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Canterbury RSPB

Local Group

Spring 2015

Blue tit courtesy of Dave Smith

CONTENTS

Leader’s Letter 2 Diary Dates 16 Noticeboard 3-7 AGM agenda 17 Photo Feature – Sea eagle 8-9 Committee posts needed! 18 Brian Bundock 10-11 Something to Rave(n) about 19-20 Oliver Rackham 11-12 Ups and Downs – cuckoo, Focus on great grey shrike 12-13 green woodpecker and kite 21 Monday Walks 14 Flying weasel 22 Field Trips 15 Reserves Roundup 24-28

Advertisements appearing in this newsletter are not specifically endorsed by the Canterbury Group or the RSPB

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Canterbury RSPB Group

Spring 2015

Hello everyone, Isn’t it lovely to have some good news! Starting with the increased numbers of green

woodpeckers and red kites (see p21) – and to know that it’s our charity, the RSPB, which has

been instrumental in the reintroduction of the red kite, and is working to reverse the declines

of other birds.

As they say, charity begins at home… and what an active Local Group we are, with our

conservation and fund-raising efforts. Thank you to all our volunteers who, like Brian

Bundock (see pp10-11), give so freely of their time and talents. Our many volunteers do so

much in addition to maintaining the woodland habitat; there’s collecting data, leading

walks, giving talks, delighting us with beautiful photographs for our calendar and other

publications, fund-raising through bucket collections and helping at events in all sorts of

ways.

And while we’re on a local theme- how good it is to read about the birds which spend time in

our area, like the great grey shrike which over-wintered at Chilham. It just goes to show how

rewarding bird watching can be on our doorstep!

Wishing you all an enjoyable summer, Liz

Annual Subscriptions to Canterbury Group

Single membership £6.00

Family membership £8.00

Unless otherwise stated, all bird photos in this newsletter are courtesy of group member Dave Smith

Registered Charity Nos. England and Wales 207076, Scotland SC037654

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Noticeboard

Newsletter printing You may have noticed a slight difference in the paper version of the last newsletter,

particularly in the reproduction of photographs which, while not perfect, were at

least clearer than in the Spring 2014 edition. This is because we have moved into the

21st century with a different printer who operates digitally. So, instead of my taking

a printed version of the newsletter along to the printer, who then photocopies it, I

now save everything to a memory stick and take that to the shop, where they

download the file and print the newsletter without handling any paper. This cuts

out two stages in the process, at each of which some loss of definition occurs, and

consequently the result is a cleaner-looking product. Three further benefits, of

which you won’t be aware, are that this printer is actually cheaper than the one we

have been using for the past 16 years; time taken to print the newsletter is much

shorter; and the printer is conveniently situated in Canterbury, rather than out in

the wilds of Waltham. So, provided the new printer can continue to offer the same

level of service, I plan to stay with him. The conversion to a digital presentation of

the newsletter involved quite a lot of extra work initially, but that was essentially a

one-off chore, and this edition will be far easier to produce. With the wind of change blowing through the editorial office, I thought that now might be the time to introduce a new font. This newsletter is being produced in a font called Calibri, which is in the sans serif group of fonts. Sans serif simply refers to the fact that there are no little wings on any of the letters, a practice that harks back to the early days of printing when the problem of different widths of letters (contrast the thinness of an “i” or “l” with a fat “w”) meant that there could be yawning gaps between letters in the text; the little appendages helped to fill the gaps and make them less obvious. All of this is rendered obsolete by modern computer printing, so I am experimenting with replacing the old Palatino font that has served me well for many years with the Calibri upstart. You have a chance to decide for yourselves whether this is an improvement, so please let me know if you have any preference, as I try to run a democratic editor’s office, and will be influenced by your views. To help you decide, the first paragraph of this article is produced in the old Palatino font.

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Continental damselfly in The Blean Perhaps as a result of climate change, a diverse range of European invertebrates have been recorded in England in recent years, from ant lions and harlequin ladybirds to long-tailed blues and wasp spiders. The first Kent record of the beautiful willow emerald damselfly was in 1992, but apparently no further colonisation occurred until 2012, when there were records scattered through North Kent. Last year several were seen at a pond in Thornden Wood, part of the Blean complex of woodland. The brilliant emerald of the adult male is really striking and, unlike

most damselfly species, it holds its wings out when at rest, rather like a dragonfly, though usually, as in this photo, not quite at right angles to the body. This is surely an insect to look out for at other water bodies in 2015. Photo of willow emerald damselfly courtesy of Glynn Crocker.

Taliban bustard A McQueen’s bustard was apparently shot down in Afghanistan in the mistaken belief that it was a suicide bomber. The ringed bird was carrying a satellite tag, but was allegedly claimed to have been equipped by the Taliban with an explosive pouch, GPS tracker, detonator and a suicide vest.

Scottish Supper Our annual themed country supper in February raised a wonderful £418. Congratulations to all the cooks and bottle-washers. Having hung up her apron after the last supper, Chris Sproul had been persuaded to return to the kitchen as co-ordinator for this one, but we really are hoping to give her a proper rest for next year’s event (country not yet chosen for the cuisine) by bringing in some new helpers. Thank you, Chris, for all your hard work over so many suppers – from Greek to Central American.

