Pied Flycatcher etc;

A male Pied Flycatcher arrived in my garden on the 19th April about 8 to 9 days later than normal and no doubt helped along from it's African wintering grounds by a strong 'tail wind'. Then after arriving, as is the norm, a battle royal took place between it and the Nuthatch which has occupied the Schwegler 'woodcrete' nestbox fixed on a tree close to my house. There were aerial chases and much vocal exchange between them. They are evenly matched birds, the Nuthatch may possess a sharp dagger like bill which could potentially cause serious harm but his fiesty black and white opponent has agility on his side. This intrepid crusader has not trekked all the way from a West African temperate rainforest in order to be outdone by this cantankerous little 'Brit'! So far the Nuthatch is still in charge. He is shoring up his defences by adding mud around the entrance hole and exposed cracks around the removable front panel which effectively stops the unwanted attentions of this 'primate' as well! The Nuthatch occupied this 'des-rez' last year too. The Pied has a dozen other boxes affixed on trees around my garden and adjoining field edge to choose from.

 

I'm still feeding my garden birds with peanuts, sunflower hearts and Nyjer seed in my new BTO approved feeders and damned good they are too. They are constructed of robust metal and stood up well to those blasting winds earlier this week. Unfortunately it seems that that the 'stealth bomber' of the bird World, a Sparrowhawk, has claimed some victims amongst the avian gathering as I have found feathers of Blackbird and Chaffinch around the place.
When I was walking on the road up the valley last week I found the distinct feathers of a Dipper just yards from the river. Was the culprit a Sparrowhawk? Perhaps it was a mustelid that claimed it's life like a Weasel, Polecat, Stoat, or God forbid, a Mink. They have been seen on our river in the past. Dippers are early nesters and if one of these fearsome predators came across a sitting bird in it's domed nest on a riverbank then I wouldn't rate its chances of surviving such an encounter.

Do you reckon male chaffinches have seen the Harry Potter films? When I hear the male call it sounds just like 'Quidditch'! I swear it, listen to it and tell me what you think.

A Tawny Owl is occupying my owl box again (actually it's meant for Goosanders but what the hell an owl will do!). I bought and set up a 'Minox' wildlife cam and have caught the owl a few times at night on the infra-red sensor. It came back with a mouse one time. I haven't looked in the box yet as I don't want to disturb them or even risk loosing an eye! (Some of you will know what I mean). I'm going to set it up for the otters on the river next. There is some spraint on the usual rock mid-river below my house. I'll 'get you' eventually you little critter!

David Evans living in Forge near Machynlleth tells me that recently he has been getting visits from a Marsh Tit at his garden feeding station. This is a real rarity in this area and I don't believe I have ever seen one since I have been living around here. When I was growing up in Newtown we regularly had them on our nut feeders at home. Referring to that classic work 'Birds in Wales' (Lovegrove, Williams, Williams) it says this about the Marsh Tit, I quote -

"A resident species, strongly sedentary, widespread but patchily distributed in the eastern half of Wales and in Pembrokeshire. Scare or absent in other western and northern areas."

I guess that about sums it up.

Happy birding.

Dr. Doolittle.