Kestrel and Tawny Owls

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A BUMPER BIRD NESTING SEASON AT PURDIS IN 2010.

The 2010 nest-box survey had just been completed when the last report was written and now the data has been analyzed the results are very encouraging. Twenty-nine nests were found, three more than last year. Twenty-one were blue tit nests, the same number as last year, while the other eight were Great tit, three more than last year’s number. Unfortunately there are always a few failures and this year was no exception, with three Blue tit and two Great tit nests abandoned. However, the success rate of the remaining nests was very good, with the Blue tits raising 141 chicks and the Great tits 36 chicks to fledging. These figures are much higher than 2009, with totals for that year of 110 Blue tits and 20 Great tits raised to fledging. This was all probably due to the dry conditions at the end of April through into May – if it is dry the adult birds can hunt for caterpillars more easily and for longer than if it was wet. Constantly wet feathers would chill the birds and could cause them to die. There also seemed to be a large number of caterpillars on the Oak trees especially this spring, providing ample food.

On the bird of prey front, the news on the Hobbies that nested successfully both in 2008 and 2009 is not so good. Two birds did return in May but were not seen as regularly on the site as in the previous two years. There was no evidence of display over the woods and the birds seemed to disappear at the beginning of June. So unfortunately no breeding took place this year which was a shame. At the time the birds returned from Africa the weather was very cool and quite windy, with the sunny warm weather favoured by this species not actually starting until mid-June. This, in my view is what probably put them off breeding. Hopefully they will return next year. On a more positive note, a pair of Kestrels did nest in the woodland in the centre of the site and successfully raised three chicks (see photo). The juvenile birds are still around at the time of writing (late July) and are being seen around the 4^th/16^th/17^th holes. They do make loud cries when the adults bring in food, giving away their position.

Another bird of prey that nested successfully on the site this year was the Tawny owl. The reason this is known is because a golf member found a recently fledged chick on the ground along the path from the Club-house to the 11^th tee late one evening at the end of May. I was alerted to this as it was thought the bird could be injured and was vulnerable to predators. After picking up the chick (with thick gloves as they have sharp talons!) no injuries were found so it was carefully placed up in the branches of an Oak tree close to where it was found (see photo). The adults were probably close by watching the proceedings and would easily re-find the chick as they make loud squeaking calls when they are hungry! Over the next four days the chick remained in the same tree before moving deeper into the woods later on in the week. Tawny owl chicks often leave the nesting site well before they can fly properly and can occasionally be seen sitting together in trees, a phenomenon known as ‘branching’.

Yet more good news on the nesting front concerned the resident pair of Kingfishers that can be found around the club’s lakes. In the spring we dug a new sheer sandy bank for them next to the decoy lake. They dug out a nesting tunnel in this bank and successfully reared at least one youngster. At the time of writing the adults are still being seen regularly carrying fish to the juvenile, mainly around the area of the smaller lake near the Clubhouse. Listen out for their sharp loud high pitched whistle and you may be lucky enough to glimpse the bright blue flash as a bird dashes past.

Neil Sherman