Worth a post.

First of all apologies for not posting in nearly 3 weeks. I was busy winning the bird race against Magnus. The final scores Craig 141 - Magnus 134. A combined total of 148 Species were seen during the "race" which took place between 9th and 31st May, the prize this year is only beer as after Magnus' dip in the Canal last year Anthrax was discovered on the banks exactly where he went in... He was therefore a bit worried last year and now won't jump back in! It was a nice competition this year anyway and we each saw "lifers". I had Broad-billed Sandpiper, Golden Oriole (bad but true) and Blue-winged Teal, Magnus had the latter and Glossy Ibis for his "lifers".

Other than the competition we've been busy surveying things all over the reserve. A project on Sedge Warblers is hotting up and the Ortolan's are getting down to their breeding business (a pair carrying food today was nice). I was supposed to be studying Savi's warblers but Kvismaren is reflecting the national trend this year and NONE have arrived. I'll keep listening for them though. Marsh Harriers are down on eggs now and all of our farmland surveys are completed. Highlights from there included finding 4 Dotterel which filled the scope on minimum zoom, stunning birds!!!

I've finished with the Starlings after ringing nearly 260 shitted up stinking chicks. I think I've ringed enough for a lifetime now?

Also we've ringed a lot of Blue and Great tit chicks with more to check up on soon. All of the Pied flycatchers are still on eggs but I've managed to lift and ring at least 5 females.

As part of the Ortolan project we were asked to try to catch a bird to take a feather sample for analysis, so late last night/early this morning I decided I would stay up all night and attempt to catch an unpaired male at dawn! I headed out a 3 am with mist net and playback lures and set a net near our unpaired guy, I narrowly avoided catching both a Fox and a Wild Boar the latter of which was running at full speed towards the net and grunting furiously. The conditions were against me and the bird not singing back to the song I was a little worried we were too late and he'd moved off? Less than 10 minutes after I'd set the net and started the playback, I saw what appeared to be a Bunting flitting around in a nearby bush... next thing, I looked and it was in! A stunning 2cy male Ortolan Bunting, definitely worth no sleep and a gorgeously gripping ringing tick!!! Below are a few shitty pictures of the stunning bird, the light was terrible and my excitement probably a bit too much to make any decent pics, but less excuses you can see how stunning he is!

                                          Emberiza hortulana 2cy male 

 

 

The Ortolan's return

Many hours have been spent over the past weeks have been spent listening for Ortolan bunting's in suitable habitats around Kvismare. After a preliminary study last year found Ortolan's to still be breeding here. Only around 100 territories still exist in this area of in south-central Sweden, spanning much of Närke and Västmanland. The Ortolan's have declined massively in the past 2 decades and the population in Närke is now a fraction of it's former self. The Ortolan population in northern Sweden however is esitmated to be around 6000 pairs.

Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana)

 With the Ortolan population decreasing so rapidly across much of northern Europe action is being taken in many areas. Here at Kvismare, we aim mainly to provide suitable breeding areas for the birds. The Bird Observatory and Ornithological Society of Sweden have subsidised farmers in the local area to leave parts of their land unsown next to outcrops of woodland/rocks and in strips at the edges of fields; this is not only to provide the black soils which is a niche for breeding Ortolans', but also to aid the birds feeding habits.

So out and about this week we have now found 3 Singing Ortolan males around the areas where they were seen to breed last year. So far all is looking good and the land still seems suitable. Our aim over the next few weeks is to monitor these birds and distinguish whether they can breed successfully here. We will visit nests and count and measure chicks, undertake feeding counts and study the adults behaviour if/when nesting occurs. We will also make several attempt to catch insects at various points in the survey area to understand more about the Ortolans' needs.

I will update on progress when there is any, but for now we hope for decent weather and plenty of Ortolans'.