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Promotion of Big Garden Birdwatch In January six volunteers stood all day in a rather cold Longmarket to publicise the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch the following weekend. We spoke to many people, many of whom had seen it advertised on TV, and the great majority were very supportive. Sales of birdfood were extremely disappointing, but we all felt that talking to the public was far more important, and the day was deemed to be a success. Thanks to all who helped – I hope you’ve thawed out now.

RSPB Stall at ploughing match on 24th September 2014 Three group volunteers manned a stall at the annual ploughing match, held this year at Swingfield, near Folkestone. Despite Liz seeming to know most of the crowd, our table didn’t do particularly well, and it was decided that we wouldn’t attend future ploughing matches, unless they were rather nearer to home, so that we stood more chance of meeting people from the Canterbury area who might join the local group. Despite this, it was a good day out, with a chance to see shire horses and vintage tractors ploughing strips, as shown in Stephen Brook’s photos below.

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RSPB stand at the ploughing match

Calendar success Many thanks to all those of you who bought Canterbury Group calendars last year. Thanks to the high quality of the photos sub-mitted, the calendar more or less sold itself, and, after three reprints, we shifted a magnificent total of 168 copies, generating a profit of £590, one of our most successful fund-raising ventures ever. We are already building on the lessons learned and hope to produce a 2016 calendar to an equally high standard, though we may opt for a different size and style. Please let us know if you have any preferences for type of calendar. If you have any photos you would like to submit for our consideration, please send them to Wendy at wendyjkennett@gmail.com - digital only, I’m afraid, and fairly high definition in order to show them to best advantage. Any British wildlife photo will be acceptable, along with landscape shots, but animal photos must be of creatures taken in the wild.

Turtle dove survey In conjunction with three other conservation groups, the RSPB is launching Operation Turtle Dove, to find out more about this rapidly declining species. If you record any of these lovely birds this summer, please let the RSPB know by emailing les.edwins@rspb.org.uk or, better still, submit your sightings to www.birdtrack.co.uk. The RSPB may also be carrying out some breeding bird surveys of turtle doves; if interested, please contact Les Edwins at the above email address.

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Photo Feature………White-tailed Sea Eagle

For me, photography is about catching a special moment. . . . here’s one (see next page). It’s a calm, cloudless morning in a small boat, chugging across Loch na Keal on the Scottish island of Mull. Eight expectant pairs of eyes scan the sky and surrounding mountains. After forty minutes or so, the engine’s cut and we sit in a rather eerie silence with deep, clear water lapping gently against the hull. . . . . . nothing. The skipper assures us that there’s been only one ‘no show’ this year, but we’re not convinced. Gulls, crows and shags are very active and ‘piping’ oystercatchers echo noisily across the water. . . . . Then, the magic word . . . . “Eagle”. It takes me ten seconds to locate the distant dot which is flying directly towards us but, just as it’s getting close, it starts to turn away. There’s a communal groan in the boat and I’m certain the massive bird hears our dismay. With a slight trim of its ‘barn door’ wings, it turns back towards us and ‘CLICK’, there’s the special moment. This powerhouse of a bird then flies around our boat for several minutes, affording us all spectacular views, but the moment those piercing eyes looked directly into mine (or my camera lens anyway) will be etched into my memory. Pictures on a screen, though impressive, don’t do justice to the real thing and I count myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to share a few moments in the company of this majestic bird. Camera details for those interested are: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm lens, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/4000 sec

Dave Smith

This is the first of what is intended will become a series of articles by Dave, describing some of his most memorable photographic moments with birds, and how he came to take the shots. Each piece will be illustrated by one of his magnificent photos - Editor Subscriptions Please note that subscriptions fall due on 1st April. The rates remain at £6 single and £8 joint/family and are payable to Stephen (renewal form enclosed with this newsletter). Thank you.

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Brian Bundock 1935-2015

I met Brian fairly soon after arriving at Blean Woods in 1982. I can’t actually recall the occasion, but I expect the conversation would have gone something along these lines: Brian: Are you the new warden then? Me: Yes. Brian: Ah, well, have you seen the redstarts? Me: No. Where are they? Brian: Down my usual track, past the second

pines, then off at the twisty oak and beyond the old woodstack. I saw them there on 17th April.

