Parliament and Boxes

 

The newish pair at Parliament are looking good for breeding, fingers crossed, if you recall the resident Tiercel was found dead last summer in Whitehall from collision.

A new Tiercel soon bonded with the Falcon and replaced him, hopefully it may be what is needed to aid successful breeding, however it could just be down to the Falcon alone and a fertility issue has surfaced with her age, we will see.

The last successful breeding was in 2018 in the nest box on Victoria Tower, previous to this they bred successfully in the nest box in 2016 and 2017, in each year 3 juveniles fledged.

Previous to this they bred on Keybridge House, Vauxhall (now demolished) from 2008 - 2015 fledging 14 juveniles, successful in 4 breeding seasons but also failing in 4.

Time will tell and the end of this month/February, pair bonding – display and copulation will begin hopefully, watch this space.......

Kestrel Box

On Sunday Jan 9th myself and Paul installed a Kestrel Box on a local Oak Tree, been looking into ways of installing it on the tree without using screws.

I decided on a high strength rope to take the weight of the box and then 4 bungee cords, 2 top and 2 bottom to keep it tight to the tree. The thinking is, that as the tree grows, the cords will stretch with it, will have to check it annually but hopefully it should work.

Kestrels are in the area and I have stuck a cam on it to track any activity.

Barn Owl Box No 2

Following on from the Barnie box fitted in late December, it took them 2 nights to locate it, since then constant activity on the Cam covering it so hopefully a good sign for this year.

The cam also picked up someone passing, just can’t resist a selfie.

 

Beckton 2022

 

The traditional New Year’s Day morning visit for 2022 was Beckton Sewage Works, a very nice morning both weather and birding wise with a few good birds seen.

I finished Beckton 2021 on 101 species, not a bad count for the annual year list and hopefully I can top this for 2022.

To say the weather on New Year’s day was a bit barmy is an understatement, at one point I had 15 degrees showing, it reflected on the wildlife as well, the Kestrel pair were copulating, Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming and Honey and White Tailed Bumble Bee’s were out.

It was an enjoyable morning and I got the list off to a good start with 54 species, had thought I had 55 but double counted on one, a couple of notable ‘hard to get’ for the site also in the shape of Avocet, Brambling and Woodcock.

The Woodcock was very jammy and seen overhead driving in at dawn, presumably looking for somewhere to roost for the day.

After observing the Kestrels mating, easiest the earliest I have seen this, I watched the female hunting briefly, she picked off 3 earthworms on the grass, before returning to sit near the box on the pipe.

Both Common Buzzards were present and as ever, these are a bugger to get close too, even in a car, however I did get a few distant photos in decent light.

All in all, a good start to the year list.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

Happy New Year to everybody, family and friends, hoping you all have a prosperous new year and it bring you good fortune.

Beckton Sewage Works

 

I visited the Works on Tuesday morning, quite a cold one, a little later than usual but good to see both pairs of Kestrel and Common Buzzard on site.

It again looks like the Buzzards are wintering here; quite remarkably I have seen both Buzzards on 2 occasions sitting on Lampposts on the main A13 roundabout early a.m! They are very versatile and often forage with the Gulls in the waste skips in the works; I would suspect they are there at the A13 for road kill.

The Kestrels are looking good hopefully for another breeding season in the box so fingers crossed for them.

Also caught up with the Green Sandpiper sitting on one of the tanks, after this headed down to the Outfall.

Black Tailed Godwit numbers have swelled and a good count of 53 were present along with a number of Redshank, 4 Common Sandpipers, Curlew and 2 Rock Pipits.

On the drive out back along the Creek, had a quick look through the Gulls and one stood out very well on the mud, suspected it was Caspian Gull and this was later confirmed.

A 1st winter bird, grabbed a few photos and left it in peace with all the other hordes of Gulls.

It now brings the yearlist up to 101 and that looks like that will be it for the year, with only one more visit over the Christmas period, however hope springs eternal as they say.......

Barn Owl Box No 2

 

Following on from the 1st Barnie box erected on November 6th, we stood and concreted in the 2nd box to compliment it on Sunday. Boxes as a rule, are usually placed in pairs for the following reasons –

Although barn owl nests are usually well spaced out, placing boxes in pairs, from twenty to a few hundred metres apart, will provide a pair with roosting as well as nesting sites. The male and female roost separately, and some pairs use different boxes in those good years when they can have two broods.

This time I had the help of my other 2 amigo’s, Lee and Martin, a very cold, foggy and grey morning it turned out to be but we all soon warmed up with the activity. The 3 of us stood the pole/box and it dropped into the hole quite straightforwardly.

From this we then turned it in the right direction, in this case towards the east, it was then plumbed and braced and 14 bags of postcrete later, the job was finished, it took around 90 minutes.

I have to say a big thanks to Mart and Lee for giving their time up, especially at this time of year, they put up with me well, had a laugh doing it, there is no way I could do any of this without the help of all my good mates.

I have put a Trail Cam on it for a while to see how long it takes, if you recall the 1st one placed took a day, it wouldn’t surprise me if one or more found it Sunday night...........

Now onto the next project, got to keep them busy, Kestrel and Little Owl box going up next.

 

 

Season Review 2021

 

Yet another season has come and gone, I remember reviewing last year, it all comes round so fast and it makes you realise just what a massive commitment breeding is, especially when you get juveniles that linger.

Of the sites that I am involved in or monitor, they produced 36 fledged juveniles from 17 sites, giving a slightly better success rate than 2020, 30 fledged juveniles from 17 sites.

Occasionally for different reasons, like essential refurbishment works to the ‘core’ site, they may not breed, this happened on one site in 2020 but such is the bond and link to the building/structure, they were straight back on it in 2021, resumed and fledged 4 young.



2021 breeding

Nest box – 6 pairs (19 juveniles)

Tray – 2 pairs (7 juveniles)

Natural – roof/ledge substrate – 4 pairs (10 juveniles)

Did not breed – 5 pairs



Not a bad total and up on 2020 in regards to fledged juveniles, there is going to be ups and downs in every year, if they bred to their full potential it could easily be 50+ juveniles fledged.

In regards to new nest boxes, occasionally newly placed boxes are ignored and you look for reasons why, more often than not, it is down to positioning, even if desperate for a nest site. For instance with Paul and Shaun, we placed a nest box at one site, targeted for the 2019/20 breeding season and it was totally ignored in those years, but was then accepted in 2021 and they bred in it fledging 2 juveniles. Sometimes the structure/layout of the building dictates position and you have to go with it, it’s not always to your liking but it’s obviously better than no box at all and gives them a chance.

At another site, I placed a nest box, aimed at the 2021 breeding season and it was not favoured or used at all, in this case they used ‘natural substrate’ on a ledge and bred. However this year after breeding, they are in and out of it no end and signs look very promising.

However most have been accepted thankfully and many of the boxes are now getting old, the Battersea Power Station box is 9 years old and I have another box at another site, 10 years old. 12mm ply does not last even if you keep weatherproofing it, eventually it will flake. However it is the easiest to make, the cheapest material and it really becomes expensive if you look for alternatives.

Once you get into the realm of cardboard composite, plastic moulds etc, the cost and expense go’s right up.

All in all another good year and very shortly, it will be time to start visiting them all in January for a final check/clean up before yet another breeding season.

Beckton Sewage Works

 

Beckton Sewage Works

149 up.....



It’s taken a while but finally got one of the birds that I have in mind for a few years at Beckton, it’s an overdue addition to add to the site list that’s been going for over 20 years now.
It brings the site list up to 149 species seen on or over site since I started it.

Avocet, 4 of them, finally made the journey up river; I would presume from Rainham RSPB and very likely linked to the cold spell. They are pretty regular at Rainham and West Thurrock Marshes and also in good numbers in the winter.

I know they had been seen a couple of days previously at the Outfall, I couldn’t get over until Sunday but rather surprisingly they were still present at low tide.

As I have said before, the list is a bit of light hearted fun that keeps you forever searching for something new, it’s a bit of a birder thing most do locally, it brings out the competitor in us all.

I know for a fact that I will be out New Years day again starting a new year list over the Valley, standing in the dark and cold early a.m, trying to get Woodcock/Tawny Owl etc, I know I’m nuts, Chris tells me all the time.

Getting back to Beckton the Avocets were the 100th species for the year list for me, I’m going to be pushed to match, or better, last year’s total of 105 with just 3 weeks left........... however you never know what’s round the corner.

                                                          Avocet - a welcome addition

                                                     Common Buzzard, pair on site as usual

                                                      Kestrel, tied to the nest box at all times.