Fantastic photos of baby Tawny Owls

These young Tawny Owls have recently emerged from their nest somewhere in the Churnet Valley. Tawny Owls are relatively early breeders, starting in February or March. They nest in cavities such as holes in buildings or trees or specifically designed nest boxes. The clutch of 2 - 3 eggs is incubated for between 28 and 30 days and the chicks are then brooded by their mother for a further 15 days while the father hunts for their food. Tawny Owls diet is largely small mammals, invertebrates and small birds. After 15 days both parents leave the nest and search for food with which to feed the growing young. When they are 25 - 30 days owl, but before they are able to fly, the owlets may leave their nest and sit on nearby branches while waiting for their parent to feed them this is what the ones in the photos are doing).  When their wing feathers are sufficiently developed, at about 35 days the young start to fly, however they are still dependent on their parents for a further three months. Photos courtesy of John Coe.  

Spring Greens and Other Things – a Wildfood Wander.

On Sunday 11^th May a party of us joined Richard Whiting at RSPB Coombes Valley for a wildfood wander. Richard, who is the Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership Practical Projects Officer, showed us a whole variety of springtime wild plants that are edible – though not always particularly tasty. Notably, nettles were included in the list. If you want to know how not to get stung when you eat nettles fresh fromm the plant here is what you do. You take hole of the tender growing tip of the plant, making sure that the stinging hares are inside the bundle so that you don't get stung. Then you carefully pluck the tip off the stem and, keeping it tightly closed press it together so that the hairs are all squashed and rendered harmless. Then you can eat the nettle without being stung. It really works – though I can't actually say the snack was tasty!

Other plants we tried were Brooklime, Lady's Smock, Large and Wavy Bittercress, Sorrel, Lime and Beech leaves, Hawthorn buds, and Ribwort Plantain. We finished off the event with a Sunday lunch. The starter was a leafy soup and crunchy pignut roots, a main course of rabbit stew cooked with a variety of wild plant leaves accompanied with an Elderberry sauce, all washed down with Dandelion coffee (made with dried and roasted Dandelion roots).

 

Do ducks carry their eggs to safety?

On the morning of 6^th May on the Caldon Canal, near Hazelhurst Junction, an unusual event occurred. A female Mallard plus two males took off from the side of the canal. The strange thing was that the duck had what appeared to be a whole egg in her bill. The two drakes followed close behind her. The duck shortly dropped the “egg” and it entered the canal water and sank. Initially it appeared as though the drakes were chasing the duck in order to mate with her, after all this is a commonly seen behaviour at this time of year – it being the breeding season. The next day a fox was seen in the same place as the Mallards had been seen the day before. I decided to find out what might have be going on. There isn't much information about this phenomenon on the internet but this is what I did find.

In 1978 The Wilson Bulletin (published in the United States) describes observations of (American) Wood Ducks carrying, what were perhaps, whole eggs. It seemed that, when a predator - in this case Red-bellied Woodpeckers, had broken some of the eggs in a duck's nest she removed at least one of the remaining eggs to a new site. It is speculated that this is an attempt to save her remaining offspring from predation. According to this paper (see link below) this observation, by individuals from this species in particular, has been recorded several times. In an attempt to test the theory that the ducks were influenced by the action of predators an experimenter placed broken eggshells on previously un-predated nests whilst the ducks were temporarily absent. On their return the ducks removed an egg or eggs. In another paper written by an American and a British academic, the second from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge (Glous.), the authors document reports of parent birds of various species carrying their young to safety either on their backs or in their bills. In this paper, egg carrying by Mallards and other species of Anatidae (swans, geese and ducks), is described (see second link below) though in this paper they mention only addled eggs being removed from nests. The authors discuss how unlikely it seems given that the anatidine bill is poorly adapted for carrying items as they write that these species do not directly feed their young or courtship feed, and appear to have difficulty carrying nest material in their bills.

So, it seems we can't be sure what was observed, but perhaps the presence of the fox seen the next day is significant. Maybe the birds were disturbed by the fox and all three flew up, the female's instinct impelling her to grab the egg which she subsequently dropped. Had it been a fresh egg presumably it would have eventually risen to the water's surface and floated, whereas an addled egg would stay under water. Next time we see something like this we will watch to see if the egg sinks or floats! Anyway, whatever is the actual story it certainly prompted some interesting speculation!

