Bird Identification Please

[Saw-sick Steve]

8 hours ago, the village idiot said:

If anyone is interested, below is a breeding Bird survey from the woodland I manage.

 

We have progressed from a dark sterile wood to a thriving bird habitat in just a few years, including 5 red listed species.

 

"Build it and they will come"

 

Raydon Great Wood Breeding Bird Survey 2020 - FINAL2 05.10.2020.pdf 1.85 MB · 7 downloads

Good stuff VI, real grassroots (or should that be treeroots?😁} conservation in action. I've under taken a similar project - albeit on a much smaller scale - on 18 acres of poor quality arable land that I've converted back to rough grassland with the long term aim to create wood pasture. Obviously I wont be around to see it to fruition, but in the decade I've been doing this, Dormouse have occupied the scrub woodland and hedgerows and a pair of Barn Owls have taken up residence in the box (tea chest) I put up in my old tractor shed.

     Impressive bird list, I'm old enough to remember when Cuckoo were widespread - we haven't had one for years - and we've recently lost Willow warbler. Haven't seen a Lesser-spotted woodpecker for 20 years, nor Lesser Whitethroat for 10, and Stock dove are increasingly rare vagrants these days. On the plus side, we do still get all the other red and amber listed species on your list - with the obvious exception of Nightingale, which we haven't had down here for decades.

  Keep up the good work, it's brilliant when individuals can make such a significant contribution to the conservation of our native wildlife.👏

[the village idiot]

5 minutes ago, Saw-sick Steve said:

Good stuff VI, real grassroots (or should that be treeroots?😁} conservation in action. I've under taken a similar project - albeit on a much smaller scale - on 18 acres of poor quality arable land that I've converted back to rough grassland with the long term aim to create wood pasture. Obviously I wont be around to see it to fruition, but in the decade I've been doing this, Dormouse have occupied the scrub woodland and hedgerows and a pair of Barn Owls have taken up residence in the box (tea chest) I put up in my old tractor shed.

     Impressive bird list, I'm old enough to remember when Cuckoo were widespread - we haven't had one for years - and we've recently lost Willow warbler. Haven't seen a Lesser-spotted woodpecker for 20 years, nor Lesser Whitethroat for 10, and Stock dove are increasingly rare vagrants these days. On the plus side, we do still get all the other red and amber listed species on your list - with the obvious exception of Nightingale, which we haven't had down here for decades.

  Keep up the good work, it's brilliant when individuals can make such a significant contribution to the conservation of our native wildlife.👏

Thanks for taking the time to write that Steve, your words are very much appreciated.

 

Sounds like you've got an interesting and very valuable project on your hands. Would love to come and see it when we are allowed to travel again? Interesting that the Dormouse were so quick to move in.

 

I've got lots more survey reports from Raydon, we got quite a few done last year with more planned for this year. I'll plonk them up on my Ancient Woodland management thread.

[Paul in the woods]

9 hours ago, the village idiot said:

If anyone is interested, below is a breeding Bird survey from the woodland I manage.

Interest read. One thing that sticks out to me are there seem to be so few magpies recorded. Do you really have such low numbers? I'm curious as although we have quite a few birds here there's a huge number of corvids such as magpies.

[Saw-sick Steve]

No worries, I tend not to be a frequent poster but I do drop in frequently and try and keep up with your Ancient woodland thread - one of the best and most interesting things on here, IMO.👍

 Dormice were present in a neighbouring field that had been left to re-wild after a dispute over ownership and occupied the hedges within a few years of them not being flailed to death - the hedges, that is 😁 They've now occupied the strip of trees I planted roughly parallel with the hedges(a mix of native transplants and natural regen) and are breeding - 3 years ago i put up a dozen boxes and nearly all were occupied, including with two breeding nests. I've also had some success with Dormice using old milk containers cable tied to trees.

[the village idiot]

4 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

Interest read. One thing that sticks out to me are there seem to be so few magpies recorded. Do you really have such low numbers? I'm curious as although we have quite a few birds here there's a huge number of corvids such as magpies.

Oodles of Magpies in the vicinity but they don't venture into the Woodland all that much. Jays are a much more common sight.

[openspaceman]

32 minutes ago, Saw-sick Steve said:

 Impressive bird list, I'm old enough to remember when Cuckoo were widespread - we haven't had one for years - and we've recently lost Willow warbler.

Aren't these two demises linked? I thought the willow warbler was the most frequently  parasitised by cuckoo?

[the village idiot]

1 minute ago, openspaceman said:

Aren't these two demises linked? I thought the willow warbler was the most frequently  parasitised by cuckoo?

Dunnock's too I believe.

[the village idiot]

6 minutes ago, Saw-sick Steve said:

No worries, I tend not to be a frequent poster but I do drop in frequently and try and keep up with your Ancient woodland thread - one of the best and most interesting things on here, IMO.👍

 Dormice were present in a neighbouring field that had been left to re-wild after a dispute over ownership and occupied the hedges within a few years of them not being flailed to death - the hedges, that is 😁 They've now occupied the strip of trees I planted roughly parallel with the hedges(a mix of native transplants and natural regen) and are breeding - 3 years ago i put up a dozen boxes and nearly all were occupied, including with two breeding nests. I've also had some success with Dormice using old milk containers cable tied to trees.

Well I never!

 

Where abouts in the country are you?

[Saw-sick Steve]

3 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Aren't these two demises linked? I thought the willow warbler was the most frequently  parasitised by cuckoo?

Depends entirely on the habitat frequented by the Cuckoo., eg Meadow Pipit is the commonest host by far on uplands whereas in reedbeds it's Reed warbler - don't recall Willow warbler as being a common host?

[Saw-sick Steve]

3 minutes ago, the village idiot said:

Well I never!

 

Where abouts in the country are you?

I'm down in sunny Cornwall. I thought for a while how similar the Dormouse 'tubes' they use for surveys were to the 1 litre milk containers so thought I'd give them a whirl. I use the 4 pint ones as tree guards - passing a cane through the handles for support - and have had Dormice nesting in these when they've 'concertinaed' in on themselves when 4 or 5 are placed on one cane.