Photographic Advent Calendar, Day 20: Little Egret

The Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) has a remarkable colonisation story in the UK, which has occurred rather rapidly over the last two decades. Although common throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, a range expansion into western and northern France in the latter half of the 20th century preceded its establishment as a breeding species in the UK in the late 1990s. Prior to this arrival, it was a very rare sight indeed around the southern coast of this country, attracting about as much attention as a Squacco Heron does at present. However, this range expansion (voiced to be a climate change-driven movement) led to its population explosion in the UK: the first successful breeding attempt was in Poole Harbour (Dorset) in 1996; ten years later there were 500 pairs in 60 colonies, followed by 800 pairs just two years later! You can see an impressive graph by the BTO documenting this colonisation here.

This species hasn't always had it easy: the elegant neck plumes sported by birds in breeding plumage were once sought out for ornamental decorations and fashion purposes, leading to significant population declines in the 19th Century. Indeed, the price for these plumes reached £15 for 28 grams, which is about £875 in today's prices! That made these plumes more valuable than gold for a time! Thankfully though, laws (and tastes in fashion) have since come in to put a halt to this pointless slaughter of such a beautiful bird. Nowadays, this elegant species can be found stalking the shallows in estuaries and coastlines around much of the UK, stabbing into rock pools and mud flats with its distinctive poised gait after invertebrates such as fish and crustaceans.

Photographic Advent Calendar, Day 7: Little Owls

Little Owls are brilliant birds...but many people might not realise that they do not actually belong in the UK. That is to say that they are an introduced species, and not part of our native fauna, just the same as Rabbits, Ring-necked Parakeets and Ruddy Ducks. However, there is something about their appearance; their cryptic and secretive nature, brown and mottled plumage, that lends themselves perfectly to the British landscape: they look and seem entirely at home here! Interestingly enough, this diurnal owl species has also been introduced to New Zealand, but its natural range is incredibly extensive: the population (taking in 13 different subspecies) traverses the Northern Hemisphere in a broad belt from Western Europe through to East Asia, whilst its northern and southern limits take in Latvia, Mongolia and Northern Africa respectively.

Anyway, onto the birds themselves...their Latin name (Athene noctua) is linked closely to greek legend: Pallas Athene was a greek goddess of wisdom and arts, and noctua was an owl sacred to the goddess Minerva. Perhaps these ancient links are where the phrase 'as wise as an owl' stems from? The diet of this diminutive species is pretty diverse: they will take anything from small birds and mammals, reptiles and amphibians, to a whole range of different invertebrate species. According to Avibase, up to 97% of Little Owl's diets in the Mediterranean is made up of invertebrates! There have been some amusing accounts of birds falling over backwards after an Earthworm snaps as it is being prized from ground! Some worries in recent years concerning this specie's diet is that they are actively hunting Storm Petrels at night on islands such as Skomer and Bardsey; what effect this is having in the petrel populations is yet to be revealed.

In terms of finding this species yourself, abandoned buildings, stone walls, fence posts and waste ground are all great places to spot these cool birds. On Bardsey, it is particularly common to come across birds perched out in the open at the bases of leggy, mature gorse bushes. Here are a few images taken on the island over the last few years:

Photographic Advent Calendar, Day 5: Starlings

Starlings have to be one of my favourite winter birds, and why not? They congregate into sometimes gargantuan flocks that murmurate into the tens of thousands. This has to be one of the greatest winter birding spectacles across the UK, and can occur at any local reed bed near you, although locations such as Ham Wall in Somerset and Brighton pier are particularly impressive sites. Watching a huge flock of Starlings flow through the air and change shape, shade and tone in a split second is an amazing experience, which I have not had the pleasure of seeing for many years, living on Bardsey where a very small wintering population persists. This charismatic species is unfortunately currently on the Red List for its population declines in the UK. Changes to agriculture over the last few decades are one of the major causes, as with many 'common' garden and farmland birds in this country. Sturnus vulgaris (the latter merely meaning 'common') is therefore a key target for trying to protect, before these spectacular sights become a past occurrence. Check out a ringing recovery map for this species in Europe here, courtesy of the BTO.

I used a slow shutter speed to create the movement of feathers in this image as the bird shook

Part of a larger flock coming in to roost at Marazion marsh, a few weeks ago

I love watching Starlings feed: never content, always squabbling amongst themselves, they each have their own personality and are always up for a scrap

Part of a 100,000 roost of birds at Ham Wall, Somerset

Spring Migrants: Wheatear

Wheatears are very cool birds. First of all, they are one of the first 'proper' spring migrants to arrive back in the UK and on Bardsey, usually reaching the island by mid-March. They are one of the harbingers of spring, and the males are always a delight to see. This species gets its English name from an altered version of 'White Arse', referring to the bird's white rump. There are two races that pass through the UK: the Northern Wheatear is the nominate race, which arrives in March and begins breeding by mid-April; the Greenland Wheatear is a larger, more orangey-toned bird which begins passing through in mid-April.

Although the species is handsome enough as it is, they undergo a pretty phenomenal migration, being said to be the largest of any passerine. For now I shall outline the migration of the Greenland-race Wheatear, as it is far more impressive than our British birds...Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa, as the Greenland Wheatear is Scientifically named, breeds in the Arctic tundra from Greenland across to western Alaska. After spending the summer months in the Arctic circle, the birds begin their southward migration in August. A recent study has shown that the Wheatears take one of two different routes to their wintering grounds in Africa, depending on where they breed in the tundra:

• Birds from the eastern tundra take a route that goes via the UK, southern Europe and the Mediterranean to Western/Central Africa. Birds crossing the Atlantic to Britain average 850km per day for four whole days. Some will stop off in Greenland, and some birds may even bypass the UK entirely, using their fat reserves and tail winds to make a phenomenal 30-hour, non-stop flight of 2,500km straight from Greenland to Southern Europe!! 
• The majority of bird breeding in the western tundra and Alaska taker an entirely different migration route: they fly across the Bering Sea, and track south-west across Asia, arriving in Western and Central Africa in about November to spend the winter here. Typical travel times have been described as being 91 days on their Southward migration, travelling on average 160km per day. On their northward migration they take just 55 days to arrive briskly on their breeding grounds, which equates to 250km per day.

Either way, that migration is pretty impressive for a bird that weighs about 20 grams...

Links:

BTO

Safari Ecology

AvianWeb.com

Spring Migrants: White Wagtail

Introducing...spring migrant blogs. Over the next few weeks I pan to do several blog posts here, which are centred on a single species each time. These will mostly be featuring spring migrant birds, which are now in abundance on the island. For my first post, I will focus on the White Wagtail. Not an entirely amazing species perhaps, but nevertheless a subtly beautiful one.

White Wagtails are a migrant subspecies of the Pied Wagtail, that breed throughout Europe but mainly just move through the UK. Thy arrive on Bardsey in mid- to late- March, and can gather in numbers approaching 40 birds on Solfach. On this sandy beach, the wagtails spend most of their time feeding on sand flies and insects amongst the seaweed and along the tide line. I spent a little while on the beach a few days ago photographing the birds as they went about their business. Here are some of the results: