Garden Highlights - May 2021

The start of May, a Gooden's Nomad Bee (3rd) was spotted resting on the fence. This was a new species for the garden.

Two Swifts were seen flying over the house on 16th, was a welcome sight. As the month progressed a juvenile Robin was in the garden on 23rd and a Harlequin Ladybird was also seen on the same day. Harlequin Ladybirds were once a rarity, but now are firmly resident in the garden as with many places in the UK as they have now spread northwards.

The maximum counts of each bird species visiting the feeders were as follows:

5 House Sparrow

1 Great Tit

2 Dunnock

4 Woodpigeon

4 Goldfinch

2 Collared Dove

2 Jackdaw

1 Magpie

3 Starling

2 Blackbird

2 Robin

2 Blue Tit

1 Coal Tit

1 Carron Crow

3 Greenfinch

Despite the overnight low temperatures, affecting my moth trap visitors. A highlight was a brief visit of a Mint Moth (Pyrausta aureate) on 29th. This was a first record of this species in our garden.

Nocmig at Nether Kellet, Lancashire - 25th April 2021

This was the first time I had recorded away from Teesside. It was a chilly evening with a clear sky when I switched on by Zoom H2n Recorder at 10 pm. I recorded until 07:35 am the next morning.

22:00 - 02:10

Oystercatcher - 18 calls - 2 birds

Herring / Lesser Black-backed Gulls sp (flock) - estimated 50 birds

Lesser Black-backed Gull 19 calls - 3 birds

Jackdaw - 3 calls - 1 bird

Tawny Owl - 32 calls - 1 or 2 birds

02:10 - 05:33

Tawny Owl - 14 calls, 4 songs - 2 birds

Oystercatcher - 20 calls - 3 birds

Mallard - 10 calls - 3 birds

Pheasant - 2 calls - 1 bird

Greylag Goose - 6 calls - 2 birds

Carrion Crow - 20 calls - 6 birds

Blackbird - 3 calls - 3 birds

Woodpigeon - 2 calls - 1 bird

Robin - 2 calls - 2 birds

Greenfinch - 1 call - 1 bird

Starling - 1 call - 1 bird

Chaffinch - 1 call - 1 bird

05:33 to 07:36 - Dawn Chorus 

Robin, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Pheasant, Mallard, Wren, Carrion Crow, Lesser-Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Carrion Crow, Greylag Geese, Chiffchaff and Woodpigeon.

I have copied below a section of the sonogram, with some songs and calls identified.

The intensity of this Dawn Chorus was far greater than at home on Teesside with a much wider range of species and volume.

Dallam Tower, near Milnthorpe, Cumbria - Sunday 25th April 2021

 A pleasant hour was spent watching the Roe Deer and wildlife of Dallam Tower estate, near Milnthorpe in Cumbria. The deer were relatively close, enjoying the afternoon sunshine and tasty grass alongside the River Bela.

We recorded Oystercatcher (pair), Goosander (2 males & 1 female), Mallard (including one sitting on a nest up a mature tree), Blue Tit, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow.

The photograph below, it the tree with the nesting Mallard duck which must have been 30 foot up the tree!

Can you see the duck?

The female Mallard is in the centre of the U shaped area of the tree. You can see the blue and white wing bars and the head of the duck facing right.

Sunset Photos at Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire - Saturday 24th April 2021

 

Garden Birdwatch - Week Commencing - 18th April 2021

Goldfinch 5

Blackbird 1

Jackdaw 1

Blue Tit 2

House Sparrow 1

Woodpigeon 1

Feral Pigeon 1

Greenfinch 1

Great Tit 1

Magpie 1

Food: Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts, Fat Balls and Water

