
Small Skippers have emerged in the last few days - but no sign yet of the rarer Essex Skipper.
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I do get 'the Blues' at this time of year, walking over the marsh means 'running the gauntlet' of all the rubbish that people have dropped and witnessing the disturbance that is going on.
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A good example of this came to me from Ray at Pelsall (Hi Ray!), he has found where a pair of Little Grebe are nesting but apparently every night they are disturbed by a guy with a canoe.
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I am sure that this disturbance is not deliberate, but the truth is that most disturbance is usually the result of thoughtlessness rather than malice. Stroll-on the winter I say!
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Those of you who are regulars will know that we have a compadre in Canada who keeps an eye on the marsh and mere (Hi Mike!). Well the other week I had the pleasure of meeting his Brother (Hi Arthur! - blimey, its like 'four-way family favourites this week! - Younger blog readers, ask your mom!).
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Arthur has found the Oystercatchers feeding on the recreation ground during the week, which probably accounts for why they are waking me up at five-o'clock in the morning. It should be good news as it suggests that they are still feeding young but I must admit that, although there are still regularly four adults about I have not seen the young one since its brief appearance a couple of weeks ago. I am quite glad that Ray also got to see the bird on that occasion as he can corroborate that breeding actually occurred this year.
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On the subject of Oystercatchers, I bumped into a nice lady from Bloxwich today (Hi Catherine!) -
(Now I really am worried, four hello's in one posting! Do you think Chaz has been kidnapped and a more sociable clone has replaced him?)
- who was looking for the Oystercatchers and we were comparing notes on Hirundine. We seemed to be in agreement that Swallow and House Martin numbers were down this summer and I will add to that Sand Martin as there has only been a handful of records for the marsh and mere this year. It will be interesting to see if this is a local phenomenon or is reflecting a national trend?
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Clayhanger Marsh (am)
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Among the dragonflies today there was an obvious increase in Black Tailed Skimmer and amongst the many Meadow Brown and Ringlet butterflies there was still the odd Painted Lady and Red Admiral.
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The first post-breeding creche flocks have started to appear with a flock of between 70 and 100 Starling over the village and an impressive flock (I counted 68) of Lapwing, many of which were youngsters. One Oystercatcher was on the south side of the swag pool, eight Tufted Duck were looking the worse for partial eclipse plumage and a young Green Woodpecker with an adult was evidence of more breeding success.
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Warblers are still singing and I am never sure if this is a good thing (second brood) or a bad thing (nest predated) but it is nice to hear them anyway. Today there were; Chiffchaff (1), Whitethroat (2), Lesser Whitethroat (1), Reed Warbler (1), Sedge Warbler (1). add to this a singing Chaffinch and one active Buzzard and it was a better than average visit for the time of year.
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Ryders Mere (am)
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Common Tern are still a nightmare to count because of the vegetation but at least sixteen were active today. As the young ones have fledged it is also becoming a little more challenging to separate them from the adults at any distance.
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Two Little Grebe and two Great Crested Grebe were seen today but only four Tufted Duck were on show. Another pair of Mallard have a young party of chicks (this weeks birds I would suggest) and regardless of how you feel about it, the Black Headed Gulls have certainly been successful in their first confirmed year of local breeding.
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Three chicks were on the island and were already bigger than the neighbouring Common Tern. While more interesting was the presence of two recently fledged Black Headed Gull in attractive juvenile plumage. This is really quite noteworthy as it is not a stage of plumage regularly encountered in the midlands (I remember when you had to be at coastal breeding sites to experience this!)
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The only other thing to say if you are local, keep your ears open at night as there has been a bit of Tawny Owl activity around the south side of the Marsh in the last couple of weeks (usually around midnight it must be admitted).
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I do have a bit of work on at the moment so a 'Midweek Hello' posting is unlikely, so have a good (and hopefully cooler!) week and I will do another update at the weekend - Chaz
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