summer visiting birds the Swift is usually one of our last to arrive with most birds first seen towards the end of April or the beginning of May, having travelled over 4,000 miles from their wintering feeding grounds in Central and Southern Africa. At first these elegant masters of the skies silently arrive almost unnoticed but as more birds arrive and their numbers start to increase that familiar sound of a piercing scream fills our skies once again as birds re-equate themselves with former partners, or previous non breeding birds vie for the attention of a potential new partner as they race past at breathtaking speeds. Once the short breeding season is over and the juveniles have fledged, adults and juveniles join together in a noisy and acrobatic display in the skies above flocking together in 50 or more before their all too brief summer visit is over for another year and, as the end of August approaches, they start to make their return trip south again for warmer climates and better feeding grounds ahead of our cooler autumn weather and once again our skies fall silent for another year.
Where I live in a Edwardian terraced street in north-east London, where the houses were built more than a century ago, I'm lucky enough to see these birds every year as they breed and make their nests under the eaves, in a gap in the wall or under a broken or slipped tile. Unfortunately, due in main to the modern methods of building new houses and the materials used, these enigmatic birds are at risk with recent research and studies showing their numbers have plummeted alarmingly by 50% over of the last 20 years with estimates suggesting there are now less than 50,000 breeding birds left in the UK.
With this in mind I decided to make a couple of Swift boxes, the easy part was constructing the boxes the difficuly came when I had to install the boxes under the guttering of my house on the north or east facing wall 60ft high!
To install the Swift boxes I looked at a couple of options, Plan A was to contact a roofing friend I know and borrow a set of long ladders and scale the side of the house but after surveying the site and for my own personal health and safety it was decided this was a bit too risky, especially due to the narrow lean of the ladders and the slope the house sits upon!
It was then decided to put Plan B into action - open upstairs bathroom window, lean out carefully and attach the boxes to the underside of the fascia board beneath the guttering, probably not the best location available for the boxes but a lot safer, but even this position caused its own problems and I had to settle with installing the boxes slightly lower than first planned! There was a Plan C which involved calling the local fire service - probably not the smartest of ideas!
The boxes are now up and as I patiently await the arrival of our summer visitors, I can reflect upon the sounds of last summer and hope the boxes will be successful in attracting a breeding pair of Swifts this year, but should the boxes be unused this summer I still feel a sense of achievement in at least trying to make a difference no matter how small.
For more information on Swifts and building your own nest boxes
http://www.londons-swifts.org.uk/ is an excellent resource.
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