This emphasised at least three points about Brian: firstly, as often as not, he seemed to know what was going on in the wood before I did. I was, indeed, grateful to him for being the first to report the presence of ruddy darter dragonflies at the reserve pond. It was also Brian who noted that brown argus butterflies were colonising one of the rides. A second point revealed by this imaginary conversation is that, when giving directions to some wildlife spot, Brian was not one to be concerned with lefts and rights or distances in yards, preferring to use waymarkers that were familiar to him but totally unknown to me, so leaving me flailing in bewilderment as I tried to keep track of where his directions were leading me. The third point was his amazing ability to recall the dates of bird and butterfly sightings. Bumping into Brian in the wood was a bit like encountering a computer downloading reams of information, all without recourse to notes. However, knowing that I was but a feeble mortal, he would periodically present me with little cards with key names, dates and numbers written on them. About half the size of a postcard, these cards were invariably orange. I have no idea where they came from, but he seemed to have a lifetime’s supply. In those days Brian was still working, but he always found time to help out on the evening and dawn walks that I organised every spring for the public. These started from the car park, which he could reach by taking a short cut from his cottage, ideally placed, right on the edge of the reserve, and on occasion he could regale the visitors with tales of having nearly tripped over a home-going badger as he made his way along the path to the dawn walk in the dark. Back in the 1980s the RSPB treated volunteers rather more casually than now, so there were no forms to fill in, and headquarters at Sandy, Bedfordshire would not even have been aware of Brian’s existence, but he began leading guided walks around 1986, continuing right up to last year, an unbroken record of 29 years, only missing an event if he was off to stay with one of his sisters – trips which evidently meant a lot to him, and which he enjoyed immensely. For the past 15 or 20 years, though, Brian has been a statistic on the RSPB’s computers, and every five years he received a small, shiny, bird lapel pin badge as a long service award and a mark of the Society’s appreciation for all that he did at Blean Woods. Following his retirement, he was to be seen more regularly in the wood, still following his preferred route, which encompassed his favourite butterfly rides. So, depending on the

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season, he might greet me with “Waste of time your doing a butterfly count today – there’s nothing about. Terrible, isn’t it?” or “Hardly any birdsong today. Terrible.” Brian’s glass did often seem to be half empty. Brian belonged very definitely to the old school of birdwatching. He didn’t have any truck with computers, or even those new-fangled typewriters, and was never linked in to the phone or internet bush telegraph that would have told him of the whereabouts of rare birds, and, to be honest, I think he was probably a bit disdainful about that type of birdwatching. An illustration of his approach was that in all the years that I knew him he retained the same old battered pair of porro prism binoculars, which might have seen service on a battleship in the second world war, long after all other birdwatchers had switched to the more expensive, but better roof prism models. I do, however, well remember the day when, with a mixture of pride and embarrassment, he drew out of his pocket a mobile phone! Whether he ever used it, I have no idea, but he probably thought it was sensible to have one with him on his long, solitary walks through the wood. He loved Blean Woods and could, on occasion, become very animated, such as the time that he exploded into a group of volunteers, gasping “Did you see the hen harrier that’s just flown over?” We were both saddened by the near extinction of the brimstone butterfly in the woods in the 1990s, and when it started to show signs of recovery we began vying with each other to be the one who had seen more brimstones that day: Brian usually won. Brian didn’t really change with the times, and I don’t think he was any the worse for that. He did, however, remain true to his abiding interest in wildlife and the countryside, and that is how I shall always remember him.

Oliver Rackham 1939-2015

Oliver Rackham could, perhaps, best be described as a historical ecologist, for much of his life concentrating on woodlands, but later expanding into the broader context of the countryside here and abroad. He was an iconoclast, demolishing many myths about the countryside, his so-called “factoids”, such as the belief, perpetuated down the generations that medieval England was well-wooded or that the Tudors’ boat-building laid waste the woods. For an academic, he was quite a prolific, and very gifted, writer, best known to the general public for his “Trees and Woodlands in the British Landscape”, published in 1976. With this seminal book, his incisive prose opened the eyes and minds of its readers to the mystery of our trees and woodlands. I first bumped into him in 1973, when I was about to start my first job with the RSPB at Wolves Wood in Suffolk. East Anglia was Oliver’s tramping ground (he was a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge) and he was particularly interested in examining the elms that grew there. These trees, and the many forms in which they occur, fascinated him, and he was lamenting the difficulty of examining the leaves in spring, suggesting, probably only partly tongue in cheek, that he should fire a shotgun into the canopy in order to bring down a rain of leaves. More recently he became an annual visitor and speaker at Kent University, thanks to an association with Alexander Wheaten who, inspired by Oliver’s work, led a small band of volunteers in the Blean Research Group to adopt his methods of understanding the Blean Woodlands by examining them in a historical context, which involved poring over ancient manuscripts in the cathedral library, or carrying out fieldwork to plot medieval ditches and banks. On these visits to Canterbury he was always warmly welcomed into Mary Fox’s

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home, and perhaps she was the secret to his agreeing to speak at the university for so many years. I did escort him around the Blean Woods RSPB reserve once, and it was clear that he did not approve of some aspects of our management, although his views were always politely expressed. I last saw him riding an ancient sit-up-and-beg bicycle through the streets of Cambridge. An undoubted eccentric, he could at times give a pretty good impression of an absent-minded professor, but he had an extremely astute brain and a prodigious grasp of facts. Oliver perhaps represented one of the last of a former generation of naturalists who were interested in the subject in its own right, and were not to be beguiled by the false promises of celebrity. He will be sorely missed.

