This is Michael Walter's latest report, plus a stunning photo of a mandarin duck by Dave Smith.
Spring must have arrived, as I heard my first nightingale on 12th April, a fairly average date. It is probably too soon to make dogmatic statements about the course of the breeding season, but early impressions are that woodpeckers, nuthatch, tree creeper and several others are rather scarce, while most alarming of all is the dearth of marsh tits; the willow tit has already become extinct in Kent, so could it be that its close relative is now following the same calamitous route?And it isn’t just birds that are in short supply, as much the same can be said of desirable nest sites: yesterday I watched with amusement as an extremely diffident tree creeper (yes, there are still some) hung around one particular dead tree, obviously keen to investigate a flap of loose bark, but whenever it approached for a closer inspection a blue tit would appear out of nowhere, forcing the much more slightly-built tree creeper to perform somersaults in a bid to evade the anger of the tit’s beak. But, no sooner had the tit moved away than the tree creeper gingerly inched its way closer to the coveted future home, only for the whole performance of attack and retreat to be repeated. What the final outcome was I am unable to say, but would put money on the gentle tree creeper having admitted defeat. Perhaps this all goes to show that the woodland is still too immature, lacking in sufficient large, dead and dying trees in which the reserve’s many hole-nesting birds can breed.
Exciting news is that we may have one or more pairs of mandarin ducks nesting in the wood. As you might deduce from the name, these ludicrously flamboyant males and their dull brown mates originate from China, where the species is in severe decline. Here, by contrast, birds that have escaped from wildfowl collections have established themselves, mainly in the south and Midlands, with sufficient success for it to be suggested that British birds could be returned to China to boost the native population there! Its Kent stronghold is in the south west, with far fewer in the east, though a pair has nested almost in the shadow of the Westgate Towers for at least the past two years. Unlike most of our native ducks, the mandarin nests in tree holes, so perhaps the wood isn’t quite so poorly provisioned with rotting trees as I thought.
Further excitement was provided in March by a peregrine that flew straight as a dart over the wood, and a volunteer reported seeing a goshawk hunting near the edge of the reserve. Goshawks are larger versions of the sparrowhawk, though to my mind they seem more like a cross between a peregrine and a buzzard. Once persecuted to extinction in the UK, the goshawk is making a slow comeback, aided by the occasional escape of birds bred for falconry, and now the odd pair or two are breeding in Kent. It prefers extensive woodland, particularly if it contains conifers, and could well find the Blean complex to its liking one of these days.
Events at Blean Woods this spring and summer
Nightjar Walk Sat 28th May 8.30-10.00pm
Wildflower Walk Sat 18th June 10.00-11.30
Butterfly Walk Sat 9th July 1.30-3.00pm
The charge for any of these events is £3 for members, £5 for non-members; children under 16 free.
Booking is essential via 01227 464898 or blean.woods@rspb.org.uk