Water’s Edge monthly report March 2006

The first three weeks of the month were far from spring like with a constant battering of cold north to north-east reducing the ambient temperature to something in the region of zero on many days. Cold, dull and dismal summed up the period and the resulting bird list suffered as a consequence and producing the latest spring arrivals for many years. Indeed it was the 24th before the arctic grip was released by a sudden thrust of warm south-westerly air which took daytime temperatures up to 14C over the ensuing weekend; positively tropical by comparison with previous days. The month ended on a mild but often wet and windy note as Atlantic depressions tracked east across the country.

Only seven Little Grebes present by the end of the month but on a more positive note a pair of Great Crested Grebe took up residence on pond B and a third bird adopted pond C in the last week. An escapee Pink-footed Goose joined the flock of Greylag and Canada Geese while the first pairs of the latter two species were already choosing their nesting sites around the reedbeds. A pair of Shelduck made a few visits to the site while a pair of Goldeneye were resident on pond A north for most of the month. Otherwise wildfowl variety varied little but abundance increased through the month as prospective breeders joined the remnant wintering population. Gadwall numbers jumped to 22 while Shoveler peaked at 14 birds, Tufted Duck at 25, Pochard 12 and just Teal dropped in numbers with only 12 being seen through the month. Four Pintail flew west on the 11th but failed to drop in but Ruddy Ducks moved back in small numbers with the males bubbling on pond B. No Coot nests were visible after the cold spell mid month; in previous years the first broods of young have appeared by the end of the first week in April. Single Water Rails continued to be seen occasionally but none were heard singing so all the wintering birds could be migrants.

Raptors typically consisted of the local Sparrowhawks but a male Kestrel flew in on the 26th and appeared to head for last years nest box but he failed to stay. A first-winter Marsh Harrier on the 15th was a wintering birds rather than the first spring migrant which arrived in the form of an adult female on the 31st. Another first-winter bird, a Common Buzzard, gave an excellent performance on the morning of the 26th as it arrived from off the Humber heading west over the viewing area before being driven back by two Carrion Crows and soaring over the Middle Lagoon before eventually heading off east. At the start of the breeding season adult Buzzards drive out last year’s youngsters from their territories and these young birds wander widely looking for a suitable area to spend their teenage summer.

Waders were in distinctly short supply with just Redshank being anything like regular. The high tide roost seldom persisted for long due to disturbance but peaks of 40-54 birds were recorded on odd spring tides. The number of Snipe recorded this winter have been the lowest on record with just the odd single seen but there was better news of Woodcock with one or two birds seen on a few dates when they were inadvertently flushed from their daytime roosts. This species is a winter visitor with most birds originating in Scandinavia and the Baltic states so they are likely to depart very shortly. Birds roost up on the ground in thick cover like bracken under open woodland and scrub during the day and move out at night to feed on earthworms on wet grassland. They can sometimes be seen leaving their roost sites just after sunset on warm and settled evenings in March.

A pair of Kingfishers were particularly vociferous as they displayed around the western ponds throughout the period. On the northern meadows the inspiring song of the Skylark became audible as a pair adopted the grassland hopefully as their summer territory. The presence of two male Great Spotted Woodpeckers often to be found fighting it out over a single female meant that this species was also very obvious during the month.

First signs of a spring passage came on the 22nd when a female Stonechat was noted on the northern meadows but it was the 25th before the first true migrant, a Chiffchaff, arrived. As the weather warmed up three Sand Martins appeared on the 26th along with a superb male Northern Wheatear, which typically fed on the Humber bank and adjacent grassland. Also found on the 26th were a Brambling and two Yellowhammers. The Brambling was the first record of the year and was likely to be stopping off en route on its return journey to Scandinavia. Yellowhammers are extremely rare on the park so their occurrence was notable. A singing Willow Warbler on the 31st completed the early spring arrivals set.

The British population of the Lesser Redpoll has undergone a 90% decline between 1970 and 2004, one of the largest declines of any bird in the UK in this period. As a consequence the number of birds occurring in the clay pits has also dropped markedly. Winter food is mostly the seed of birch and alders and this is where a small group of Lesser Redpolls joined the Siskin flock in February. Seven of these small brown finches could often be found feeding quietly on the alders during early March when they were accompanied by a male Mealy Redpoll the larger and brighter species being a winter visitant from Scandinavia and the boreal forests of Russia. This bird disappeared on the 4th but it or another Mealy arrived on the 30th – 31st. Of much greater excitement though was the discovery of the third member of the redpoll group on the 25th when a superb frosty Arctic Redpoll joined the flock. This snowball of a finch breeds in the Arctic tundra above the tree line in the far north of Sweden, Finland and Norway and across northern Siberia. It is a rare visitor to the UK with periodic irruptions following the failure of seed crops in the normal winter range. The Water’s Edge Arctic was the first record for the park and only the second for the clay pits following one in February 1996. It could be rather elusive amongst the alders but was seen very well on the 25th, 28th and early on the 29th and was well photographed.

Amidst the excitement of the Arctic Redpoll the first butterflies of the spring passed watching birders on the 25th with the expected Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock being accompanied by a pristine Brimstone.

Graham Catley

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