Butterflies: Peacock1, Speckled Wood 3 & Large White 1

Other Insects: Common Carder Bee, Red-tailed Bumblebee

Mammals: Hedgehog

Amphibians: Common Frog Tadpoles

Speckled Wood

On 23rd April 2021, a Beautiful Plume moth rested on the window of the house

Beautiful Plume Moth

Garden Birdwatch - Week Commencing 11th April 2021

Woodpigeon 2

Blackbird 2

Starling 1

Blue Tit 2

Goldfinch 4

Jackdaw 1

Robin 2

Great Tit 2

Collared Dove 2

Greenfinch 2

House Sparrow 2

Feral Pigeon 1

Dunnock 1

Food: Sunflower Hearts, Fat Balls, Peanuts & Water

Other Insects: White-tailed Bumblebee

Garden Birdwatch - Week Commencing - 4th April 2021

Starling 1

Blackbird 2

House Sparrow 4

Goldfinch 6

Blue Tit 2

Greenfinch 2

Woodpigeon 3

Robin 1

Jackdaw 2

Great Tit 2

Collared Dove 2

Food - Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts, Fat Balls and Water

Other Insects - Garden Bumblebee & Common Carder Bumblebee

Amphibians - Common Frog Tadpoles

Tadpoles

Great Tit

Sadly this Starling died in our garden after being chased by a cat. It didn’t look injured, but was reluctant to fly choosing to eat insects off the ground. I watched it for a few hours and after seemingly looking like it was going to recover, it died.

Dark-edged Bee-fly

 On Sunday 4th April, I spotted this Dark-edged Bee-fly whilst visiting Southside, County Durham.

It was visiting each open flower in the garden and then stopping for a rest on some gravel in the sunshine.

Garden Moths - Saturday 4th April 2021

I put the moth trap out hoping to get some of the Spring moths I seem to miss out on in my garden.

Two common moths recorded.

73.244 - Common Quaker 1

73.069 - Early Grey 1

Early Grey

Common Quaker

Garden Moths - GMS Week 4 - Friday 2nd April 2021

After a relatively warm week, Friday’s moth trapping session would have been a disappointment with one moth recorded, except it was a new species for the garden.

Overnight low temperature was 7.0C

73.250 - Twin-spotted Quaker 1

Garden Birdwatch - Week Commencing - 28th March 2021

Woodpigeon 2

Blue Tit 2

Goldfinch 6

Blackbird 2

Jackdaw 4

House Sparrow 4

Wren 2 (displaying pair)

Dunnock 1

Collared Dove 2

Greenfinch 2

Starling 2

Robin 2

Food - Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts, Fat Balls and Water

Mammals - Hedgehog

Butterflies - Small Tortoiseshell 1 (29/3), Peacock 3 (30/3), Small Tortoiseshell 2 (31/3), Peacock 2 (31/3), 

Other Insects - Common Carder Bumblebee, White-tailed Bumblebee, Garden Bumblebee, 7-spotted Ladybird, Tree Bumblebee

Amphibians - Common Frog Tadpoles & Spawn

Collared Dove

7-spotted Ladybird

Wildlife Camera Trap - 3rd April 2021

 Last night the wildlife camera trap recorded the visit of a Hedgehog that frequents our garden. 

Garden Moth - Tuesday 30th March 2021

A spell of dry sunny weather, so I decided to put my moth trap out again to see if I could attract some more species to the garden. I struggle for spring moths with typically low counts, so it was worth a try.

70.141 Double-striped Pug 3 (NFY)

73.245 Small Quaker 2 (NFY)

73.244 Common Quaker 3

73.249 Hebrew Character 3

70.237 Early Thorn 1 (NFY)

73.069 Early Grey 1

(NFY) New for Year

Early Thorn

Common Quaker

Small Quaker

Double-striped Pug

This week Light Brown Apple Moths (49.039) have also been seen flying at dusk

Garden Moths - GMS Week 3 - Monday 29th March 2021

Overnight Low Temperature was 9.0C

73.242 Clouded Drab 1 (NFY)

73.249 Hebrew Character 2

73.069 Early Grey 1

45.044 Emmelina monodactyla 1

73.244 Common Quaker 1 (NFY)

(NFY) denotes new for year

Emmelina monodactyla

Early Grey 

Common Quaker 

Clouded Drab

Garden Birdwatch Week Commencing - 21st March 2021

Goldfinch 5

Blue Tit 2

Jackdaw 2

Woodpigeon 3

Blackbird 2

Robin 2

Great Tit 1

Collared Dove 2

Magpie 1

Wren 1

Dunnock 1

Feral Pigeon 1

Greenfinch 3

Food: Sunflower Hearts, Fat Balls, Peanuts and Water

Note: Goldfinch seen collecting nesting material. Wren heard singing regularly.

