Indian Summer continues

It's nearly October, and our sunny, cloudless blue-sky days continue. The garden seems full of birds - up to 20 goldfinches, 3-4 Nuthatches, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs at the bottom of the garden in the Blackthorn. Robins are in song defining territories, and there are just a few Blackbirds and Song thrushes around waiting to be joined by winter migrants. At the ponds, Ruddy darter, Common Darter, Southern Hawker and Migrant Hawker are resident and ovi-positing. Overhead too, a mixed flock of Swallows and House Martins seem in no rush to move on. I can remember just one evening's rain over the whole of the summer and the ground is still rock hard. It'll be a drought next spring if this should continue.

Migrant Hawker on Dog Rose

Chiffchaff in Blackthorn

Goldcrests on a spider hunt in the Spruce

Coal Tit feeding on Norwegian Spruce pine seed

Marsh harrier 2nd Shadoxhurst record

This morning from the bedroom window a Marsh Harrier lazily soared over our garden heading North (to the Oare Marshes and beyond). No time for a picture on this one (unlike the Red Kite we saw in the spring). We saw it silhouetted against a bright blue sky so it was difficult to age or sex - so just simply a Marsh harrier. The last one I saw over the village may have been more than 5 years ago, so I still count this is a bird to remember.

September and summer is still here.

House sparrows are taking an interest in the Rose Hips

Chiffchaffs moving south like to linger and stock-up in the pond edge foliage

Commas can't resist energy boosting Blackberries

Close-up of Rose hip - not what most gardeners wish to see!

Wood pigeon leaving nest site for more stick nest building material.

The second week of September, and our long hot summer still continues. Our Boys have just gone back to school, so I've had no time for blog stuff for some time. Looking back over the summer, down here in the South East, its been a generally very good sunny and dry summer. At the moment, its blue skies daily and temps in the high seventies. Only the sun setting at 7.3o pm gives away that Autumn is nearly here.

There are still plenty of Swallows and House Martins around and the local Hobbies are never far away to. Migrant Hawker dragonflies are ever present in the garden as are Hornets, both making the most of the late summer sun. As to, are Butterflies such as Red Admiral, Comma and Painted Lady, all are common visitors to the bramble fruit. At night there are 2 Pipistrelle bats patrolling the garden.
We have another pair of Wood pidgeons nest building close to the house. Will they get as far as a clutch of eggs, lets wait and see.

Wood Pigeons - 10 days on

Strong winds, and frequent showers have failed to move our young Wood pigeons from the ramshackle nest in the apple tree. The two chicks are nearly fledged now, they're too big to both fit on the nest so one bird has moved to a branch to the side. Wood pigeons are very common garden birds these days - despite making seemingly poor exposed nests to both the weather and predators so we're pleased these birds are doing so well!

At some stage I think I need a better description /illustration of the garden layout, but for now, here's a pigeons view from the Apple tree of the largest of two ponds. You can see its surrounded by Hemp Agrimony, Purple Loosestrife, Meadowsweet and Willow herbs and they've attracted good numbers of our commoner butterflies and hover flies recently. Of interest today, we had a large Brown Hawker Dragonfly visiting the garden. This is the first one we've seen for a few years.

Mediterranean Gulls at Camber and Rye

20 years ago, I remember seeing Mediterranean gulls for the first time in Tunisia. I was with a birdwatching group, all taken by surprise by the elegance of this bird compared to our own black headed gull. At that time they seemed such an exotic and far-away species. But in the space of a decade, this once rare visitor to our shores is now a firmly established breeding species at Rye Harbour. Post-breeding adults like to frequent the rubbish bins at Camber Sands (as all gulls do) making photography of this very handsome gull fairly easy. From a photography point of view, however, this bird was looking a little shabby as its summer moult was under way.

Sandwich Terns struggle against Gulls

With this years' breeding season almost over at Rye Harbour, I thought it was time to archive some of my recent visits to the reserve. Although I don't know the official figures, there's no doubt there are plenty of young Black Headed Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Common Terns and Sandwich Terns fledged and safely on the wing.

Rye Harbour has had a successful breeding season and has bucked the trend again, as most Tern and sea bird colonies have had a catastrophic breeding season in 2009. Changes in water temperature and consequent knock-on effects through the seabird food chain have resulted in fishless seas. For the time being though, the Rye harbour fishery appears healthy - it takes no time to spot a flock of Sandwich and Common Terns feeding inshore principally on Shad (Horse mackeral) with little effort.

