Newbridge,   March 14^th  2015

Woodpeckers at war

as woodland awakes

 

OK, officially it’s spring, but only if the sun’s out and you’re away from the wind.  Ian and Geoff have already seen what were almost certainly the first migrants to arrive, two or more Chiffchaffs (and Sand Martins are passing through local reservoirs), but out in the open an easterly airstream shows that the sunniest (can you believe it?) winter on record is reluctant to depart.  It’s dull, but the air is cold and sharp, the wind is desiccating the woodland floor and green shoots are starting to push up through drying ground, sodden since the start of the year.  High in the trees the clacking calls of Magpies chart their progress through a network of still-bare branches, a Nuthatch disappears into what may well be this year’s nest hole, and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker angles outwards as he clings to a trunk, ready to force any intruder into a feather-flaring stand-off (some years ago two were seen locked together falling from a branch to within a few feet of the ground, separating at the last second to fly up, still defiantly issuing their Kestrel-like chase calls).  Stock Dove circuit the treetops in an exaggerated wing-flap display, Goldfinch hang like lightweight fruit as they feed in silver birch next to the playingfield, the thin note of a Goldcrest come from an ivy-covered tree, and a Crow struggles to make its way through the uppermost branches of its chosen tree with new nest material in its bill.  A pair of Jay forage in long grass at the edge of the playingfield, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush are in voice at opposite ends of the wood, and Blue Tit, Great Tit and Long-tailed Tit are paired.  Coal Tit call from conifers by nearby gardens, where House Sparrow squabble, a female Blackbird sizes up breeding sites, Hedge Sparrows wing-wave to potential mates, and the resident Robin takes on all-comers (providing they are his size or smaller).  Our resident Buzzard pairs are now on station, circling above their breeding sites as the air warms in the late morning.  Difficult to believe that 20 years ago even the sight of one of these beautiful raptors over the valley would have meant a dash to a phone box (remember them?) to alert fellow birders.  Now they are the most commonly seen bird of prey locally.  Wonderful!!

Recent records from Newbridge include a Treecreeper in the wood on February 6^th, a male Blackcap in a garden by the playingfield on February 15^th, a Grey Wagtail at the Double Pennant canal wharf on February 23^rd, and twenty one Redwing on the Giffard school field on March 3^rd.  Further north along the old railway at least four Redpoll were at a garden feeding station on March 9^th (winter finch records this winter have been few and far between) with a male and two female Bullfinch, and at least two male Greenfinch have been singing at the canal wharf by Tettenhall Road.

Dunstall Park produced late-winter highlights for the valley in the shape of single adult Mediterranean Gulls (one of them ringed) with Black-headed Gull flocks on February 12^th (Gareth’s record) and on  February 28^th, a female Stonechat hawking from lakeside bushes on March 10^th and a Green Sandpiper at the lake on March 12^th (Gareth’s record). Duck numbers at the lake have been low in a relatively mild winter, with up to ten Shoveler and nine Teal reported, but an unusually large flock of 15 Tufted Duck was seen on March 12^th.  The Gadwall pair continued their stay, with another male seen from mid-February, the Mute Swan pair were still present mid-March, at least one pair of Little Grebe were heard and seen following last year’s successful nesting, and at least four Snipe were still at the site at the beginning of this month.  Coot pairs contested territories, with at least 16 birds, some of them non-breeding individuals grazing on lakeside grass, seen on February 28^th.  Canada Goose totals peaked on February 8^th when at least 210 birds grazed on the central grass area, c.500 Black-headed Gull were present on February 28^th, at least 65 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were counted on March 3^rd, and single Grey Heron visited the lake periodically.  At least 70 Starling were on island bushes on March 3^rd, two Reed Bunting were in lakeside bushes on February 8^th, and a Pied Wagtail pair were seen regularly in the racecourse hotel area where they nest annually.
Reports from elsewhere along the valley included a young male Kestrel perched by the north eastern corner of the Compton barleyfield on February 2^nd and a Green Woodpecker calling from the same area on March 5th.  The Rose-ringed Parakeet trail seems to have gone cold, with no reports from garden feeding stations in or near the valley for some weeks now.

Can’t really compare with the Somerset Levels or with Aberystwyth pier, but at least 70 Starling swirled above the Castlecroft Road/Pool Hall Road area at the southern end of the valley at dusk in mid-February in a pre-roost mini murmuration.

NB   Dunstall Park is a restricted commercial site.  Access is strictly controlled.