My Cuckoo on the move.

A bulletin on my cuckoo JAC which has moved 1,900 miles westard on its return journey to Wales.

    JAC

 " Our  Cuckoos were all tagged in 2021 so are on their first tracked return migration. We last heard from Llangollen Cuckoo JAC on 20th January when he was deep in the Congo Basin. A new update received at 07:16 on Sunday morning suggest that he has moved 3,058km (1,900 miles) west to Ivory Coast. He is approximately 70km west of Lake Bandama in central Ivory Coast."

PJ knows this part of Central Ivory coast well, having stopped off here on previous northward migrations. We expect him to remain here for a few weeks before embarking on the next leg of his journey.  

  JAC's route.

 

The Rooks start their year.

 The Horse Chestnut tree outside my bedroom window has once again become alive with the activities of the Rooks which arrive at first light from their night roost over Bradford Peverall way. 

 Nesting Rooks.  Phto. John Elliott.

 Six pairs of birds are present, with four nests under construction so far, the more experienced birds seemingly well ahead. In past years new arrivals have sometimes taken several weeks to get the first stick to stay in place. having dropped many in the process. These, neither they or the other birds pick up again resulting in a very untidy front garden and footpath for a while.

All our pictures may be enlarged. Click on this one, can you find all the rooks?

Water Vole Survey.

 I have just received the results of the national Water Vole survey in which i have taken part for a number of years.

 

 The lowest blue dot is for the Martinstown survey, sadly no Water Voles were seen this year on the designated 500m. stretch of the South Winterborne which I cover. This starts at the milk machine bridge and then runs west. and was chosen to include as many previously know Water Vole locations as possible. As well as live animals, signs such as burrows, droppings and vegitation browsing are recorded. Nothing at all was seen this year on the survey, but there were two sightings of voles early in the year just outside the survey in the stream between the bridge and the Shepherd's Cottage bridge. There have been reports in recent years of voles in the stream between the Breweers Arms and West End, so we mauy hope that they will be able to work their way back into the village.

 

 

 

 

The Wherry Breaks.

 

 Good to see that the ‘Wherry has broken’, as the older valley residents had it, and the South Winterborne is now in full flow in all its branches, including the mill leat, washing pool, the water meadow sluices and the gap at West End (which could be a relic of the Doomsday Book watermill) and which has been the subject of much discussion in the village recently . The bourne or borne ( or burn in Scotland) in the name comes from the Old English word for a stream or brook. First used in c1396 by W. Longland in ‘Piers Plowman’ , perhaps the most succinct definition is given by the Wiltshire writer Richard Jefferies.

1879   R. Jefferies Wild Life 22   The villages on the downs are generally on a bourne, or winter water-course..In summer it is a broad winding trench..along whose bed you may stroll dryshod..In winter, the bourne often has the appearance of a broad brook.

There is sometimes puzzlement as to how the plants and animals that live in the stream survive the dry periods; the answer is that only species that are capable of dealing with the dry spell exist in the river in some form or other, such as eggs for the minnows, seeds for the plants, and eggs or larvae for the insects. The birds just fly somewhere else.

The natural ebb and flow of the upper reaches of the stream has , in recent years, been disturbed by Wessex Water being required to put compensation water into the stream as part of their allowable extraction rate, so hiding its winter borne nature. As with many other things climate change will inevitably have some effect on the aquifer which supplies the stream, perhaps leading to more extreme changes in the flow.

First Wild Flowers of the Year.

 

 Early  Butterbur. Photo. John M Eliott

I often walk down the Weymouth road on a Sunday afternoon (hoping that there will not be too much traffic on the Sabbath) to check on the wildlife. A pair of Mallard got up this afternoon giving hope for ducklings in the spring. More surprising were half a dozen blooms of Butterbur poking through the dead leaves  on the steam bank by the sewage pumping station. Like its relative, Coltsfoot, Butterbur's flowers appear before its leaves, 'often as early as February' according to the book, so the 2nd of January really is unusual. The huge, rhubarb-like leaves which will appear later in the year were used to wrap butter in olden days, the soft grey down on the underside having a refrigerating effect. The Latin name, Petasites hybridus, hints at another use as umbrellas or sunshades, as it derives from the Greek petasos, meaning a broad brimmed hat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds in Danger.

 My Bullfinch family  Photo: John M Elliott.

 

A pair of Bullfinches lived in my garden over the summer, regularly eating at my bird table, They disappeared for a few weeks, and have now returned, with one extra male. Checking the latest lists of Birds of Conservation Concern, I see that they are Amber listed, so great to feel that I am doing something valuable in feeding them. Somewhat alarming though in going through the Red and Amber lists is that half the birds that visit me are on either the Red or the Amber list.

Red listed are House Sparrow, Greenfinch and Starling, all constantly present, plus Herring Gull which has been recorded. Looking back 80 or more years I can’t help thinking of the farmyards of my youth which rang all day with the chirrups of 30 or 40 House Sparrows, then still regarded as a pest species.

Amber listed are Wood Pigeon, Rook, Wren, Dunnock, Bullfinch and Song Thrush, all once very common birds. Moor Hen and Grey Wagtail have occurred and on one never to be forgotten occasion a Nightjar sat on the ridge of my old cedar greenhouse for a whole day.

 

Tawnies return.

 A very welcome sound last night, after months of absence, were the calls of two Tawny Owls from somewhere just to the north of the church. The 'hoooooooh........ho, ho ho,ho, hoooooooh call' comming from both birds is commonly associated with male birds, but this is debatable, as is the idea that the sharp 'kewick' often heard as well comes from female birds. Young owls disperse at the latter end of the year looking for new territories to occupy, which is probably what these two were up to. For many years tawny owls lived in the Manor House coachhouse and could be heard nightly,but  conversion into a flat put a stop to that.Perhaps the Green Martinstown group could consider buying an owl nesting box and installing it on one of the farms to the north of the village.And how about a webcam to go with it!