Viewing entries tagged
Bird Song

Spring has Sprung

With more and more spring migrants turning up each day, spring has truly sprung and the last two days it’s really felt like it. Saw my first Wheatear in Blaenavon and lots more reports along with Sand Martin, Blackcap and Chiffchaff, though I wonder how many of those actually wintered this year as this winter saw Swallows wintering in double figures, which is a true indication of how global warming is affecting our migratory patterns. For Crossbill though, spring is pretty much over already! which is insane! Proof of this is found in the below recording, which is the sound of a fledged Crossbill, begging their parents for food. Crossbill can breed as early as August and throughout the winter, depending on the availability of cones. This is why It gets particularly frustrating when I see woodland clearance throughout the winter that lines up with bumper cone crops as they are most likely disturbing breeding Crossbill. This happened at Wentwood earlier in the year and if we’re to continue producing wood in this manner, we need to be more aware of these cycles in our trees that span 3-4 years, and in some tree species even longer.

As the sun continues to rise above 10c our hardy reptiles species become more active and despite a lack of Adder found, I did have a intimate connection with this Common Lizard, who came out from the shadows whilst I was photographing candle-snuff fungi. I was on the phone at the time too making quite a bit of noise but clearly sunning itself was more important and it didn’t see me as a threat. This was evident as it allowed me to get within centimetres without moving an inch.

You’ll notice that I’m including landscape images for the first time. Don’t get used to it as I’m only borrowing this lens lol. It’s a 16-35mm which is quite a handy focal length for those wider perspectives which I just simply haven’t been able todo before. The lens is going back this week so I’ll have to start saving the pennies to purchase my own as I’ve quite enjoyed using it.

Stopped off along the canal on the way to Abergavenny where I found an isolated population of Violet Oil-beetles. There won’t be a year that I don’t set aside time to observe these spectacular species of beetle. They are so delicate it makes you wonder how on earth they survive at all and their life cycle is so dependant on the success of solitary bee’s that it makes they a really good indicator species. I won’t tell the story again, I seem to blog about this every year but if you don’t know, check this PDF out from Buglife.

Amongst the emerging insects are plenty more singing birds, so here’s a few recordings from various places, including the song of a Firecrest which is another new territory to the south of Gwent. These birds really are doing well in Gwent and are on the right road to increasing their numbers.

You’ll notice in the background if you listen carefully that there are a few Brambling calls nearby. We later spotted a small flock feeding on the ground but I doubt they’ll be around much longer.

This song has got to be a favourite of many, as our uplands are nothing without this cascading sound in the sky. A difficult species to record as it’s always windy up on the hills and any song in flight is hard to keep track of without creating handling noise. That and the fact that they just get so high that you can barely see them, you just have to watch the signal getting weaker and weaker as they rise but keep at it as they’ll soon come back down, and with it, interject more cascading notes as a cue.

I’ll end with a memorable wildlife photography moment, where over 50 Rats were making the most of this bin which has been chained to a fence instead of it being concreted into the ground. As a result they have learned to climb the vertical fence poles, grab the chain and jump in lol. It’s quite entertaining watching the young Rats also try get in there, as they don’t always get it right and I watched multiple miss the lip of the bin and somersault back to the ground. Uninjured of course as these guys are hardy and this sort of stuff comes natural to them. I know they get bad press, but they are just cleaning up after our mess. Nothing gets wasted in nature, and I’m sure there will be some local Foxes and Owls that’ll be hunting them.

Winter Summary

Well I can’t say that the Christmas season was ‘busy’ but after weeks worth of terrible weather in combo with doing my back in, I spent most of my time at home but so far the new year has brought a few windows in the weather, and despite the fact that the temps have dropped some what, with minus temps at night / early mornings, the sun has still been strong enough to spur on early signs of spring already! With lots of budding tree’s, emerging spring flowers, Butterflies on the wing, more singing bird species by the day and even nest building. I spent a few of the sunny days we’ve had so far with my Partner on some beautiful sandy walks around the Ogmore Coastline and some rather wet and muddy walks in the Forest of Dean: Two of our favourite places to be after experiencing a bit of cabin fever over the Christmas period. After a quick procedure in Hospital, I’m almost back into normal routine and I’m very much looking to get back to work and to enjoy the signs of the fast approaching spring.

For the photographers interested in gear, all bar the swan pics were taken with the 2x extender on the 400 DO ii / R6 and some even with both the 2x and 1.4x extender stacked ontop of each other. This combo wouldn’t even work on my 7Dmk ii but the focusing speed on the R6 is so good, it’s a combo i’ll be using more often.

Whilst winter is far from over just yet, I did have some winter goals which mostly included species I wished to sound recording. Top of the list was Dipper, which I did manage to share with you on my last blog, but I also really wanted to record Crossbill singing and with a bumper crop of cones this winter, it seemed to be the perfect year. My first attempt after a kick out of the door by my friend Craig Constance and here were the results: I got two close encounters with two different males below and also a recording showing their ‘excitement call’ which is said to reaffirm bonds between pairs, but in my observations, they also seem to use this call to alert other crossbill that they are grouping up to have a drink. You’ll notice this time of year that you get sometimes large flocks of crossbill all drinking together at a puddle and they do this together as it’s a time where they are most vulnerable to predators. Usually one or two Crossbill will remain high up in a tree with good visibility all around just to keep a watch out and once they are done, they usually split off and continue with feeding. You’ll probably already know, that Crossbill breed according to the availability of cones, which means they could breed in the depths of winter. There were a few Crossbill collecting material so I presume they are breeding right now and there were plenty of song flight displays, which is the only recording I didn’t manage to capture, so if I don’t manage to get that this year, that’s something I’ll have to wait for. Either way, I’m very please with the recordings below.

In Our Nature CIC

Be sure to check out my business In Our Nature CIC as we roll out free online workshops and downloadable resources, as part of our Heritage Lottery funded project My Local Patch.

We have a few dates for the diary, which were intended on being outdoor workshops originally but we’re having to adapt like many other businesses and provide our workshops online. It’s all new for us so bare with us as we digitise all our material. It’s the perfect time to celebrate our local patches, and be thankful for the things we do have on our doorstep during these difficult times.

Naturally I’ve diverted a lot of my time over to In Our Nature, which is another reason why I’ve focused so much on sound recording the last year, to increase my sound library to produce content that will be beneficial for educational purposes and therapeutic, as the sounds of nature really do have a positive impact on peoples mental health. That sense of freedom, roaming your favourite forest straight after a long lockdown is one of the biggest releases and I cannot wait to be able to travel again for that reason alone. For now I’ve been exploiting local patches, getting up that extra bit early to avoid the sounds of traffic, which isn’t always achievable but I’ve done my best. Local Marsh Tit’s were a real nice surprise, especially as they appeared to be paired up and singing. Generally though I’m just happy to start hearing more birds singing.

One interesting songster came in the form of this Chaffinch, which gave a little ‘brrrrrrr’ type trill at the start, as if it were warming up the vocals before giving it the full shebang.

Nocmig

I haven’t posted any updates on my nocturnal migration progress for a while, but I’m still at it!
So much to talk about I don’t even know where to start, but I hope to reveal some mystery files soon once I’ve got them approved but so far, a few good movements of Song Thrush, small numbers of Redwing, but the Mallards, Moorhens, Coots and Oystercatchers have began. I know as soon as I start to get Oystercatchers going over the house it’s game on.

I’ll end with some random doorstep photos, in what has been a variable and unpredictable few months of weather so far this year.

January Whiplash

January is giving me whiplash! Heavy rain and flooding, followed by a cold snap, followed by mild weather which spurred on an early spring with more birds singing and spring flowers emerging, then we got hit with snow, but swiftly followed by rain and milder temps again. Either way, I think the over-all pull of spring is fast approaching, no matter what the weather throws at us, it’s just around the corner.

January has the potential to be a little depressing for me, especially with Lockdown’s and a period of ill health and in general, a lot of stress in the family right now. So far though, we’ve dealt with everything together, no thanks to a good support system from my loved ones. The reassuring feeling that spring is fast upon us, is also very up-lifting. Already in the Garden I’m hearing a variety of different birds joining in on the action, as winter food supplies are running out, it can be a difficult time of year if the cold drags out any longer, but despite the cold night time temps, the daytime temps have been way above average and I’m already seeing substantial growth from my Daffodils in my Garden. Reports online of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, Blue Tit’s making nests and plenty of Frogspawn in ponds. It’l be a few more weeks yet and really anything could happen as I’m reminded of the beast from the east that we experienced a few years ago.

