The Golden Wellies

The RSPB runs an internal competition The Golden Wellies to find the best passage wader site each year.  There are both league and knockout elements to the competition to test good wetland management throughout the year.  Monthly counts of waders are recorded; they have to be ‘feet down’ on a managed fresh/brackish scrape or flood (not tidal). This year the results of the Wellies for 2013 have ‘leaked’ and I can exclusively reveal that the winner of the best passage wader site in the RSPB last year was Frampton Marsh. Frampton, recording 32 species, just pipped Minsmere (31) to the title after the latter had led the competition for most of the season.  The highlights of Frampton’s year included Black-winged Stilts, Dotterel, Baird’s and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, as well as at least 4 Pectoral Sandpipers and up to 6 Temminck’s Stints.

Fairburn Ings finished in 3^rd place in the Premier League, just beating local rivals Dearne Valley on Gull Difference (a measure of wader diversity each month). That these sites are just 2 species short of the top spot highlights the importance of well managed inland wader habitat.  Up and coming South Essex and old hand Lodmoor/Radipole were promoted from the Championship up into the Premier league this year, both with 27 species.   Snettisham and Exminster Marshes were promoted from League One.

In all, 43 species of wader were recorded during the year, with a peak monthly count across all sites of 100,353 waders being recorded in September.  Monthly peak counts included 14 Temminck’s Stints and 260 Whimbrel in May, 11,819 Dunlin in July, 476 Ruff, 206 Curlew Sandpipers and 67 Wood Sandpipers in August, and 13 Pec Sands in September.  I hear new scrapes are already being prepared for the start of the 2014 competition. 

The Premier League and Championship finished like this:

The Premier League                                                The Championship

1.   Frampton Marsh    32 species                             South Essex Marshes     27

2.   Minsmere                31                                         Radipole/Lodmoor         27

3.   Fairburn Ings          30                                         Belfast Lough                 26

4.   Dearne Valley        30                                          Saltholme                       26

5.   Dungeness              28                                         Arne                                26

6.   Titchwell                 28                                         Mid-Yare                        23

7.   Rainham  Marsh    28                                         Ham Wall                       23

8.   Ouse Washes          28                                         Havergate Island            23 

9.   Ouse Fen                 27                                         Leighton Moss                22

10. Old Hall Marsh      26                                          Pulborough Brooks        22

11. Burton Mere           26                                          Fen Drayton                   19 

12. Conwy                    24                                          Campfield Marsh          19

13. Loch of Strathbeg   22                                          The Reef                         17

14. Otmoor                    19

Pics: The Wellie, Frampton scrapes, Buff-breast (and Ruff) at Frampton (photo- Steve Keightley)

A bit of sniping

I recently drafted the text for Snipe for a forthcoming Birds of Hertfordshire.  A tale of woe.  Sage (1959) stated that ‘There is little doubt that the Snipe is a widespread breeding bird in suitable localities over the county’.  With the last proven breeding in the county at Rye Meads in 1998, the Snipe is now extinct locally as a breeding bird. During the 1988-92 Atlas, Snipe bred at Rye Meads, King’s Meads, Sawbridgeworth Marsh and Standon Lordship.  I knew all of these sites well when Snipe were breeding, so today I went out to take a look at what had changed.

Rye Meads looks great at the moment; nicely flooded and with lots of Snipe.  This used to be a great site for breeding Snipe but became unmanaged during the 1980s with the result that they ceased breeding.  In the early 1990s, Rye Meads was acquired as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust.  With management back in place, Snipe returned and up to 3 pairs bred during that decade but ceased to breed again by the early 00s.  Sawbridgeworth Marsh today also looked nice and wet, but the over-riding impression since Snipe last bred was one of changing vegetation.  Some excellent work is being put in to maintain a small area of fen meadow but overall there is a spread of coarse vegetation and scrub.   During my years at the Wildlife Trust, King’s Meads was one of the sites I put a lot of effort into acquiring as a nature reserve in the early 90s.  I remember complaining publicly that a management change by Thames Water had resulted in the loss of breeding Snipe and Garganey.  They were on the phone pronto, balling me out, but the fact remains that it happened. Today, at King’s Mead there is serious deterioration of the meadow sward; where once there was tussocky grass, Adder’s-tongue Fern and Snipe, today there is a sea of sedge and rush.  Finally, I looked at Standon Lordship, the one site in private ownership rather than a nature reserve.  The old Snipe meadow was partly under willow plantation, partly grazed to billiard table.

