Michael Walters' latest report:
The lovely sunshine of early May soon became a distant memory, and the persistent cold northerly airflow that has dominated our weather in recent weeks put rather a damper on what had promised to be a glorious spring. One benefit of the lower temperatures was that the spring flowers had an extended season, and our displays of bluebells seemed particularly fine. There is still sufficient moisture in the upper layers of the soil to keep the vegetation looking fresh, but tree canopies will soon be sucking up huge quantities of water, and if the dry spring continues into summer some plants will be stressed early on.
Although it has seemed distinctly wintry at times, the birds’ breeding cycle has continued more or less as expected, although the Arctic winds slowed down the arrival of our summer visitors, with none arriving particularly early. Their breeding “clock” is governed primarily by daylength, so they get on with nesting even in cold weather, but are less inclined to sing, and the wood has felt depressingly quiet in recent weeks. At times it seemed as though the only birds around were nightingales – though there are worse things I could complain about! Before we know it, chicks will be fledging, at which point most birds cease singing altogether, and the wood will enter its languid phase, too hot to stir itself in summer, when even the butterflies are listless.
It is now well-established that, numerous woodland birds are in serious decline: I have heard very few cuckoos this spring, too often so far off as to be barely audible, and swallows are still very thin on the ground. It’s too early for a proper analysis of my bird survey, but it looks as though the precipitous decline of willow warblers may have been halted, while nightingales are likely to be down on last year. Once again, I am only aware of a single tree pipit, a bird that used to nest in small numbers in all the heathy areas and some young coppice: the sight and sound of its delightful parachuting song flight are now a rare treat. Like the whitethroat and a number of other migrants, this is a bird that overwinters in the Sahel region of Africa, a semi-arid scrub belt that stretches across the continent south of the Sahara. Long-term drought there has created huge problems for these birds, and the numbers reaching our shores have declined rapidly in consequence, though whitethroats are staging something of a comeback.
Guided WalksDetails of this spring’s walks are given below. All walks cost £5 for adult non-members, and £3 for members. Children under 16 free. Walks must be booked by emailing blean.woods@rspb.org.uk. All walks set off from the Blean Woods car park in Rough Common CT2 9DD.
Nightjar WalksSaturday 3rd June 8.15 – 10.00pmWe’ll be listening out for the tell-tale churring call of nightjars, and along the way also looking for bats and if we're lucky, a glow worm or two! Butterfly walkSaturday 24th June 1.00 – 2.30pmBlean Woods is home to the extremely rare Heath Fritillary, but we’ll be looking for other species as well, and talking about the work we do to make Blean Woods such a special place.
Michael Waltermichaelwalter434@gmail.com01227 462491
Tree pipit singing from the top of a young chestnut coppice stem prior to launching itself into the air and descending on outspread, quivering wings, singing all the while. Photo courtesy of Dave Smith