Focus on...... The Great Grey Shrike

The chosen subject of this issue’s “Focus On......” series is a considerable departure from the expected, as all fifty species that have previously featured were either common garden birds, familiar species of the general countryside or, in a few cases, birds that may be quite scarce nationally, but with significant populations in Kent, such as the nightingale and brent goose. The great grey shrike falls into none of these categories, so why is it here? As I shall describe in more detail in a moment, it is a rare winter visitor to Britain, but a single bird has just spent at least four months at Chilham. A little bit of background on this shrike’s distribution and history will give you some idea of just how unlikely it is that one should pass the winter in the remarkably

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ordinary countryside on the outskirts of Chilham village. Curiously, the great grey shrike has a European breeding distribution extending from southern Spain, through central France and Germany, and into Norway, Sweden and Finland, completely bypassing the United Kingdom, where it is known solely as a scarce winter visitor. A huge majority of the European birds breed in Spain, although the situation is now complicated as recent research suggests that these southern birds may belong to a separate species, the southern grey shrike, though DNA analysis to date has proved inconclusive. Nationally, there has been little change in its distribution over the past thirty years, though there may have been a decline, with around 150 individuals in 1981-84, but only half that number in 1986-92. Most years there is just a handful of records from Kent. However, these are invariably passage birds moving through, and it is about twenty years since a bird is known to have overwintered in the county (that was at Stodmarsh). So, for one to turn up at a rather nondescript field wedged in the fork between the Ashford and Challock roads at Chilham, and then stay, is quite remarkable. For those not privileged to have seen one of these rather smart birds, it can be summarised as having a grey back, and white breast tinged with pink, while the wings and tail are largely black. Perhaps its most distinctive feature is the thick black eyestripe, which gives the bird a menacing air that is backed up by a distinctly hooked beak, unusual in such a small bird, for this shrike may only be about the size of a blackbird but is a remarkably fierce predator, and the Chilham individual has been seen catching voles, the normal prey for birds the size of kestrels and barn owls. Like the red-backed shrike, which nested quite widely in England up to about 150 years ago, the bigger great grey has the habit of impaling some of its prey on thorns or barbed wire to form “larders” that it returns to later. While serving a useful function as food stores, these gruesome arrays of prey can also assist during courtship, as the females tend to select males with more extensive larders, indicating that these males are more proficient hunters and so more likely to be able to provision chicks at a later date. It has been claimed that the birds can spot a vole at 250 metres; if that is the case, their eyesight must be incredibly sharp compared to us poor myopic humans. From a 12’ perch, the Chilham bird certainly had absolutely no problem spotting a small insect on the ground below when I watched it in action one day. If snow makes small mammal prey undetectable, the shrikes resort to hunting birds, but their success rate is then much lower. The great grey and red-backed shrikes share similar habitat requirements, and in the past, when the red-backed was a common species, its summer territories were often taken over by the great grey in winter. Although both species favour heathland, the main requirement seems to be for low-intensity farmland with plenty of rough grassland containing prey, and a scattering of bushes to act as perches. As a rising human population and the politics of agriculture demand every greater intensification of farming methods, so the norm has become countryside devoid of rank vegetation and scrub, factors which may have contributed to the decline of the great grey shrike in this country, as well as over much of Europe. The first report I am aware of for the Chilham bird was on 18th November 2014, and it was still present in exactly the same area on 9th March 2015, which possibly makes it the longest-staying Kentish great grey shrike on record. Presumably, it will soon be heading back over the North Sea, but these are fairly site-faithful birds, so it will be interesting to see if it returns to this little corner of Kent next winter: I know that I, for one, will definitely be out there looking for it.

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Monday Walks Thanks to all who have supported the walks this past year. I was able to hand over to Glen a cheque for £120. The total number of species seen was around 125, the largest number on one day being 51 at Pegwell Bay. I’ll be pleased to see you on any of the trips - 48 hours’ notice of you coming would be appreciated. All walks are on the third Monday of the month. Due to lack of attendance in previous years there will not be a Cliffe meeting; we will go to Dungeness instead, meeting at the old lighthouse car park for a sea watch before proceeding to the reserve. No visit to the Pilot on this trip.

Alan Prior 01227 361362 or alan.prior7@btinternet.com

Date Location/meeting place Map ref. Time

20th April Mote Park, Maidstone TQ 771555 10.00

18th May Stodmarsh car park TR 221609 09.30

15th June Rye Harbour car park TQ 942189 10.00

20th July Dungeness old lighthouse car park TR 088168 10.00

17th August Oare Marshes car park TR 013647 09.30

21st Sept NO WALK

19th October Grove Ferry car park TR 236631 09.30

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Field Trips - Summer 2015

APRIL Sun 26th STODMARSH (morning) Leader-Glynn Crocker ( 275186) If the footpath has

been reopened we can search for spring migrants we missed at Oare. MAY Wed 13th GROVE FERRY END OF STODMARSH (evening) Leader-Glynn Crocker (275186)

More spring migrant should have arrived and be setting up territory. Sun 24th RYE HARBOUR (all day) Leader- Peter Curd (793131) Another successful trip

last year, also during the winter. This is a very good all-year round nature reserve.

JUNE Sun 14th BLEAN WOODS (afternoon) Leader- Peter Curd (793131) A guided walk round

our local nature reserve to see all that it has to offer at this time of year, including heath fritillaries.

