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Country Matters November 2003
The following has been written by Peter Dwyer who ringed the first of two broods of Spotted Flycatchers we had at Goulds Farm this year. To remind readers, in previous years they have nested in Irene and Roger Martins garden and our own garden. Peter emphasises how scarce this bird is becoming in Essex.Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
“You can consider yourself very fortunate if you have this Sparrow-sized greyish- brown trans-Saharan migrant visiting and even nesting in your Essex garden. You may first catch sight of it during mid to late May darting into the air to catch an insect from a perch in a tree or other suitable vantage point or hovering in mid air for a few seconds. Peak passage in Southern England is usually during the last two weeks in May. The British breeding population was estimated at 120,000 pairs at the time of the BTO Breeding Atlas project, which took place between 1988 and 1991. Numbers continue to decline, which may be due to the loss of such habitats as old orchards and large gardens. Few individuals rarely remain into September and beyond. Essex has between 30 and 40 pairs reported as breeding in an average year, so every sighting of this declining summer visitor is worth recording.
One adult ringed during August in an Epping garden was subsequently recovered in the Algarve in Portugal during January but this should not be taken as proof that the species spends the winter in Iberia. Other recoveries of ringed birds indicate wintering in Africa, south of the Sahara with most crossing the Equator. There have been some instances of birds ringed in the United Kingdom being found in Nigeria, Zaire, Angola and South Africa.”
I am hoping that the individuals Peter ringed will return to Duckend Green next year as this drab looking little bird is one of my favourites. I admit to having wasted much time in my office watching them catch insects as fortunately a favourite perch is just outside the window. As I have already reported Andy Goody saw Spotted Flycatchers on the Flitch Way and along the Street near the Swan. So the Rayne area has a high proportion of the Essex breeding adults.
It all too easy to view wildlife through rose tinted spectacles but some of their habits are not always wholesome. Betty Smith of Felsted recounts how when their dog died they buried it in the nearby field but it was found by a badger who dug it up and partly ate it before they re-interred the body. They also found a hedgehog that had been eaten by a badger in the garden. I have already written that in our garden this is probably the reason hedgehogs have disappeared over the last two years. We have only seen hedgehog droppings on one occasion this summer in the garden.
Betty also wondered why her Phormiun tenax (New Zealand Flax) wasn’t doing very well and discovered that a water vole had eaten all its roots. The vole after cutting off a section of root then swam with it across the pond to its hole. Betty was not willing to tolerate a second gardener in her garden. So she bated a rabbit trap with apple, caught the vole and transported it to a nearby lake.
We have offered to re-house any future transportee’s, but not in the garden, as in the past we had a similar situation. We watched a vole over a period of time remove the rhizomes from a very nice iris. This was also transported a section at a time across our pond. Our vole luckily moved on.
The Fieldfares have been arriving from Northern Europe but not in the numbers I have seen in the past in Rayne. This may be due to the fact that there are still lots of berries in the hedgerows and they are more widely distributed than usual at this time of year. Their later arrival this year also means that food has been plentiful on the continent as in a poor year for berries they arrive in September. Unlike the other thrushes they are gregarious and fly around in flocks. Their call is very distinctive, Syl says it sounds like a rattle , my bird book calls it a chattering schack-schack. Normally they and the Blackbirds have eaten all the fallen apples in our orchard by the beginning of December but this year we have only had them feeding on one morning.
Usually by now we would have more than twenty Blackbirds feeding in the garden but numbers are still in single figures. Again those from Northern Europe have been slow in arriving. It is possible to recognise the male foreigners as when they first arrive they still show some black on their yellow beaks, while the natives have usually attained a completely yellow beak, which is their breeding colour.
The result of a mild autumn and plentiful berry supply means that we may have berries on the holly at Christmas this year.
Wildlife Reports November 2003
The number of reports has declined, as one would expect with winter. If we get frost, heavy dew or even snow look for prints. In our own garden we have been having nightly visits from fox, cats and less often badgers. I would appreciate any reports of badgers within the built up area of the village this winter as though they do become less active in the winter they will still come out occasionally even in the coldest weather. I have seen their prints after heavy snow. If it does snow try and get up early and walk round the village and see just where the fox prints go. You will then realise how active they are after dark. Like some residents they also do not like wheelie bins as the plastic bags made for easy pickings.The most interesting report was from Reg Salmons in Shalford Road of the possible sighting of a Red Kite over the meadow behind his house. A bird has been recorded at Notley previously. This bird has a wingspan of 1.4 to 1.6m, it is a scavenger and was once very common over London when refuse collection was not so well organised. It would have a field day after some of our recent wheelie bin collections. It has been resident in Wales and there have been successful introductions into parts of England so it is a bird that one would expect to turn up in Rayne eventually.
Mark Giles had a night time sighting of a badger along Shalford Road near the Capel Road junction.
For the third year running we had a Green Sandpiper on the Goulds Farm lagoon it stayed most of August into September. This is a summer visitor that winters in S. Europe and Africa. It has a striking white rump, which contrasts with its almost black wings. Also on the lagoon at present are a pair of Yellow Wagtails. Andy Goody reported earlier that he suspected they bred in Rayne this year.
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