I had a period of ill health, back and forth hospital with suspected gall bladder problems (again) but once I was feeling a bit more myself I started to record the birds I could hear from my doorstep. Everything in the little playlist below was taken from the comfort of my home.

Prior to the hospital trips I was enjoying getting out on my daily walks along the canal, and thankfully I was in walking distance of a Black Redstart, that was found by Marcus Doolan along the cycle track near Tesco. Such a random place, right next to a busy main road, but I believe the bird stayed for a while. It could even be still there! It was so tame, not very often you have to take the teleconverters off the camera, so all these were shot at 300mm (on a 1.6x crop sensor). Such a beautiful bird though, and well worth the walk.

Along the way, I was surprised to see so many Goosander, that appear to be getting a lot more socialised around people than they once were. I remember just a few years ago with one or two present along the south Sebastopol stretch of canal, but as soon as they saw anybody coming, they would fly away. Now though, they are following the Mallards around and coming in for the bread thrown out by public. Considering bread is bad for Ducks, I can’t imagine it’s that great for Goosander either, especially given that their diet usually consist of fish.

I’m back to work now though, awaiting some results from the specialist, so hopefully this experience will push my investigation along a bit quicker. My surveying Jobs take me to some random places, but for the last two years I’ve spent a lot of time surveying parts of the Gwent Levels. This week I had two very different locations to survey, one being a very busy farm and the other alongside the very tranquil Magor Marsh Nature Reserve.
I am very appreciative of my Job at the moment as I’ve particularly struggled this lockdown, as I know many of you are too. So I took the time before and after some of my surveys to capture a taste of what those areas sounded like. I hope you take the time to listen with your headphones as I’ve embraced the sounds of the environment, including sounds that I would typical avoid, like tractors, dogs, cars, trains ect, as we don't always get to chose our daily soundtrack, especially during these lockdown periods.

I’ll start with my day on the farm. Snow was on the ground, with -5 morning temps on a dawn survey, but spring was still in the area, with my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and plenty of other birds to keep me perked up.

Also you’ll know by now already, I enjoy recording mimicking birds, and that morning I recorded this Robin, which gave a few good impressions during the short period I recorded. One phrase of a Great Tit, followed by another of a Blue Tit, but attempts were made to mimic Cetti’s Warbler and Goldfinch towards the end.

By far the best mimicker of the bunch though was this iconic Starling, which towards the end does a very convincing Yellowhammer Song! when not being outcompeted by a nearby Robin. As incredible Starlings are at mimicking, they aren’t very loud singers.

On another survey, I was lucky to have Magor Marsh Nature Reserve on my route, as part of a wider scope survey across the Gwent Levels. I was surprised to see Mute Swans building a nest already, but listening to the recordings below you would think it was spring, as so much was singing that morning. 2 Gadwall of note from the hide, one female of which has a white wing bar, which I have seen before. Only 6 Teal, 1 Kingfisher and plenty of Mallard, Coot, Little Grebe and Moorhens on the pond. Lesser Redpolls seem to be using the reserve quite often too and still plenty of Cetti’s Warblers making themselves known from time to time.

As I said, there were a lot singing that morning, but it’s always nice to get a recording of wintering birds singing, like this Redwing. This is their subsong rather than their full breeding song, but personally I tend to prefer the more complicated, scratchy subsongs.

I’ll leave you with plenty more songsters, including a performance from a Jackdaw that was trying to impress a female. Finishing with a Great Tit alarm calling, but specifically using their ‘Human’ alarm call, which is basically the bird telling me that they know I’m there… a bit pointless if you ask me but who knows what experiences these birds have with other people.