Insects: Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Tree Bumblebee, Garden Bumblebee and Common Carder Bee

Amphibians: Tadpoles and Frog Spawn

Mammals: Hedgehog

Nocmig - 23rd March 2021

I put the Zoom H1n sound recorder in the back garden on the evening of 23rd March. The recording was started at 10 pm and I recorded for 6:37 hours.

Blackbird

Robin

Mallard

+ a few calls to be identified.

The highlight of the recording session was a flyby of Whooper Swan at 1:40 am 

Gain turned up high for playback

Gain turned up not quite so high for playback!

At 2.11 am a Blackbird alarm was recorded.

Nocmig - 20th & 21st March 2021

I put the Zoom H1n recorder out in the back garden on the evening of 20th & 21st March to record the calls of the birds migration or flying around during the hours of darkness. The recorder also recorded the songs of the local residents that participated in the dawn chorus.

20th March 

Canada Goose - 9 calls

Curlew - 1 call (new species for the Nocmig list)

Blackbird - 1 call & 3 songs at dawn.

21st March - recording time 6.5 hours from 10 pm

Redwing - 1 call

Moorhen - 1 call (see below - new species for the Nocmig list)

Blackbird - 3 alarms & songs at dawn

Coot - 5 calls

Goldfinch - dawn chorus

Robin - dawn chorus

Garden Moths - GMS Week 2 - Saturday 20th March 2021

Overnight Temperature of 7.0C, a total of four moths were recorded of three species. Spring moths are a struggle in my garden, but four was a good number to have.

73.069 Early Grey 1

45.044 Emmelina Monodactyla 1

73.249 Hebrew Character 2

Early Grey

Emmelina Monodactyla

A Light Brown Apple Moth was also seen at dusk on Sunday 21st March 2021

Garden Birdwatch Week Commencing - 14th March 2021

Goldfinch 7

Blue Tit 2

Woodpigeon 2

House Sparrow 7

Blackbird 2

Greenfinch 1

Starling 3

Coal Tit 1

Great Tit 2

Jackdaw 3

Chaffinch 1

Collared Dove 2

Robin 2

Wren 1

Magpie 1

Food: Peanuts, Sunflower Hearts, Fat Balls + Water

Amphibians: Frog Spawn

Insects: Garden Bumblebee 

Mammals: Wood Mouse

Butterflies: Peacock 1 (17/3/2021 & 20/03/2021)

Garden Birdwatch Week Commencing- 7th March 2021

Blackbird 2

Goldfinch 6

Blue Tit 3

Woodpigeon 2

Greenfinch 3

House Sparrow 3

Robin 1

Great Tit 2

Starling 1

Feral Pigeon 2

Jackdaw 2

Food - Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts, Fat Balls + Water

Amphibians - 8 Common Frog + Spawn

Mammals - Hedgehog & Wood Mouse

 

Saturday 6th March 2021

Not quite Nocmig, but an early morning rooftop discussion.

Initially two birds flew in with one being quite vocal, soon more flew in to watch.

European Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

A song that always reminds me of the seaside and ice cream!

New Adventure - Nocmig - 31-01-2021

Last year, the Teesmouth Bird Club did a Garden Birdwatch Challenge which I organised and took part in. The rules were simple, record all the birds you see and hear from your garden (or property boundary if you lived in a flat). No recordings were allowed, but I did spend a few evenings with my head out of the window trying to add a few species. 

A few successes were heard in the first lockdown as everything was very quiet, so Canada Goose and Coot could be heard on the local park lake. I did later see Canada geese flying out the house, but it was good to be able to hear them communicating with one another that evening. I don't think Coot would have been possible without those audible calls, so it was a bonus. With no disrespect to Coots, it probably the only time you would say that Coot is a bonus species.

