What do crows, buzzards and gulls have in common at this time of year?
These species are all carefully watching over their youngsters during June. Buzzard and crow chicks are approaching fledging if they have not already made the big jump into the big wide world, where as gull chicks are at a variety of stages of development, causing mischief from a few days old, often wandering away from the nest and tumbling down to the ground from elevated nest positions. These birds all share a strong protective instinct for their young, they have invested lots of time and effort into getting them this far and don't want to lose them now.
This often results in a string of reports of attacks on people who unwittingly stray too close to either the nest or the young birds. Obviously this can be a distressing and painful experience for anyone unlucky enough to encounter such an incident. However there are a couple of simple steps you can take to minimise the risks of getting buzzed by an angry parent bird.
The first step is simple, if you know these birds are nesting and you can keep away from the nest area and any youngsters that have emerged, do so. If they are in an area where you cannot avoid, take a couple of precautions, wear a hat and take an umbrella with you. The simplest solutions are often the best and hats and umbrellas will prevent any injuries from protective parent birds that decide to take a swoop at you. Putting up a makeshift warning sign is an option if you wish to alert other pedestrians to the danger but this aggressive behaviour will be short lived, as soon as the young are able to fly the parents will calm down.
Why so scruffy?
We are getting quite a few queries from worried observers who are noticing birds looking a bit worse for wear. If you have a look at any adult birds visiting gardens at the moment, you may notice that they are looking a bit drab and some may even have damaged or lost feathers. The breeding season is a tough time for wild birds and all the feeding, fighting and foraging takes a toll on the feathers of the adult birds.
This summer is flying by and it won't be long now until the birds breeding activities are winding up. When they have completed their breeding activities they will then moult into shiny new feathers which will keep them well protected during the winter. So please don't worry too much if you see bald or scruffy birds, they will be looking much better in a couple of months time!
Bees and boxes
We have had a number of enquiries this year about bumblebees moving into nesting boxes. It's great to know that a simple action like putting up a nest box can have significant benefits to declining species like bumblebees, as well as birds! The life cycle of bees is an interesting one in its own right so it's worth watching through the summer months to see what develops.
Towards the end of summer and into the autumn the colony will gradually come to an end with the queens the only survivors. They will head off to hibernate somewhere else so emptying the box in October or November ready for next spring may set things up for bees or birds next year. If you are worried about bees taking over and not allowing birds to nest, you could also add a few more boxes around the garden to give them a few alternatives.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.