Weird and Wonderful

Photo

Breeding season is by far the busiest time of year for me. I wish my body could just run on nothing so that I could spend every second I could outdoors, but with nothing booked in today and a nice red ‘binocular strap’ sunburn on the back of my neck, I spend the day indoors to catch up on invoicing and general admin work. This also gives me the time to write this blog and catch you up on the weird and wonderful things I’ve been seeing on my surveys or in my garden. Caterpillars can be quite challenging to ID and I’ve photographed a few lately that remain un-identified. Usually the moths are the hardest as there are quite a few that are very similar looking, and there’s just so many of them!. I found my first Western Bee-fly which is a nationally scarce Bee-fly that appears to be quite numerous this year. I found another case of ‘Zombie Fungus’ which is a very strange phenomenon where a fly picks up spores on its skin, that burrow into their body to develop and once developed enough, will induce a chemical that takes over the flies brain! The fly then is possessed by the fungus, that causes it to climb a tall plant (called summiting), from which it is then forced to secrete a glue like substance from its mouth. Only then will the fungus kill the fly by locking up all its joints and limbs, so the wings point to the sky and their legs lock onto the stem. It’s at this stage that the fungus can use all of the flies nutrients, growing out from the body and releasing spores into the air, ready for the cycle to start all over again. It’s literally the thing of nightmares! The Bagworm Moth Larvae was also a good reminder of natures architectural genius, as the larvae uses sticks or reeds of a certain quality to build a safe home that’s completely unappealing to any predator looking to eat them. Some of the shapes they build, truly are incredible. Take a look here for some examples on google.

It’s been a whole year since I found my first roosting Nightjar. It was a special moment after many years of research, as yomping around breeding habitat with no experience is just out of the question. If you think you can just rock up and expect to find one roosting in the day, you’ll go home very disappointed. There’s a reason why these birds are so successful. If you flush one in an attempt to find one, you WILL NOT see them again, as they won’t roost there again. Everybody I’ve met who study Nightjar, do so because they have the utmost enthusiasm and passion for the species and it’s safe to say, I’m in it for life. On that note, below is that very first Nightjar I found in may 2019, which happened to be a female who favoured tree stumps. The females are taking a while to come back this year, but it was even more special that my first Nightjar of 2020 was that exact same female, using her favourite tree stumps again. The more you learn about these birds, the more you realise that they are just individuals, with their individual preferences in life, just like us.

As she had just turned up the night before, she’s already being pestered by the local Males and this isn’t the same Male she paired up with last year, but he was roosting 2 meters away from her, just so he knows where she is once it gets dark enough, so they can continue ‘business’. I hope they have a good year this year, for some reason many females are yet to return, so the Males are a bit lost at present.

Male Nightjar

Sound

Back to sound! (Here’s where most people bow out). Recording mammals can be quite difficult as they’re not always vocal. I’ve had numerous encounters with Weasels for instance and till today I’ve never heard one before! I presume it has a nest somewhere. I couldn’t even see the blighter but this sound was unmistakable.

The same night I had an encounter with two Tawny Owls, that were making all sorts of weird sounds, but recorded here at the typical Kivvik sounds. You may even have one near you? With this hot weather, now’s a good time to listen in bed with the window wide open.

I’ve also added another birdsong to my video list. The Chaffinch is Britain’s most common finch, but till now I’ve not really appreciated it enough. I’m sure their success has everything todo with that powerful bill, which is very versatile in what it can achieve. Their song might be repetitive but listen with a good pair of headphones and the tone is just stunning. It has a well-rounded tone but with really crisp articulation. That and it’s very loud!

Nocmig

Not much to report on the nocturnal migration recordings but I did get a wave of flycatcher like calls that I need to ID. They must be Spotted Flycatchers this time of year but I don’t think the recordings are detailed enough to rule out Pied Flycatcher.

And finally, something to laugh about. I had lots of messages last night, congratulating me on getting one of my images onto the Springwatch program lol. Which was news to me, as I can’t ever remember being asked for permission to use any of my images, so I was a little angry at first.. but then I found out it was Iolo Williams that presented it, so I’ll let him off beings he’s Welsh, and of course, I remembered I added the picture to Springwatches Flickr group, which does state they’re allowed to use any images added to the group for the program, so long as they credit the photographer, which they did. It’s a shame now though everybody thinks there’s a bird called Gavin Vella!! Could have been a worse bird though lets be fair :)

Screenshot 2020-05-29 at 19.33.28.png

Here’s the original image for you to enjoy :) Taken under license in 2019.

