Wildlife at Hale Duck Decoy Summer 2015
June to August
Only a limited number of visits were made to
the decoy during this period because of the flooding. In early June Rob brought in additional help from
an outside source to advise us on this ongoing problem. They thought the problem
lay in a build-up of silt from leaf decay in the ditches and following his
advice a new piece of plastic was inserted into the drainage system. This
plastic has holes which allow the water to pass through but blocks the
transportation of twigs, leaf litter etc. It seems to have worked and the flood
is already subsiding although it does require regular maintenance. On 1st July a work party went down to tidy
up the pathways and paint the seating area in preparation for a visit by the
group from France on 4th. The Friends of Pickerings Pasture had one
of their monthly work-parties at the Decoy on 20th July for some further work. A
start was made to remove the debris from the drainage ditches, weatherproof the fencing area by the bridge and to
generally tidy the site up. This work will continue. (See: Clean up at Hale Duck Decoy.)
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We were away for most of June but a visit on the 8th July
revealed at least 20 cormorant’s nests in the oak trees: most containing young
of various sizes. On the pond was a female shoveler with seven half-grown young
and a female tufted duck with six small young. Also present were sixteen
mallards, a little grebe, three coots and four young moorhens. In the woodland,
besides a party of long tailed tits and fifteen goldfinches, there were several
chiffchaffs and blackcaps feeding whilst two grey wagtails fed in one of the
ditches. Out on the marsh a large crèche of about 180 young Canada geese were
present with a few adults.
On a visit on the 17th
a great white egret and a little egret were found roosting on the pond edge, at
least forty two fledged cormorants were scattered around the pool and trees.
There were also five grey herons and on the pond were twenty six mallards, two
tufted ducks and five teals whilst overhead a young buzzard was circling -
mewing. On the moat a common sandpiper and a grey wagtail fed on the mud.
A good selection of
butterflies were recorded including twelve gatekeepers, two meadow browns,
three commas, one small tortoiseshell, a large white, a green-veined white and,
most importantly, two purple hairstreaks indicating the colony has survived the
flooding even though one of their main oak trees succumbed to the dampness.
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The next visit was on the
25th when the great white egret was again present with the little egret. Some
cormorants’ nests were now empty but many fledged young were about. The teal numbers had
increased to twelve, with many mallard present too. Only two young shovelers could be found. The little grebes were feeding well-developed young. Amongst the long-tailed
tit flock were two willow tits. This species has not been seen locally for over
fifteen years and nationally is a species of high conservation concern. A
kingfisher was seen flying along the moat.
Butterflies were again in evidence in quite good numbers; more purple hairstreaks were seen, a red admiral, a speckled wood and at least twenty gatekeepers. Two members of the FOPP cleared out more silt from one of the ditches. Two brimstone butterflies were seen on 29th July and the shoveler still had her seven youngsters.
Butterflies were again in evidence in quite good numbers; more purple hairstreaks were seen, a red admiral, a speckled wood and at least twenty gatekeepers. Two members of the FOPP cleared out more silt from one of the ditches. Two brimstone butterflies were seen on 29th July and the shoveler still had her seven youngsters.
On the 8th August an adult female marsh harrier was hunting
the marsh by the decoy, always a grand sight to see. In the woodland two willow
warblers and a sedge warbler were seen. Only a couple of the cormorant’s nests
still contained young, although twenty three birds were in the trees or on the
pond. A brown hawker and a common darter were seen patrolling the ditches. For
the last week or so the great white egret has been seen going onto the decoy to
roost just before dusk on most evenings.
Carr Lane Pools also had its share
of problems this quarter. On the 4th June the local farmer had to clean out the
sewage ditch in the area and, unfortunately, cleared out the whole area of the
Ramsbook as well. Many of the breeding species were disrupted by this, although
some did manage to rear their young. The major problem was that the work
drained the pools. It was a sad sight and was only relieved when the high tides
flooded the fields again in August. However many of the species are not so keen
on this high level of salinity and it will be while before they pools are back
to their full greatness again.
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Nevertheless there have been birds reported
throughout the season with some interesting species amongst them. A hobby was
seen occasionally during the first week of June and the first of many visits by
a marsh harrier was of a male hunting over Ramsbrook on June 4th. This species
now breeds in Cheshire and they are increasing their presence on our side of
the river each year. Both the adults were seen on trips across to hunt either
the Hale Marsh or the pools, although the female was more frequently seen. The
first juvenile bird was spotted on 9th August hunting unsuccessfully this time.
Both
buzzard and kestrel sightings have been consistent throughout the period, as
they both breed in the area. Towards the end of August up to three young
kestrels were guaranteed to be seen hunting the pools! Although not actually in
our area a red kite seen heading in our direction on 9th June indicates that
such species are being seen more frequently. We heard rumours of several other
sightings within a fortnight: possibly a young bird looking for a territory. An
immature female peregrine was on prey in the field close to Carr Lane on the
evening of 25th August. It was eating the remains of a black headed
gull. Three buzzards were perched close by and two attacked it, driving it off
the prey before flying off with it leaving the peregrine perched on the fence
posts.
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Grey
herons and little egrets were often seen. Canada geese used the pools
sporadically to roost and preen – at one stage the pools were quite white with
their moulted feathers. Two greylags were spotted with them occasionally but forty
eight, including four white birds, seen in a nearby field on the 21st August
was an unusual sight.
Early
in June a pair of shelduck was on the pool with a brood of ten and another
brood was seen in early July. The hybrid ruddy shelduck hung around the pools
until 3rd June. No young shovelers were seen at this stage although
we think the female took her brood onto the Decoy. However a brood of five,
recently fledged, were back on 10th August with the female but we had seen two
young alone on the Decoy the previous day. They looked as if they were coping
well on their own. They were seen on and off throughout August. Five teals were seen on 11th July and by
mid-August the numbers began to rise with twenty three on 13th and 34 on 15th. A
mallard was seen with six ducklings on 3rd August and another with three
smaller young joined her on the 5th. Both were noticed occasionally during the
month but were usually hiding in the reeds. The highest count of mallards was
twenty.
Little ringed plovers were regular in the
early part and reappeared later in August. Their numbers varied too: singletons
more frequent in June but up to ten were seen August, although they changed
daily. Sixteen ringed plovers were seen on 1st June, dropping to one
the following few days. A couple of dunlins were noted on the first 4 days of
June and a single golden plover on 24th August. Single black-tailed
godwits were seen during the first days of June but on 6th June
there were 225, 108 on 9th and 480 on 14th. However no
colour-ring birds were spotted. Redshank chicks were found on 14th
June and the odd greenshank dropped in: with a party of three on 14th
August. Throughout August lapwings were consistent in good numbers with a high
of 70 on 12th. Another consistent
visitor in August was ruff with up to nine on 14th but with a steady
stream of different individuals during the month. Other waders of note were a
green sandpiper on 7th July and our first autumn wood
sandpiper on 19th August. Two snipe were discovered on the 9th
August.
Swallows and house martins regularly hawked
over the pools and on 4th August there was a movement of swifts. On
19th a kingfisher took up residence on the Ramsbrook near the marsh
bridge and on the same day several sand martins were flying up & down the brook
hawking insects. A grey partridge was noted in mid-June and the sighting of a
juvenile cuckoo on 30th July was exciting. Six stock doves were seen
on 7th August and 180 starlings feeding in the fields were notable. During
the last week up to five yellow wagtails were found in the flocks of pied and
white wagtails. On 31st two wheatears and a whinchat showed up,
sitting on the fence posts as usual.