The reasons for the loss of Snipe at each of these sites is, in my view, as clear as the beak on its head: inappropriate management of either water or sward.  We have come to expect losses on private land through agricultural intensification but the sad truth is that, on the other side, we also have losses at nature reserves due to insufficient management.  So, back to the Snipe text and tell it how it is.  Anything we can do about the situation?  Perhaps, we shall see.

A quick meze or two

The occasional trip abroad is a perk for the over-worked, under-paid ecologist.  Cyprus was the venue for the latest jaunt, with the only hardship being the preparation and delivery of a presentation on the management of coastal lagoons.  On the up-side - hearing about projects across Europe, in Spain, France, Slovenia, Greece and of course Cyprus, the ouzo, meze, and a quick tour of some of the key birding sites on the island.

Akrotiri Lake was much as I remembered it from 30 years previously - a shrunken, distant, heat-hazed wetland with thousands of pinky-flamingo-shaped-shapes.  The scruffy pools behind Lady's Mile Beach at Zakaki were still good despite some on-going works around them and offered up Citrine Wagtails, Bluethroats, White Pelican, Penduline Tits, Red-footed Falcon and a selection of waders.

The muddy margins of Akhna Reservoir looked good, but heavy disturbance by fishermen and shooters left it virtually bird-less and disappointing. 50+ Spur-winged Plovers was the highlight.  By contrast, the undisturbed airport treatment lagoons held many birds; lots of Shoveler with some Teal and Garganey, a good variety of waders including Marsh Sandpiper and a couple of Whiskered Terns. Loafing large gulls allowed a leisurely ID comparison of mixed flocks of Yellow-legged, Armenian, Caspian and Baltic Gulls. At least 40 Red-throated Pipits grovelled and pssseeii-ed around the margins, along with a couple of Black Francolins.

John was desperate to re-live his clubbing days at Aya Napa but luckily we overshot to Cape Greco. Some continuing migration was evident by the regular flocks of bugling Common Cranes passing overhead.  BOPs were also on the move, with Short-toed Eagles, Sparrowhawks and some distant ring-tail harriers. Cyprus, Sardinian and Spectacled Warblers scuttled around the sparse bushes and we finally managed to dig out a couple of the wintering Finsch's Wheatears.

Pics - Spectacled, Finsch's, Baltic, Armenian, Caspian, Cranes and Short-toed Eagle.

 

Holl-utopia

A new wetland makes its debut this week. Back in July, work started on a new coastal lagoon in Suffolk, in the style of a newly created site we had seen in The Netherlands.   Utopia on the island of Texel came to Hollesley in Suffolk and we now have Holl-utopia.  After the moving around of 16,000 m³ of soils and the installation of two sluices on the 18 ha site, water was allowed onto the site last weekend.  A day later, the first good bird, a Glossy Ibis, turned up.

Holl-utopia is a shallow lagoon with a high percentage of islands; some grassy, some bare, some covered in sand or gravel.  The objective is to attract breeding waders, such as Avocet, Ringed Plover and Redshank, hopefully breeding terns, and certainly passage and roosting waders.  Water levels will drop during the spring and summer to expose extensive muddy areas.  An electric anti-predator fence around the margin will keep the local foxes as mere spectators. 

Tern around

Previous blogs have discussed the remarkable increase of breeding Black-headed Gulls on rafts in the Lee Valley and their interactions with the Common Terns the rafts were intended for.  There is a widespread feeling that the terns are being squeezed out by the Black-heads.  Last years total of 56 pairs of Common Terns was the lowest in the valley for some 30 years and productivity was poor.  However, this summer has seen a more encouraging picture with an increase to 72 pairs spread across four sites and with a minimum of 77 young birds fledged.   The Black-heads continued their rapid increase; from 107 to 180 pairs. The graph below shows Lee Valley nesting Common Terns in blue, Black-heads in red.

 

This year, a few new c-rafty ideas were tried out.  One theory has it that the gulls prefer nesting against an edge, whereas terns prefer the open spaces in the middle of the raft.   At Rye Meads, 4 normal sized 3 x 3m rafts with wire-framed side panels were locked together and put out with a new giant 6 x 6m raft with open edges sloping into the water (see pics above).  We sat back and waited.  The gulls arrived and occupied all the corners and edges of the smaller rafts, with only the last few birds settling on the large raft, and most of these nesting against the chick shelters provided for the terns. Somewhat surprisingly, the first terns settled in the middle of the gulls on the smaller rafts, with a few on the new raft.  On a group of rafts on another site, a similar pattern was noted, with the terns settling amongst gulls despite considerable space being available.  Are the terns nesting amongst gulls for protection? And balancing this against any hassle they may get from the gulls?