Another reason for the success of Rye is the undoubted man-made protection provided by the Sussex Wildlife Trust that the reserve has. Fox, Mink and Cats are all unable to penetrate the fencing that surrounds the reserve perimeter - egg and chick protection at ground level is assured from the land at least.

Perimeter fencing around the reserve is vital to the breeding success of the colony at Rye.

One last reason for the this year's success will be the benefit of generally fine to very good weather. My last four visits have all been on near cloudless days with brilliant cyan skies and, importantly for the Terns, very calm seas. As far as I know, there haves been no thunder storms to wash away chicks and eggs as has happened in previous years.

I have had two memorable twilight visits to the Crittal hide in late June/early July. The Sandwich Terns were in loose family gatherings and could be seen on the shingle pool edges. Most fledglings were in pairs, usually accompanied by one adult awaiting the second parent to return from a fishing trip. I arrived early evening - photography initially poor with the sun shining sharply into the hide. But this was more than made-up for by the sight and sounds of the Terns and Gulls so close-in.

There's no doubt that the Terns' fish-catch was bountiful that night: and it had to be, because as the sun began to go down and darkness descended, the fish-bearing adults found it increasingly hard to find the correct fledged offspring, often losing their fish to the gulls altogether. Let me explain a little better, mixed in with the Terns and sitting along the pool edge, were Black-Headed and Mediterranean Gulls ready and waiting to harry and chase any fish-bearing Tern unsure of its exact fledgling rendezvous.


Constantly and noisily begging, one of many fledged Sandwich Terns close-in at the Crittal Hide

Accompanying adults with fledglings also join-in with endless homing-in calls to the soon-to-return fishing parent.

Here is a typical fish catch return. In my 3-hour stay, I must have witnessed hundreds of Terns returning, like this one, after fishing only a minute before, close in-shore, dropping in to a crowded creche of young terns - magic!

A Black headed gull keeps a watchful eye on the Terns

A Mediterranean gull seemingly sitting quiet and vacant, who will lunge and grab the tern's fish catch at any opportunity

Typical view from the Crittal hide looking at part of the Tern colony. As darkness descends, it will play into the hands (wings?!!) of the piratical gulls.

As the night proceeded, it became clear to me that the Terns have just one sure chance of delivering a fish safely to its fledglings. Any sign of indecision - one search too many, or a stop on the pool edges - was an immediate signal to the terns to harass and steal. Black headed gulls chased the Terns in twos and threes reminiscent of their big cousins, the Skuas, and are able to chase and force the Terns to drop there fish-catch and consequently steal it.


As darkness descended the Terns, with the benefit of a high tide, continued to bring in fish in a brisk and relentless routine, often flying extremely close in front of the hide.

The activity and drama on the pool increased, with gulls squabbling amongst themselves with the stolen fish catch, and the young Terns desperately calling out to parent birds. Sadly, it was obvious to me that the Sandwich Terns were really struggling to connect in the darkness, despite the constant contact calls of parents and fledglings. Often the the gulls snatched the distracted terns' catch within inches of the bird finding its young. In human terms, it all seemed so unfair and quite sad to see!


Sandwich Terns in near darkness, calling to aid the returning fish-carrying parent

A Sandwich tern's parent swiftly drops into its family group to deliver the fish catch

A moment's indecision sees an instant chase from the gulls


The pursuing gulls fight over the Tern's catch. It seemed, as darkness fell, that every other returning Tern, whilst struggling to find its fledglings, lost its catch to the Gulls.

For me, on both of my recent trips to Rye, it was a wonderful and exciting wildlife spectacle. Here I was with George, the only two people in the hide with a front row seat to a wildlife drama! Happily for the Sandwich Terns, despite the fishing losses, the ease of a new catch, just a minute's flight out to sea, meant that tehir chicks were unlikely to starve. Indeed, a week on, the fledglings were beginning to take on the size and structure of the parent birds - see below.

Heading out in to Rye Bay, this young Tern will not return for several years, spending the winter and the next 2 years off the coasts of West Africa. It will return as a breeding Adult.

Wood pigeons - Dodos reincarnated?

A pair of Wood pigeons made a typically precarious nest in the apple tree at the bottom of the garden during June. Exposed on a bow of a branch and just a scattering of loose twigs for a nest, I thought it would just be a matter of time before we found broken egg shells and the inevitable tell-tale signs of a Magpie raid down on the grass below.
But no! Here's the proof - a pair of fledglings looking all the world like Dodos reincarnated. Ladies and gentlemen, a large round of applause for the very beautiful Wood pigeons chicks! Don't laugh, they can't help it!