So for 2021 I am going over to the dark side i.e Nocmig which is sound recording during night time to pickup the calls of migrating birds. I was lucky I already had a Zoom sound recorder and use the software, so I have nothing to lose and an experience to gain. I didn't have a big SD card free at the time, but at least it would show me what was possible from my back garden.

On 31st January, I setup my sound recording equipment in the back garden. Nothing flash just the sound recorder sticking out of an old plastic tub (now empty after the birds finished all the fat balls). A plastic bag over the top just in case of rain and that was it. I switched it on and walk away off to sleep!

The next morning I collected the sounder recorder from the garden and put the SD card in the computer. After following the very detailed instructions on the Nocmig website I was looking at a Spectrogram of the evening.

The start of spectrogram showed the various late night running of water to clean teeth, etc and the closing of doors. A local dog had a good bark and a car alarm were all picked up and showed interesting patterns on the spectrogram.

Cars travelling fast along the main road about 400 metres away could be heard, along with squeaky brakes but things were slowing down down,

In the general thong of noise at 1000 - 1500 Hz, I could still just about make out those Canada geese on the park lake up to 11:30 pm.

At midnight and beyond until the card ran out of space I searched the spectrogram for something different.

The first find was at 12:14 am (see 1st spectrogram) a flypast by Mallard which I think by the calls are male and possibly 3. The calls and noise of the wingbeats can be heard.

The 2nd spectrogram is another small flock of Mallard with a few quacks thrown in for good measure.

I was thrilled to record this on my first session and click on the link below to hear the recording.

https://soundcloud.com/julie-mason-12/nocmig-recording-mallard-31-01-2021

Now armed with a larger SD card to record a full night time session.

2020 Highlights

At the end of a year I always try to look back at wildlife highlights and despite the limitations of 2020 there are things to remember.

1. Recording 43 species in 2020 from my suburban garden.

2. Watching a Tree Sparrow eating peanuts in our garden on 24th October.

3. Recording a Fox on the wildlife camera trap in the garden in July.

4. Seeing a Great-crested Grebe fly past our house on 5th April.

5. Recording three new moth species for the garden.

Cold start to 2021

 On 2nd January we had some snow and then in the coming days the overnight lows covered the plants and shrubs with a frost.

2020 Garden Bird Year List Challenge

 I took part in the first Teesmouth Bird Club Garden Bird Year list challenge in 2020. All birds seen and heard whilst in your property i.e garden or house could be recorded. No recording were permissible. 

In Stockton-on-Tees I recorded 43 species which I was very pleased with.

Woodpigeon

Jackdaw

Magpie

Robin

Great Tit

Goldfinch

Coal Tit

Starling

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Carrion Crow (heard only)

Black-headed Gull (flyover)

Dunnock

Wren

Herring Gull

Feral Pigeon

Blackbird

Mallard (flyover)

Greenfinch

Sparrowhawk

Ring-necked Parakeet (flyover)

Long-tailed Tit

Collared Dove

Chiffchaff (heard only 04/04/2020)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (flyover)

Teal (heard only 04/04/2020)

Coot (heard only 04/04/2020)

Redwing (heard only 04/04/2020)

Great-crested Grebe (flyover 05/04/2020)

Song Thrush (heard only 23/04/2020)

Swift (07/05/2020) (flyover)

Canada Goose (08/05/2020) (flyover)

Great-spotted Woodpecker (24/05/2020)

Grey Heron (25/05/2020) (flyover)

House Martin (15/08/2020) (flyover)

Whimbrel (23/08/2020) (flyover)

Kestrel (31/08/2020) (flyover)

Tawny Owl (heard only 23/09/2020)

Pink-footed Goose (24/09/2020) (flyover c200)

Tree Sparrow (24/10/2020) - first record in garden

Pied Wagtail (01/11/2020) 

Mute Swan (13/12/2020) (flyover 2)

Little Egret

Arum maculatum

 During a September walk in Grizedale Forrest we came across a patch of Cuckoo Pint (Acrum maculatum).