So the jury is still out on whether Black-heads are squeezing out terns, as long as there is enough space for both.   Try larger rafts, with Black-heads around the edges and terns in the central space.  Put at least one raft out later, just as the terns are arriving, so at least some space is available for them. Then sit back and enjoy both gulls and terns.

This is the right island, inish?

For once I was in the elite squad. On the plane, just behind the bandana boys. Slightly fortuitous it has to be said. I booked the flights to Ireland a couple of months back, little knowing an Eastern Kingbird would appear the day before the flight. Anyway I was there. A quick hop over the water, off the plane, pick up the hire car and away in a screech of wheels.  And still just behind the bandana.

But they must have caught an earlier ferry as they were nowhere to be seen as we boarded the Happy Hooker, complete with Bottle-nosed Dolphin riding the bow. After an hour we were on Inishmore. “Arrh, birders” said the bike man, adding “It was me that hired the bike to the guy that found the Kingbird”.  Perfect. A sign.  A quick check on Birdguides before we peddled off  (other equally expensive info services are available); no sign of the Eastern Kingbird on Inishbofin.  Inish-where?

Birding on Inishmore is easy. There are basically 3 types of birds there; those with red breasts, those that are black/grey and go "Karrr", and rares. Anything that doesn't have a red breast or go “Karrr” is worth a look. But they are hard to find. My first day’s tally was encouraging: red breasts 2017, Karrrs 234, rares 0.  By the end of the trip the results were only a little better: a couple of Chiffchaffs, a few Wheatears, two Lapland Bunts, a Yellow-browed Warbler, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a Little Stint, a Med Gull and two Ring-billed Gulls.  One evening, after a few pints of Guinness, I had a thought; if you want to find yanks in a foreign country then the best bet is probably America.

Going, going, Rudong

After a weeks ‘lock in’ at Chongming Dongtan, the design work to create a series of lagoons, reedbed and saltmarsh was nearing completion. The final task was to present the plan to an assorted group of Shanghai officials, reserve directors and academics from the local Fudan University. Two hours ecological quizzing by the professors was somewhat challenging but seemed to go okay and then off to lunch with our very hospitable hosts. The custom appeared to be for each person considered to be a host to individually drink a toast to each guest with rice wine. There were a lot of hosts. Refills and toasters kept coming. Then the food, a lovely mix of local dishes; fish, shrimp, shellfish, succulent pork, duck and ‘poison fish’ soup. I like this sort of trip.

With the job done, a bit of free time was in order and we were soon off on the 2-hour trip up the coast to the fishing port of Rudong. But not before we had a bit of feedback on a colour-ringed Black-faced Spoonbill I had photographed on the reserve a couple of days before. It was a second year bird, ringed as a nestling in Korea in July 2012. It wintered at Mai Po reserve in Hong Kong until May 2013 before turning up at Chongming Dongtan. On arrival at Rudong, we were pointed by local birders towards an area of coastal scrub good for migrants. An old man was selling incense from a small brick building on the edge of the area. We saw a few Siberian Thrushes, Pale-legged Warbler, Asian Brown and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, Richard’s and Red-throated Pipits headed south calling.

Then off to the mudflats and a walk out amongst the giant wind turbines, shellfish gatherers and assorted vehicles. Lots of Great Knot, sandplovers, stints, Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, a few Nordmann’s Greenshank and then a small feeding flock of the target bird; Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Little is known about the feeding requirements of Spoonies on migration but Rudong is clearly an important site. Up to 50 birds had been counted here in the last week and every one we saw was in wing moult. By now the local press were aware of our presence and were hot-footing it across the mud. Close behind them were representatives from the local authority with an invitation to lunch; an opportunity to press home some points on shorebird conservation. A major area of the Rudong mudflats is destined to become a port in the near future. Presumably the area amongst the turbines will stay, but still raked daily by hundreds of fishermen, pulling out ragworms and shellfish. The high tide approached, the sea rushed in and the waders poured over the sea wall to roost on recently reclaimed land; soon to be built on. As we returned for lunch, we passed the area of scrub. Half had been freshly bulldozed, as had the building the old man had been selling incense from. Just a pile a bricks remained. Such is the speed of development here.

Pics: above - Spoony, Black-faced Spoonbill and Rudong mudflats.
Below - Great Knot, Marsh Sand and 2 hours trading left.