JULY Wed 15th OARE MARSH (evening) Leader- Glynn Crocker (275186) Varied species of bird

visit this small coastal nature reserve, some for just a short time. Sun 26th ST. MARGARET’S AT CLIFFE (morning) Leader- Glynn Crocker (275186) On

warm, sunny days there can be a good number of butterfly species on the wing.

SEPT Sun 13th DUNGENESS (all day) Leader- Glynn Crocker (275186) Once again our summer

visitors will be gathering to fly away before the winter arrives. Everyone is always welcome to all the outdo=or meetings, beginner and expert alike. A number of this season's trips have been planned especially for beginners. The leaders are all volunteering their time and may, on occasion, have to alter venue or date, so please BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT! Where possible, please arrange to share cars and petrol costs. In case of any difficulty with transport, please contact Glynn Crocker on 01227 275186. !!!!!!A donation to Group funds is requested – suggested rate £1 per person.!!!!!!

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Diary Dates (including talks at other Members’ Groups) All are welcome to

attend! Please note: All Blean Woods walks start from the car park at Blean Woods National Nature Reserve, with access from Rough Common. They must be booked by phoning 01227 464898 or emailing blean.woods@rspb.org.uk. You will also need proof of membership to get your discount. APRIL 1st Apr - Westgate Parks trail sheets for spring and summer available from the 1st Sept Umbrella Centre from 10am – 3pm Mon-Sat for £1.50, including a pencil! Sat 4th Easter Trail Self-led fun for children, starting at Toddlers’ Cove. £1 entry,

with a small prize for solving all the clues. 10am – 2pm. No need to book Sun 26th Blean Woods Dawn Walk – 5.30am. £5 adult non-member, £3 adult

member. Children under 16 free Tues 28th A Year of Migration in Southern Spain and Gibraltar – Robert Rackliffe

Thanet RSPB MAY Sun 17th Blean Woods Dawn Walk – 4.30am. £5 adult non-member, £3 adult

member. Children under 16 free Thurs 21st Rare and Extinct Birds – Glen Duggan ∆ Maidstone RSPB Group JUNE Sat 6th Blean Woods Evening Walk – 8.30pm. £5 adult non-member, £3 adult

member. Children under 16 free Thurs 18th Poole Harbour and its Birds – Neil Gartshore ∆ Maidstone RSPB Group Tues 30th Mote Park – Simon Ginnaw Thanet RSPB JULY Thurs 16th A Whale of a Time – John Young ∆ Maidstone RSPB Group Thanet RSPB meets in The Portland Centre, Hopeville Ave, St Peter’s, Broadstairs CT10

2TR on Tuesdays at 7.30pm. £2 (£3.00 non-members) ∆ Maidstone RSPB meets in Grove Green Community Hall, Penhurst Close, Grove Green,

Bearsted, Maidstone ME14 5BT at 7.30pm. £3.50 (£4.50 non-members)

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Annual General Meeting

8.00pm on Tuesday 14th April 2015 at Chaucer Social Club, off Chaucer Road, Canterbury

Agenda

1. Apologies

2. Minutes of AGM held on 8th April 2014

3. Matters arising from those minutes

4. Group leader’s report

5. Treasurer’s report and adoption

6. Election of Committee: Secretary Membership Secretary Communications Officer and Indoor Programme Secretary Sales Officer Events Officer Newsletter Officer Up to three General Officers (The Treasurer is appointed by The Lodge)

7. Any Other Business

The AGM will be followed by a new venture for our group: short bird slide presentations by three of our very gifted local group photographers – Dave Smith, Mike Gould and Wendy Kennett.

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We need a new secretary and an events officer..... can you help? Secretary We need a replacement for our secretary, who will be stepping down at the AGM. Your main responsibility would be to take minutes at about four committee meetings each year, plus the AGM, and circulate them to the committee. We welcome new committee members but it isn’t essential that the secretary is on the committee. Interested? Please have a chat with Liz, or a committee member. Liz’s phone: 01227 832384 or email her at invale@locust.plus.com External Events Officer This is a new post. You would:

maintain a calendar of potential events and keep the committee updated.

In consultation with the group leader, decide which events to attend, recruit volunteers to set up and staff the stall, pack it away and store sales goods.

Maintain a list of helpers and keep them informed of future events. The role could also include co-ordinating our attendance at events held by other RSPB local groups; for example, the Quiz at Maidstone Local Group. Events which we hope to attend this year include: 7th June Open Farm Sunday (choice of two farms near Faversham) 30th & 31st Aug Sandwich Bay Countryside Fair November Blean Village Hall fair January 2016 Big Garden Birdwatch promotional event