The Sound Continues

I’ve added some more birdsongs to my youtube collection. I’m hoping that once I’ve accumulated enough, they can become a reference for people to use to help ID species in the field. Learning birdsong is quite difficult for people who don’t know where to start. By far the best way to learn is to listen, a lot. So it helps to know what you’re listening to prior to going into the field. Take this Whitethroat, for instance, in this recording, you’ll hear their call at the start, their short and sharp song, followed by their longer sub-song which is also used during their flight display. It’s good to familiarise yourself with birds sub-song too as it’s usually these type of vocalisations that people can get caught up on, as they all share similar characteristics between species. A sub-song is often a longer, more complicated song, which could include mimicry in this species also. This is why it’s important to take your time and listen to multiple phrases before drawing any conclusions but if you’re unsure, record multiple phrases on your phone and if you can’t find out what it is yourself, feel free to ask me or somebody else for help.

I’ll do another blog on the Reed Warbler in comparison to a Sedge Warbler as this is another species that people get confused between. The differences are actually quite spectacular once you know what to look out for but for now, familiarise yourself with the slow pace of the Reed Warbler. It might be a complicated song, but it is structured.

Another song that you perhaps won’t hear so much now as they tend to sing early spring. It’s a delicate song, and just like their stone-like call, can easily be missed on a windy day on the moors.

One you won’t mistake in the woods is this iconic sound of a Wood Warbler. It’s described to sound like a penny dropping onto a marble floor, as it a very metallic sound that increases in speed and loudness towards the end.

Nocmig Update

So much to share from the last two days alone, with Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Dunlin and last night my first Spotted Flycatcher.

I appreciate there’s a lot of content here to look thru but you have to listen to this one. It was a special moment recording a Cuckoo at work that literally sang for 30+ Minutes. No females just yet on this patch but two males either end of the woods.

I know we’re still struggling to get thru this lockdown and are eager for things to go back to ‘normality’ but I really do hope that we change our ways before jumping straight back into the fire. The lack of air traffic has had a massive impact on my mental health. My recordings are the best they’ve ever been due to this one fact alone and I’m positive that this period has had a hugely positive effect on our wildlife. I hope that more and more people realise the value of working from home and I hope companies will start to trust their employee’s todo so. Yes, it’s important to have social contact with people, but I do feel that much of this contact is unnecessary at a time where global emissions are at breaking point. Just look at our wonderful verges full of wildflowers and the increase of insects this year alone due to less traffic on the road. We have such an impact on the planet, but this as proven to me that we CAN make big differences with simple life changes.

Bird Song Dialect

It’s somewhat ‘easier’ to notice dialects in species that have relatively simplistic structures to their song, especially in species that don’t use any form of mimicry, like a Yellowhammer. Any differences in song between regions would, therefore, have formed due to direct learning from other males within that area. This is essentially how isolated populations start to form new sub-species and it’s not to say that Yellowhammer ever will split, but it begs belief that DNA results were able to separate Scottish Crossbill from Common Crossbill, despite that fact that the only differences (as far as I’m aware) is their song.
It’s studies like these that really paint the picture about how little we actually know regarding bird dialect, but it can be a useful tool to learn more about their distribution. For instance, in the Uk we primarily have XIB dialect, which is the classic one people are used to hearing, but we do have populations in the Uk that show XsB, BC and some random combinations. If all of a sudden your local yellowhammer is singing a different dialect, it’s safe to say that this bird is probably not your local bird anymore and an ‘outsider’ has moved in. This isn’t a bad thing though as it diversifies the gene-pool.

Here’s a link to Pavels Pipek’s Yellowhammer project - http://www.yellowhammers.net/about.
If you have any sound recordings of Yellowhammer, please send them over as you never know, you might be the first to find a new dialect for the Uk and it all helps with data collection. Here’s a list some of the main dialects that Pavel has discovered in his research:

Yellowhammer Dialects

Here’s a local bird who’s already settled in with his female. I watched them mating straight after extended periods of singing, so he’s doing his Job correctly so far! No signs of nest building yet though, unless of course they’ve finished the nest already. I have lots of stories with Yellowhammers as it’s the main species my Grandfather spoke of growing up. He reminded me time and time again about where they used to breed in Gwent. Some places of which are really hard to believe now as they’ve since been replaced with concrete and buildings.

Here’s my garden Blackbird. He hasn’t got a very varied song yet, which would imply he’s still a young bird as they get richer and more diverse with age. Still a beautiful song but I do miss our old resident bird as he used to mimic my neighbours whistling. I wonder how long it will take before this guy starts doing the same.