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v090n01/p0131-p0132.pdf

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=biosciornithology

A Mallard and her ducklings. 

Polecat in Churnet Valley

This dead Polecat or polecat ferret hybrid was found by a road in Dimmingsdale this weekend. According to the recently published but undated "The Mammals of Staffordshire" (Authors: Derek Crawley, Debby Smith, Helen Ball and Nick Mott) in Staffordshire this species is often found on farmland or near human habitation and can be difficult to see as they stay underground within the burrows of prey species for a few weeks at a time. The main method of surveying for the presence of Polecats in Staffordshire is road casualties! They mate between March and May so maybe this one was in search of a partner when it got hit by a car.

Polecats are a native British species. Bones of Polecat dating back to Mesolithic times (10,000 - 6,000 years before present) have been found in cave deposits.

Collins Field guide to Mammals of Britain and Europe (published 1993) says that some feral Ferrets and recent Ferret/Polecat hybrids are "probably indistinguishable on external features". Ferrets are a domesticated form of Polecats and are said by Derek Yalden in The History of British Mammals (published 1999) to have been originally bred (by the Normans) for hunting Rabbits . Documents dating from the late 12th century show that Polecats were traded in England during Norman times - presumably to hunt the Rabbits that the Normans introduced into the British Isles. These Polecats may have been the progeny on imported domesticated Polecats which were originally bred in Spain.

Polecats were extinct in Staffordshire between 1890 to the late 1980s. Their extinction, which was almost nationwide, was probably mainly due to hunting for their pelts and persecution by gamekeepers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Polecat populations seem to have hung on in counties where keepered estates were not a significant form of land management (e.g. Hereford and Shropshire).  Polecats are gradually recolonising areas from these strongholds and in some instances have been translocated into places where they were extinct (Harris and Yalden's Mammals of the British Isles, 2008). Though it is thought many extant Polecats are not pure bred native Polecats having inherited some of their genes from the Norman domesticated introductions. Gin traps, which were intended for rabbits but which also caught Polecats, were banned in 1958 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1981 offered more protection to this species.

Polecat photos by Terry Eyre.

This dead Polecat was found in Dimmingsdale

Cuckoo Flower and Green Veined White Butterfly photos.

Photos from Andy Cope

A Cuckoo Flower at Deep Hayes Country Park 30 April 2014

Green Veined White on Dandelion at Deep Hayes Country Park 30 April 2014

Crossbills, Wood Warbler and plenty of Pied Flycatchers around in Churnet Valley this weekend.

The Churnet Valley is full of spring migrants that are busy setting up territories and also yesterday about 30 Crossbills were seen. Crossbills are a resident species that have been know to breed in any month of the year if there is a sufficient supply of their staple food which is conifer seeds. - they favour species of Spruce. Are these ones breeding in the Churnet Valley I wonder? If you want to look for them listen out for their "chip chip" calls in the tree tops and look out for freshly deseeded cones they have dropped from the trees. The photos (below) were taken by Terry Eyre.

Pied Flycatchers can be seen at Coombes Valley (RSPB) near Gibridding Wood/East Wall Farm (Oakamoor) plus other sites I am sure. Pied Flycatchers are not particularly shy. The males are vociferous so it is fairly easy to hear them and then get a good view. Listen to their song here  http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Ficedula-hypoleuca

Wood Warblers have arrived near Oakamoor.

We look forward to hearing of the first Spotted Flycatchers, Swifts, Hobbys etc.

Pied Flycatchers 

Three more spring migrants arrive.

A Grasshopper Warbler and several Sedge Warblers were heard near Hazlehurst Junction this morning. And perhaps a first for this local habitat, a male and female Wheatear were also seen on the disused railway line also near Hazlehurst Junction.

Sedge Warbler habitat on Caldon Canal near Hazelhurst Junction. 

Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting habitat adjacent to the disused railway near Hazelhurst Junction.