Plastic breeding cages for canaries and budgerigars also made to order

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Something to Rave(n) about

A lot of people have made a hobby out of making lists. Train spotting springs to mind although that is not as popular as it used to be. Plane spotters can still be frequently seen at airports, however, logging down the different aircraft and their specifications. Of course, birders are no exception. I have heard that there are those who listen and watch carefully the background to films, sometimes set in exotic locations in order to compile a list of species. I have never done this myself but I must admit to being unable to take my eyes off the turnstone wandering backwards and forwards behind Alan Partridge in the dramatic final scene of Alpha Papa even though this involved the threat of violence and use of a shotgun. I do not know what this says about me but I bet I was not the only one. More common, perhaps, are those who go in for the year list and can be found making a prompt start early on New Year’s Day. Like many, I find this perhaps a step too far, but of course do keep a rough record of species seen in and around the garden. I live on St. Thomas’s Hill, just within sight of open fields and only a few gardens away from the Victorian Westgate Court Avenue Cemetery with its mature trees. As a result, although my garden is fairly small and I am within walking distance of the city, it has been a good place to see birds. Over the years the garden has produced some good ticks. On the first morning after moving in I spotted a treecreeper! Sadly I am still waiting for its return some 26 years later. Another notable bird was a splendid male redstart one spring, perhaps en route to the Blean where they were once a regular breeder. More recently, besides the usual goldcrest, I have had firecrest, on one occasion two together. Overflying species have included the occasional hobby, peregrine and once a circling pelican which I later learnt was an escapee from a Belgian zoo. There was once the impressive sight of an osprey being mobbed noisily by a number of herring gulls. My most recent highlight was last August, which was truly something to rave about. I had just finished some gardening and had stubbed my toe by the back door. As I was hopping up and down I certainly was not thinking about bird song but became aware of the persistent calling of a crow, which sounded extremely annoyed. I put this down to some territorial

dispute but the calling continued, which seemed unusual. After some time the repeated calling was replied with a soft kronking sound repeated several times and rising in volume. Having just returned from the west country I was familiar with the sound. A raven, of course, but in Canterbury?

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I spent a few moments running around the garden like a demented being, scanning the sky for visual proof of the presence of a raven. Hopefully the neighbours were out and did not have to witness what must have looked like bizarre behaviour. I could see no sign of the bird and so ran frantically upstairs where I hung out of a top window armed now with binoculars. All I could see was the crow perched on a tall beech tree in the cemetery behind the house looking intently towards a tall conifer some distance away. The cawing and kronking duel continued and then a large, very large corvid flew from the conifer and was immediately chased by the crow. Amazingly, considering the size difference, the raven was quickly chased back to its original perch. After a few moments it again took flight and was again mobbed by the crow until it returned to its tree. Eventually, after much calling to and fro, it again sallied forth but this time was joined by a second raven! The two birds flew around briefly, again with the crow in pursuit and eventually returned to their tree. After some time they again took to the wing but this time appeared to ignore the crow and circled together like buzzards over the cemetery. They then turned to the south east and flew strongly away. I had watched them for some 15 minutes but have no idea how long they had been in the cemetery before I, and indeed the crow, became aware of them. Were they headed for Dover? Was it the pair that had bred there for the past few years or perhaps the pair from Dungeness? Or was it a pair prospecting for a new territory, although an inland site close to habitation seems unlikely? Having said that, several cathedrals in the country now boast breeding ravens. I have, over the past few years, twice seen or heard ravens flying high over my neighbourhood but never before seen them actually settle in the area. Certainly it had been a memorable event for me and something that I was keen to rave(n) about to anyone who would listen for some weeks after.

Phil Earley Editor’s Note: In late February and March this year a raven seemed to take up residence in the Canterbury district, with at least nine records that I know of, including one flying over my house in Rough Common, four over Blean Woods and two near the gasometer! All flights were in a north westerly direction, perhaps heading for Graveney Marshes to feed on lamb afterbirths.

Moth Night Mike Enfield, who gave us his interesting talk on local butterflies and moths in January, is now inviting us to join him for a night’s moth-trapping in mid- or late July, ending around midnight or 1am. The best conditions for this sort of event cannot be predicted months in advance, so if you are interested in joining the party, please contact Mike on mike.enfield@btinternet.com or phone 07983 250218. He will then get in touch with you a short while beforehand to let you know the date, time and venue, which is likely to be the Braggs Lane entrance to West Blean Wood (TR167645).

21

Changing fortunes of three species

Decline of the cuckoo in the UK Using data supplied by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the graph above shows how the cuckoo population has slumped since 1994 (the vertical scale for number of birds is arbitrary, based on a start point of 100). The birds’ habitat was split into two broad categories – wetland (where it parasitizes reed and sedge warbler nests), and arable (where it has a more catholic choice, including

dunnock, robin and pied wagtail). The trend in arable is all too clear, with numbers declining steadily year on year. The figures for wetland are less clear-cut, the decline being less steep and more uneven, for reasons that are poorly understood.

Green woodpecker on the increase Other data from the BTO illustrate what is happening to the green woodpecker population in the UK (the vertical scale is again arbitrary). Overall, numbers have doubled, but there is a distinction between woodland, and the general countryside. Contrary to what you might expect, the green woodpecker is not primarily a species of woodland,

preferring fairly open countryside with a good supply of rough pasture and ants, with just pockets of wood or scattered trees where it can locate its nest. So, although numbers are rising in both these main habitats, it is in the wider countryside that the increase is most marked.

