It's all kicking off moatside

The breeding season tensions are rising and the water fowl are getting wired. First of all there was rape and violence on the lawn this morning. Four mallard drakes had got hold of a duck. One had her neck in its bill, a second was getting on top of her and two more were crowding in as well. Our presence at the window scuttled the drakes and the duck cleared off. I have noticed similar behaviour before. It's as if there are couples on the one hand who quietly swim around together, and gangs of lager lout drakes on the other who take what they want by force. Or am I being anthropomorphic?
Meanwhile the temperature is rising with the moorhens as well. After some months of general mingling there was a moorhen altercation this morning which ended up with one bird escaping to a branch about fifteen feet up in a Scots Pine tree. They look rather comical when perched due to the size of their legs and feet and they don't often head for the trees.

Mallard mayhem

The breeding preparations erupted into aggression yesterday. I heard a loud splashing sound and looked out to see two mallard drakes chasing each other round and round in a tight circle. They looked intent on violence but I am not sure whether much contact was actually made. The confrontation turned into a chase, first on the water and then into the air. On the second circuit round, the lone female, who presumably was the reason for the aggression decided she had had enough of the testosterone action, and flew away.

This episode, with two drakes and one duck, follows a period of a couple of weeks where there has been two ducks and one drake around - swimming happily together. I am not sure what sort of selection process was going on, if any.

Prior to that we had a period of a couple of weeks when there were at least two and sometimes three separate pairs of mallards all looking like they had selected their mates.

The more I see of mallards, the more I find it difficult to draw any conclusions as to their social patterns.

New species - but not welcome

Yesterday I found a ladybird in the lounge and it was not obvious to me what sort it was. Investigation showed it to be a Harlequin ladybird - an invasive and destructive species from Asia. According to some sources this is very bad news for some of our domestic ladybirds and other beetles. It is spreading North and West and it is not new to the Midlands. Having checked the pictures I remember some larvae that I found last year which may be the Harlequin's larvae. I will need to find the photographs I took at the time to be sure. I found a ladybird outside today and I am pleased to say it was a 7-spot.

New bird species - Kestrel

Although I see kestrels regularly in the area I have seen one in the grounds for the first time yesterday so it gets added to the species list. I was alerted by sundry passerines moving swiftly and right behind them was a kestrel , which soared up and perched when it spotted me. I didn't realise that kestrels chased birds at low level but that was what it seemed to be doing.

RSPB birdwatch - Spring 2008 results

The January 2008 birdwatch recorded 10 species in the allotted hour (cf 2007 - 11 species). The species common to the two years were blackbird, moor hen, mallard, crow, robin, blue tit, wood pigeon and collared dove. In 2007 I also recorded goldfinches, great tits and coal tits but at the time I was feeding birds which I no longer do due as it attracted a rat and squirrels. The other two species that made an appearance this year but not in 2007 were jackdaws (a troupe skittered by just in time to be recorded) and starlings.

Owl Central

The tawny owls have been out and noisy over the last few days. The male and female calls are straightforward enough to recognise but there was an additional sound that I was puzzled by. It sounded a bit like a bird imitating a dog barking or a deer grunting. At first I didn't make the connection with the owls but listening to some tawny owl recordings I heard a similar sound on just one recording. It was described as a female impersonating the male cry so at the moment that it is my conclusion. I shall see if it disappears when the owls stop calling.

New bird species - Bullfinch

Spotting a species that I have not seen on site before is becoming increasingly rare after three and a half years living here. Today I saw the first bullfinch on site - this has got to be one of the handsomest birds in the UK. As a child living in the suburbs of London in the late fifties and early sixties I remember them as fairly common but they seem to have declined drastically. Living in Appleby for fifteen years I can recall a couple of sightings in the area, both whilst cycling, so this is only the third bullfinch I have seen in that time.