Download Summary of third session (MS Word, text only)

Summary: Introduction to Bird Watching & Conservation (14 June 2011)
Species Introductions (Birds of the Mynd)
Changes – Over the past few decades, Teal, Dipper and Ring Ouzel have been lost as
breeding birds but Whitethroat and Red Kite have been added.
Check you field guide for these species. Additional comments:Buzzard
 very variable in colour; tail length = wing breadth; soars on raised wings; mewing call;
widespread in UK now (all over Shrops).
Red Kite
 pale head; rufous below; red tail apparent from above only (light from below); deeply
forked tail; juvenile duller; narrower & longer wings than Buzzard; likely to show wing
tags in Shrops; known to follow tractor-pulled mowers for disturbed prey animals.
Peregrine Falcon
 smaller than previous (Wood Pigeon size); distinct head markings ("moustache", yellow
cere, black head); steel blue back; barred chest; preys on birds; tail = breadth of wing;
"anchor" shape in flight; dark above at distance; rapid wing beats; does not hover but
looks for prey flying high and "stoops" at high speed.
 female larger than male; avoids competition for prey in winter; larger female necessary
to carry more eggs; female remains on and defends nest when chicks are small;
smaller prey brought in by smaller male OK when chicks small; later when chicks
grown, both parents hunt and young can defend themselves.
 1987 – first breeding record in Shrops; now > 20 pairs; quarries (nest sites) and racing
pigeons (prey) have supported expansion, along with reduced persecution.
Hobby

similar to Peregrine in face pattern but smaller; summer visitor (c.f. Peregrine which is
resident); arrives with hirundines (swallow family) and swifts, which it hunts, but also
feeds on insects once here (etas them on wing); barring on chest heavier than
Peregrine; red vent and thighs; longer legs than Pereg.; narrow wings; tail = wind width;
flight like large swift; about 20 breeding pairs in Shrops.; high pitched alarm call.
Merlin
 Female > male and different in plumage (unlike Hobby and Pereg.); small head and eye
appears large; tail > wing width; male slate grey with dark tip to tail; female streaked
brown; fast wingbeat; flap-flap-glide flight low over vegetation; Meadow Pipit main prey
(which they follow to coast in cold winters).
Kestrel
 relatively common; sexes differ; female brown with "moustache" and barred tail; male
grey head and grey tail with black tip; hovers; nest on ledges or, on Mynd, old crow
nests; familiar as motorway raptor.
Raven
 call "gronk" (does not "caw"), large (2x crow size); black, heavy bill and head, tail
diamond shaped; cross-shaped in flight; huge nest in trees very early (Feb.).
Red Grouse
 resident on Mynd heather moorlands all year; diet almost totally heather shoots; male
has rich red plumage (but looks black from distance); female more scaly patterned and
rufous (camouflage on nest); distinct call; a few dozen pairs on Pole Bank; best time to
hear is dawn and dusk (try again in October when males are defending territories
anew).
Snipe
 huge straight bill (2/3 of length of rest of body); brown back; light underneath at a
distance; crepuscular; "drums" in spring; check Wildmoor at dusk.
Curlew
 long downward-curved bill; larger than Snipe with no crown stripes; white V on back in
flight; moves to estuaries in winter; call – a bubbly "curlew".
Skylark
 First of the "little brown jobs" (LBJs); sexes alike; white outer tail feathers; bigger than
next species; crest; distinctive display flight and song.
Meadow Pipit
 LBJ 2; more speckled breast than above; very common on the top of the Mynd (1000
pairs).
Tree Pipit
 LBJ 3. Brighter than Meadow Pipit; paler legs and more orange; call noisier than
Meadow Pipit; typically parachuting display flight of Meadow Pipit starts and ends from
ground while Tree Pipit's starts and ends from tree (but exceptions to this); less
common than previous.
Redstart
 male has grey upper parts, black face, white forehead, orange-red breast and red tail
(which it flicks); female duller but has red tail. Nests in hawthorns.
Whinchat
 bird of upland scrub and bracken-covered slopes; male has white "eyebrow" stripe,
dark cheeks and bright orange breast; female duller but still has eyebrow; both sexes
have white panels on tail; perch to sing prominently.
Stonechat
 similar to above but male has black head with no eyebrow stripe; white collar; no white
tail panels; female duller.
Wheatear
 nest in rabbit holes and on scree slopes; male has slate grey back and breast with
orange tinge; distinctive white rump pattern; white eyebrow and black eye stripes; likes
short grass grazed by rabbits and sheep.
Grasshopper Warbler
 crepuscular, found on Wildmoor and in the wet flushes below Pole Cottage; rarely
seen; summer visitor; "reeling" song like fishing reel, sewing machine or insect.
Whitethroat
 white throat very obvious; summer visitor; grey crown; perches prominently, often in
areas of heather & gorse bushes; repetitious song, scratchy, urgent.
Reed Bunting
 male has black head with white collar and "moustache" and reddish-brown back;
female similar but has no black on head; perches to sing; found in wet flushes at head
of Ashes Hollow; nests in wet tussocky areas on ground.
Survey & Conservation Work on Mynd
Bird habitats correlated with heather density and vegetation maps from NT, e.g.
o Heather – Red Grouse, Stonechat, Ring Ouzel
o Wetland – Teal, snipe, Reed Bunting
o Bracken – Tree Pipit, Redstart, Whinchat
Work informs NY land management priorities.
Very high priority – Teal, Merlin, Red Grouse, Snipe, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Whinchat,
Stonechat, Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Reed Bunting.
High priority – Curlew, Skylark, Grasshopper Warbler, Redstart.
Habitat change discriminates both for and against different species of birds with specific
niche habitat requirements.
Ring Ouzel – Long Mynd birds had a specific local dialect; 1994-1999 10-16 breeding pairs
on Mynd; then dropped over next 4 years to no breeding pairs; predation by crows (crow
population enhanced by post-BSE policies on use of dead sheep and increased availability
of sheep carrion on hill).
Ring Ouzel, Teal, Curlew and Snipe all in sharp decline.
NT – Wildmoor and Bilbatch: habitat management (rush control) and predator control;
"Long Mynd Ground-Nesting Birds Recovery Project".
NT – Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme involving commoners, NT and
Natural England. Controls put on level of sheep stocking on Mynd (intensity of grazing).
Monitoring populations of Snipe, Curlew, Red Grouse, Grasshopper Warbler, Whinchat
and Wheatear.
Red Kites – good news! In 2005 the first nest in Shrops for 130 years. In 2009, 10 nests
with 9 young. In 2010, 17 nests and 14 young. This year, 19 nests with 16 young. Six
younger birds in the area are of Shrops. provenance. Local Red Kites are derived from the
native Welsh population (in contrast to those introduced in other parts of the UK which are
of continental stock).