Breeding Gulls in Hinckley

Over the last couple of years I have located several gull breeding colonies in Northamptonshire and elsewhere on my travels. Plus I have continued the work at the old British Shoe factory first started by Dave Gray. At this time of year seeing gulls over any flat roofed building is worth checking out. I recently spotted some gulls over the Northern Perimeter Road at Hinckley. Steve Nichols also spotted gulls in this area, as he was driving along the same road. I decided to do a thorough search of the area last weekend and eventually I spotted a Lesser Black-backed Gull sitting on a nest on one of the large warehouses. Something spooked the gulls and in all 27 Lesser Black-backs took to the air above the roof. The bird below is the only one visible from ground level, but I believe there are more pairs with eggs on the roof.

Lesser Black-backed Gull Incubating Eggs on the Roof of a Hinckley Warehouse

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Hinckley

If you do see gulls in any industrial areas round Leicestershire this summer please let me know, so that I can check for signs of breeding. Better still, carry out a bit of detective work yourself and see if you can find out if they are breeding.

South-West Leicestershire Bird List Update

Seeing as it's a miserable afternoon I thought I should catch up with some office work. It has been a while since we updated the South-West Leicestershire Bird List. There's not much new apart from maybe a Brent Goose that we hadn't realised had been seen at Shawell a few years back. 

I have also added recent sightings of some of the scarcer species like the long staying Ring Ouzel at The Outwoods, a Whinchat at Brascote and a Grey Plover also at Brascote. It was a shame I was away at the same time the Grey Plover was at Brascote, as this is a species I need for my own personal tally. Adey missed it too, as news of it arrived too late for him to go for it.

If anyone knows anything about the Redstart reported from The Outwoods when the Ring Ouzels were there please let either myself or Adey know.

A pdf can be viewed or saved to your own computer HERE

Bird Watching Trip to Southern Portugal

Dawn and I were in Portugal again last week this time in search of the birds that are absent in autumn. Swifts were much in evidence during the first part of the trip. Pallid Swifts were racing around just outside of the Faro airport and at Praia da Rocha many Common and Pallid Swifts filled the sky in front of our top floor hotel room. Occasionally an Alpine Swift would appear amongst their smaller relatives. The best location for these was Cabo de São Vincent (Cape Saint Vincent). The weather wasn't brilliant on the day we visited the cape, but it kept the swifts low.

Pallid Swift, Praia da Rocha

Common Swift, Praia da Rocha

Alpine Swift, Cabo de São Vincent

Cabo de São Vincent

The weather was stunning for half the trip, but we woke to grey clouds one morning and then one bank of clouds followed by another and another rolled in from the Atlantic. We only lost half a day to rain, but when it arrived it was pretty spectacular. Below is an image of the sky just before the rain started to fall.

Dawn and I made two trips to the Alentejo, which was roughly a 100 km drive from our base in the Algarve. The first time we set off at 04:00 to arrive there at first light. Our first destination was the LPN reserve just north of Castro Verde ( 37°44'10.57"N  8° 1'53.81"W). As we approached the reserve headquarters we could see small falcons silhouetted against the fading night sky. Many of the Lesser Kestrels that nest colonially at the site were hunting insects around the buildings. As the sun began to rise I left Dawn snoozing and attempted to photograph the Lesser Kestrels, but unfortunately they stayed distant.

Male Lesser Kestrel

Whilst I was watching the Lesser Kestrels, a Roller flew past. At least two pairs were in the area - they were nesting in the same buildings as the Lesser Kestrels.

Roller

From the permissible footpath it is possible to see Calandra and Short-toed Larks, Great and Little Bustards, Montagu's Harriers, Quail and other species. Little Bustards doing their wing quivering display flight were easy to see and one was on the ground doing his display complete with his mouth fart call. That sound carries quite a distance. When you first hear it you think the bird is right next to you, but it is more likely to be at least 200 metres away. At least 14 Quails called close to the footpath and two showed briefly.

Digiscoped Little Bustard

Calandra Lark

We visited several more sites including a track just west of Guerrerio (37°40'45.03"N   7°54'16.28"W). This track leads to the southern entrance to the LPN Reserve (there is no access through the gates). We have been here several times. We are always lured back after our sighting in 2014 of an Iberian Wolf loping across the steppe. This animal was a long way from it normal range, but we had a good look at it through my scope and we were certain at the time that it was a wolf. There were, however, three Great Bustards relatively close to the track and several Montagu's Harriers hunted and sky danced nearby. This is a good place to scan for birds of prey. A Booted Eagle was hunting over the plains and an immature Iberian Imperial Eagle joined it for a while before drifting off east.

Montagu's Harrier Carrying Prey

Great Bustard

Bustard Habitat Near Guerreiro 

Prior to setting off I had searched for likely spots using Google Earth. I noticed a lake between Penilhos and Alvares ( 37°38'49.05"N 7°49'11.39"W) and so I decided to check it out. As I drove along the gravel road I spotted birds hawking the hillside to our left - they were Collared Pratincoles. At the lake at least forty of these stunning birds were either resting or hawking above our heads.

Collared Pratincole

A pair of Gull-billed Terns were there and they wasted no time in coming over to check us out. After the terns grew bored of us their raucous calls were replaced by the harsh call of a wheatear in fact not one but two Black-eared Wheatears.

Gull-billed Tern

Black-eared Wheatear

Little Ringed, Ringed and Kentish Plovers were there along with Avocets and Black-winged Stilts. On our second visit three Red-crested Pochards had arrived - two males and a female.

The Castro Verde area really requires more time to do it full justice. It is a large area to work, but with a little effort many of the species can be seen in a day.

The rest of the trip was spent at several sites along the coast and up in the hills around Monchique. On the slopes below Picota many Iberian Chiffchaffs were singing and a couple of Iberian Green Woodpeckers showed occasionally. On the summit of Picota time had stood still. We were last there in October 2015 and there were Two-tailed Pashas, Swallowtails and Scarce Swallowtails gliding around at head height and they were all there again this time. It is like a butterfly park up there as these beauties just glide past you at touching distance.

Scarce Swallowtail

It was good to see Bee-eaters, Cattle Egrets, Greater Flamingos, Hoopoes, Iberian Grey and Woodchat Shrikes and White Storks etc, etc.

I'll finish with a few random images including one for Paul Riddle.

White Stork

Breeding Condition Cattle Egret

A Very Dark Little Owl

Greater Flamingo - Always the First and Last Species to be Seen in The Algarve

37°38'49.4"N 7°49'09.8"W

Ravens in Leicestershire

Are the Number of Ravens in Leicestershire still increasing?

The sound of a Raven calling is less of a surprise when heard in Leicestershire than it used to be, but it is still great to hear. Its a sound that carries down the ages and reminds us of a wilder past.

I am lucky enough to hear them most days and luckier still to be able to get close to them. A pair have again nested on a large cliff face that I can gain access to.

The young Ravens are almost old enough to take flight and survey the world as only Ravens can. I took the opportunity to take some photographs this morning. I had seen four beaks poking up in the nest last week, but if you look closely at the photo below there is actually five of them.

Do you think the numbers of Ravens in Leicestershire are still increasing?

Ring Ouzel at Burbage Outwoods

One of the male Ring Ouzels was still present at The Outwoods today. Two males were originally found there by Adey Baker on April 8th, but just one of the males was still there today (24th). That is a stay so far of 17 days.

The bird is still favouring the second field after the riding stables and it shows by the safety fences in the far corner.