Red kites through the roof! A final graph demonstrates the phenomenal success of the red kite in the UK. In this case the vertical scale is number of pairs, so the figure has risen from 72 in 1991 to over a thousand 22 years later. They may already be breeding in Kent, and, if not, it surely can’t be long now before this elegant bird of prey graces the North Downs.

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Flying weasel Did you hear the one about the weasel that was recently photographed hitching a ride on the back of a green woodpecker? Martin le-May captured the shot (right) at Hornchurch Country Park in March. The mammal evidently attacked the woodpecker while it was on the ground, but the bird took off, which wasn’t what the weasel had intended, leaving the weasel clinging on for dear life. When the woodpecker landed soon

afterwards the weasel was able to escape, albeit with a total loss of dignity. Weasels weigh anything from 45-130 grams, depending on age and sex, while green woodpeckers, which are quite stocky, weigh 170-200 grams. On the face of it, this scenario seems very unlikely, but a female sparrowhawk weighing 250-400g can just about lift a wood pigeon (400-500g) off the ground, so it is in fact quite reasonable that the woodpecker managed to give the weasel a piggy-back ride for a short distance. £14.69 £7.00 £10.60 11.53 £21.50 1 litre dried £5.20

23

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24

Reserves Roundup

Dungeness Visitor Experience Officer: Alan Kell

Little and great white egrets by Elaine Sandell

Autumn highlights included a glossy ibis, red-crested pochard, two cattle egrets and up to three great white egrets, an osprey fishing in front of Denge Marsh hide, spotted redshank, black tern and Caspian gull. Some breeding figures (2013 numbers in brackets) are: 36 pairs of common terns (18), 40 pairs of Cetti’s warbler (25), 64 pairs of sedge warblers (80), 6 pairs of lesser whitethroat (2), 23 pairs of great crested grebes (13), two booming bitterns for the first time, 79 pairs of tufted duck (41), marsh harriers had 3 nests, with 4 confirmed fledglings, 56 pairs of wrens (28), and bearded tits had a very good year with at least three families. Willow has been removed from the natural pits to increase the internationally important fen plant communities. Willow stacked in habitat piles will aid critically endangered slime moulds, which grow on the rotten branches. The work will also improve conditions for great crested newts. Milder weather kept wildfowl numbers down in the winter, but there have been 5 goosander. Winter records included firecrest, 86 Bewick’s swans and one whooper, 5 white-fronted geese, 6 redhead and one drake smew, over 1100 teal, 600 shoveler, regular bittern sightings from Hanson hide. Willow was cut on a 25-year rotation, along with patches of gorse and sea buckthorn. The sheep will be grazing the rough patches of grassland on the shingle until mid-March - the entire peninsula used to be managed this way. The past few weeks have seen rides being cut into bramble and gorse to create diversity in the structure and age of both the bramble and gorse, so increasing the wildlife value of the habitat. The access track was improved in March, which meant some delays for visitors while work was in progress.

Jackdaw

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North Kent Marshes Communications Officer: Rolf Williams

The wardens have been busy pumping water around, flooding the reserves to soften the ground for the wintering waders and dabbling wildfowl, but also preparing the sites for the forthcoming breeding season. It is my personal view that the RSPB saved the Thames Estuary from being short-listed for an international airport by the Government’s aviation commission. It involved a huge amount of work at local, regional and national level, and we saw good sense win through. Now we are fighting hard to save Lodge Hill SSSI (on the Hoo Peninsula) from development which would make a mockery of the National Planning Policy Framework and would leave SSSIs across the country at risk of the same fate. Thank you to the 11,000 individuals who wrote to the Secretary of State expressing their concern over Medway Council’s consent to Land Securities for outline planning permission for 5,000 homes. We do not know if a decision will come before, or after the general election. Therefore the future of the Lodge Hill SSSI hangs in the balance, and with it, the definition of SSSIs nationwide and the merits of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Cliffe Pools The black-winged stilts chose to nest in a black-headed gull colony, and their chicks were promptly snaffled by the neighbours! Had they nested amongst the avocets, the collective defence of our brand bird would have stacked the odds in the stilts’ favour. Management has greatly encouraged avocet breeding pairs: 2008 = 10, 2009 = 7, 2010 = 6, 2011 = 2, 2012 = 60, 2013 = 57, 2014 = 126! The number of chicks fledged this year is below our target, but things are moving in the right direction, and there were 2,450 avocets on the high tide roost in September - the largest single flock ever recorded in the UK. It is thought that the birds arrived from the Netherlands following a spate of easterly winds. The challenge of converting breeding pairs into fledged chicks applies equally to common terns. Breeding pairs so far: 2012 = 30, 2013 = 83, 2014 = 34, but we think foxes (and perhaps badgers) are getting out to the islands and hovering up chicks. We hope to use further dredged material and arisings from the Thames and London tunneling projects to create new shallows, beaches and scalloped islands to support a range of waterfowl and other wildlife. The water circulation will be improved and the access by land predators restricted. Goldeneye, pochard (right), and tufted duck, for example, are simply not using the seven-metre deep pools, their optimum feeding depth being 1-2m. Marsh harriers bred for the first time in seven years. Other highlights include 8 pairs of pochard, back after an absence of five years, new records for pairs of

26

tufted duck (29), and gadwall (7). Nightingales: 2011 = 19, 2012 = 22, 2013 = 16, 2014 = 18. Whitethroats are an amber-listed species now, so we are pleased with the trend: 2011 = 53, 2012 = 68, 2013 = 63, 2014 = 83! Redshanks had an average year, with 26 pairs. 13 pairs of breeding lapwings was lower than usual, but the average number of chicks fledged per pair was 1.15, smashing our target of 0.6 to 0.8 chicks per pair. This ‘productivity’ figure is the best means by which we can assess whether a population can grow - 0.6 to 0.8 means that the population remains stable, while more than 0.8 means that it will increase.

