Wild Bird Wednesday 745 - Abundance 2

Last week's post about the huge flocks of birds that I saw at Snettisham reminded me of the (possibly) equally large number of Starlings I saw in Somerset (that's in the SW of England) on the same trip.

The Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is one of the 20 most abundant birds in the UK.  But this bald statistic hides a considerable decline in population: at last estimate there were currently 1.8 million pairs of Starling in the UK, but this is less than 50% of the population that was present in the 1960s. The UK starling population UK has fallen rapidly, particularly since the early 1980s and continues decline. There have also be population declines in northern Europe.  This is not a pretty picture for a once ubiquitous species. 

In the winter (which is when I was in Somerset) the UKs population is increased by birds from continental Europe, and as this time they form large roosting flocks of up to a million birds.  At these roost sites murmurations can occur - these are the flocks of seemingly coordinated birds that form rapidly changing patterns in the sky.  The exact reason why Starlings behave in this way is not fully understood, but it seems likely that it is related to predator avoidance.

This murmurations occurred at Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve on the Somerset Levels.  If you ever get the change to visit this reserve, or the neighbouring RSPB site, I would strongly recommend that you do so.

There were good numbers of starling about on the evening - as well as booming bitterns - but the sky was a little grey!  Oh well.

These are some of the images I took on that evening. 

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below.  Cheers - Stewart M

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Wild Bird Wednesday 744 - Abundance

I was recently thinking about my 2024 trip to the UK - ah nostalgia - and my trip to the Snettisham RSPB reserve.

Snettisham reserve is on the East Coast of the Wash in East Anglia.  On certain very high tides the birds that normally roost on mud banks in The Wash are disturbed by the rising waters and gather in huge numbers on the reserve.  By complete coincidence I happened to arrive there when one (well two actually) of these tides was occurring.

I arrived at first light and was just amazed at the abundance of birds - huge mobile flocks of waders could be seen in the distance, and slowly they were pushed on to a gravel bank with in the reserve.

There is a hide on the reserve that gives great views of the gravel bank where the birds gathered.

The small grey waders in these pictures are Knot (Calidris canutus) and the larger black and white ones are Oystercathers (Haematopus ostralegus).

Some days things just align to show you magic and treasure.

(And incidentally - the rainbow is real!)

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Wild Bird Wednesday 743 - White-Breasted Waterhen

The White-Breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) can be found through out South and South-East Asia, from Pakistan in the West, to South Korea and Japan in the East and south to Indonesia.

It does not take much experience of the broad classification of birds to see that this species is a rail or a crake. 

Although it is clear that they do have a white breast, I am a little surprised that the chestnut coloured under tail feathers are not mentioned in their common name.  This bird was photographed in the Bharatpur area of India, south of Delhi.

Although some of the guide books suggest this species is bolder than many other crakes, I did not find this to be so and was please to get these pictures.

The body of this species is flattened left to right, presumably to allow easier passage through the reeds and other vegetation. They have long toes, a short tail and a yellow bill and legs. Males and females are similar in coloration, but the males tend to be slight light smaller than the females.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the blue button below.  Cheers  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 742 - Goosander

The Goosander or Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) is a member of a group of ducks known as 'sea ducks' - however many menders of this groups do not seem to be very closely related, so the usefulness of this grouping is questionable - especially as an number of species - including the Goosander - are not restricted to the sea!

However, with the 'sea ducks' are a group of birds known as Saw Bill ducks - these include Mergansers / Goosanders, Mergansers and Smew.  As their name suggests all of these birds have a saw toothed beaks with is used for catching fish.

These are not the greatest pictures of a Goosander, but the last two are taken through the crystal clear waters of the Reuss River in Lucern, Switzerland.  I'm pretty certain I've never seen a river of this size that was so clear - it was remarkable. This section of the river is just down stream from Lake Lucern, and this may account for why it is so clear: any sediment that it may have been carrying being deposited on the lake bed.

The Goosanders in Lucern are part of a population that is expanding, and since the 1850s the Scandinavian population has been expanding south, with first breeding records in Scotland occurring in  1871, and 1941 in England. 

This bird is either a female or a young male, as mature males have a bottle green head.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the blue link below.  Cheers  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 741- Alpine Chough

The Alpine or Yellow-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is a member of crow family,  found in the high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and Nepal. (Incidentally, 'chough' is pronounced as if were spelt 'chuff').

The Alpine Chough has glossy black plumage, a bright yellow beak, and equally colourful red legs.  I was first alerted to the presence of these birds by their distinctive call, which is described as a "rippling preep and whistled sweeeooo'.  

After a while a large flock of these birds passed over head, where flew with acrobatic grace on the up-drafts around the cliffs we were stood on. It feeds, usually in flocks, on short grazed grassland, taking mainly invertebrate prey in summer and fruit in winter; and I can vouch for the fact that they will readily approach tourists to find supplementary food.

These birds were photographed above the city of Innsbruck in Austria.  We took the Nordkettenbahnen  cable car up to the station at Hafelekar, and from that point we walked for another 15 minutes to the summit of Hafelekar at 2356m (or about 7400ft) above sea level.  Once you 'got your ear in' the calls of the Choughs were almost constant - and were occasionally join by the deep croaks of Common Ravens.  

This is a view from the walk we went on while seeing the Choughs.  As you can see it's pretty remarkable.

We had lunch at this spot, and were joined by a couple of Choughs looking for a bit of a snack!

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Cheers  - SM

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Mammals on Monday 20 - Alpine Marmot

The Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground-dwelling squirrel found in high numbers in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. It lives at heights between 800 and 3,200 m in the Alps, and other mountains. 

We found this group of Marmots sheltering / living under a wooden platform on the open ski slopes above Cortina d'Ampezzo (often shortened to just Cortina) in the Italian Dolomites.  We found them on a day that was otherwise disrupted by heavy rain.  To be honest, they were the highlight of that day!

The Alpine Marmot is closely related to the American Groundhog (Marmota monax), and although the Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Day celebrations are rooted in Germanic traditions I do not know if similar  weather predicting abilities are ascribed their European cousins!

An adult Alpine Marmot is between 43 and 73 cm long with a tail of about  13 to 20 cm adding to its size. Their weight varies between 1.9 to 8 kg, with the animals being significantly lighter in the spring (after burning fat all winter during hibernation) than in the autumn when they have their full supplies on board!

Alpine marmots eat plants such as grasses and herbs, as well as grain, insects, spiders and worms. And I suspect that they also eat 'tourist food' as this little group of animals had taken lodgings near a cafe! (The cafe was closed at the time - but Im sure their location was not a coincidence)

Hope all is well with everyone, and that you are ready for a number of posts about Europe!

Cheers - Stewart M