More from TRWP!

At last a rare sunny day on the 30th and I was again on TRWP duty. A single Swift, Hobby, 3 Buzzards, Kestrel and a Curlew were seen. A Nuthatch was calling and visiting the neighbours feeders. A more unusual visitor to the garden was a single Linnet.
I cannot sign off without mentioning the sad demise of the Thornton Moth Mans blog. It was this site that encouraged me to start my own. It is great to hear about what people are seeing locally, especially areas of Natural History that I know little about. So come on Russ ,don,t abandon your followers.

T.R.W.P!

T.R.W.P is Thornton Raptor Watch Point, or in reality my decking over looking the reservoir. It was productive today, 22nd. August, with 7 thermaling Common Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk , 2 Ravens and a Swift. At 1610 an Osprey flew in from the east, circled the reservoir and then flew off west. Finally at dusk a single Hobby was hunting low near to the church.

Kingfishers galore!

A family group of 5 Kingfishers were at the top end of the res. on 17th July, 2 adults and 3 juvs. Other sightings recently have included 2 Ravens, 2 Common Terns, 2 broods of Tufted duck and a single Peregrine. The House Martins are busy repairing the nest as it was damaged when the first brood left. Hopefully they will have a second brood. Ringing locally has been successful with Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Golfinches and a single juvenile Grey Wagtail being caught.

Breeding success.

On the 11th June 2 young House martins were seen in the artificial nest. Swifts have also been inspecting the area and it has made me want to put in boxes for them. The only problem is that it does involve knocking through the gable end of the house which requires some careful consideration first! A single Green Sandpiper was found by DW on 8/7 on the mud at the top end of the reservoir. Other breeding success included a brood of Tufted ducks, an infrequent breeder on the res. Also 3 Kestrel pullus were rung on the 1st July. D.W. also found Red Eyed Damselflies at the fishing ponds in the Bagworth heath area. There were also good numbers of Ringlet and Small heath. Finally, Common Terns have been visiting the reservoir and on carnival day just as I was helping to put away tables, a Peregrine flew over.

The occupied nest.

The occupied nest is second from the right. It and the small one were made from card board that had been soaked for several days in water, with added fabric softener. I then shaped this around a ball to create the nest .I fitted some gauze into the nest to help in fixing the nest to the shelf. It was then left to harden. I painted the shelf with a light colour, they prefer white eaves. As you can see the 2 purchased nests,(£14 each!!!), look great, only problem is they have never been used. My tatty ones have now been used 3 times. They have been damaged by sparrows, but the male just carries out some DIY and you can just make out the mud he has added.Oh, and one fell off, but not when it was being used thankfully! Hope this is of some help, but if you need any more info. on making nesting sites then there is a very good book on the subject, published by the BTO.

House Martins in residence.

This shows the shelf onto which I attached the 2 bought nests and between are the 2 home made nests.

Summer visitors all in.

I eventually caught up with a Spotted Flycatcher on 27th May. It was rewarding to stroll along the sculpture trail in Thornton wood, thinking ,this is a good place for a Spotted Flycatcher, Oh there is one! On the same evening a Badger was seen out hunting for worms at about 2030. It is also great to have a pair of House Martins in the nests I made for them. It is a mystery why they have never used the two expensive ones I purchased at the Bird Fair. A Curlew flew over calling on 6th May.