Shorne Marshes Lapwing pairs hit a new high: 2011 = 24, 2012 = 15, 2013 = 26, 2014 = 46! The productivity was 1.02.

Northward Hill More good lapwing news, 2011 = 17, 2012 = 14, 2013 = 23, 2014 = 26! Productivity was 1.85. Avocets have responded very well to the new scrapes 2011 = 0, 2012 = 6, 2013 = 17, 2014 = 17! Productivity was 0.71. Six pairs of marsh harriers bred successfully (equalling Minsmere), and productivity was 2.33. 22 pairs of nightingales and 76 whitethroats was an average year, but all great news for these struggling species. 10 pairs of green woodpeckers (amber listed) was a record, and 6 calling cuckoos (red listed) was a new high, but we are struggling to keep turtle doves, with just one pair in each of the last two years; we have planted a special food crop, and hope that we may hang on to this charismatic bird that is on the brink of UK extinction. 37 mallard, 11 great spotted woodpecker and 2 mistle thrush pairs are all new records for the site plus 200 pairs of grey herons. 83 little egrets is a little down on previous counts. Resurfacing the track will require a large pot of money and we cannot make running repairs while it is so wet. Please take it easy on the approach in the meantime. Our volunteers are busy coppicing in the woodland - management that is crucial if we are going to get turtle doves breeding on site again; of course this also benefits nightingales and invertebrates and the firewood keeps us warm.

Nor Marsh This reserve in the middle of the Medway Estuary had a record number of breeding oystercatchers (right): 2011 = 5, 2012 = 21, 2013 = 22, 2014 = 90. I think the lesson here is that sometimes birds need to move. Just because a reserve is not stacked with a species one year, does not mean that they won’t reappear in the next. Terns are especially prone to this sort of mass movement, and we hope in time to improve Nor Marsh and Cliffe Pools so that terns can take up residence when they so choose.

27

Higham Marshes Tom Ledger is a farmer on the marshes at Higham who wanted his land to do more for nature while also grazing his sheep and cattle. With funding from the Nature Improvement Area scheme, and a management agreement with the RSPB, Tom was able to improve his land for wildlife. RSPB designed an improvement plan that involved quite a bit of re-landscaping and controlled flooding of the farmland – we call it ‘green to blue’. We completed 25% of the scheme in 2013, and this year the remaining 75%, which actually constitutes rather less work, is being done. The two photos opposite illustrate the extent of the change. Unfortunately, the orientation is not the same, but the letters A, B and C should help you get your bearings. What was a rectangle of grassland in 2012, the only water being in the ditches, has been transformed two years later into a true wetland landscape. The results for our target species were: redshank breeding pairs: 2012 = 4, 2013 = 0, 2014 = 10; Lapwing: 2012 = 6, 2013 = 2, 2014 = 16. Productivity was 1.69.

On the Isle of Sheppey there have been good numbers of white-fronted geese, but unusually they have had a smattering of pink-footed and bean geese in amongst them, so give the flocks some scrutiny if you find them. At Great Bells Farm reserve there were 200 mute swans, and wigeon, teal, mallard, shelduck, gadwall and pintail (left) built into the thousands. There has been a

pair of hen harriers, and barn owls used the boxes provided.

28

Blean Woods Warden: Amy Winchester

You will have noticed the sound of chainsaws has been swapped for birdsong as the coppicing season came to an end. The volunteer teams have worked hard to complete several pieces of ride widening and cut numerous coppice plots, so it will be great to see the rides teeming with butterflies and wildflowers later in the year. We have also had three areas of pine thinned. This is an important stage in the reversion back to ancient woodland and enables the native trees to have the space and sunlight they need to develop. Although it might look messy, woodlands recover well and the features created by vehicle tracks will enhance floristic diversity, while any damage to remaining tree branches will create interesting nooks for nesting birds. The winter has been very wet and once again the paths and tracks have suffered. We are now working on repairing crossing points, clearing ditches and improving paths, so please bear with us. We are also looking into a long-term solution for the damage to the access track. Looking forward, the breeding season will soon be upon us and guided walks will start again, so please do keep an eye out for the information. Volunteers will be clearing paths over the summer months, and mowing of rides, heath and glades will begin towards the end of the summer. Our volunteers are the essential element in the work we achieve at Blean, so if you are interested in getting involved, please speak to myself or Nick (assistant warden) by phoning 01227 464898 or emailing blean.woods@rspb.org.uk.