Put it on the Bill

Shoveller (Male and Female) - © Jack Perks

There’s probably not many cafés or restaurants where you can enjoy a coffee or a meal whilst watching some spectacular wildlife in their natural environment. But at the Attenborough Nature Centre, you can do just that.

The Reserve plays host to a wide range of species throughout the year, but it is through the winter months that the ponds fill with life as migratory wildfowl use the Reserve as their temporary home. Over 10 different species of duck visit Attenborough for the winter, having flown from their breeding grounds in northern Europe. Many of these can be seen on Coneries Pond surrounding the Nature Centre. The panoramic windows of the centre café give impressive views over the water and enable you to birdwatch in even the worst of the winter weather!

From ‘dabblers’ (surface feeders) to ‘divers’, many species manage to co-exist on the same patch of water. But if you’ve ever wondered how so many different ducks can share the same food resources without competition, then maybe you should look a bit closer at their behaviour - or more importantly, their bills. Just as we would select a spoon rather than chop-sticks to eat our soup with, species of wildfowl have evolved bills of different shapes and sizes for acquiring food.

The most common species of duck you are likely to encounter at Attenborough is the mallard. The mallard is a dabbling duck and a generalist feeder, eating almost anything it can get down its throat – reflected in the large size and rounded shape of its bill. The shoveler on the other hand is a more specialist feeder that feeds on microscopic aquatic organisms. The shoveler’s bill resembles a flattened spoon, within which lie hundreds of tiny comb-like hairs called lamellae. The shoveler uses its strangely shaped bill to filter organisms out of the water to feed on. Species such as the teal and the wigeon are specialist grazers. Like grazing geese, their bills are much shorter and stubbier than the mallard’s or shoveler’s and are therefore perfect for shearing the tops off of fresh green vegetation.

In very cold winters, as some of the shallower ponds freeze over, you may be lucky to see goosander on Coneries Pond. This large diving duck is one of the sawbill family. As the name ‘sawbill’ suggests, the goosander’s bill is long, thin and has sharp serrated ‘teeth’ – perfect for catching fish. The goosander’s rarer and smaller cousin, the smew, can also be seen occasionally on the Reserve. Although the smew’s bill is much shorter than the goosander it is equally equipped for catching fish.

These many adaptations enable a plethora of species to inhabit the ponds and wetlands of the Attenborough Nature Reserve. So next time you’re tucking in to a nice bowl of soup or a sandwich at the Nature Centre, why not think about the different ducks methods of feeding and how they’ve developed great tools for accessing their favourite foods.

Scramble for a Squacco

The Squacco Heron at Attenborough with a Perch - © Neil Walker

As a keen birdwatcher you often dream of the day that the many hours you put in to watching your ‘local patch’ will be rewarded with a real gem of a bird, a mega rarity. Despite getting much enjoyment from watching our common resident and migrant species, you can’t help but get excited by the presence of a bird that has turned up some thousands of miles away from its normal range.

On the 28^th October that dream became a reality for one local birder when during a visit to the Nature Reserve, he discovered an unusual heron tucked away in some reeds on the River Erewash. After a hurried visit home to pick up a bird field guide, the birdwatcher finally identified the heron as a rare juvenile squacco heron – only the fourth ever reported in Nottinghamshire (previously 1871, 1944 and 1998)!

I was first alerted to the heron’s presence when a very calm (not jumping all over the place as I would have been) and collected gentleman came in to the Nature Centre to say that I might be interested to know he had seen a squacco heron earlier that day. My first reaction was to question the bird’s identification as a similar bird, the little egret, is a more regular visitor to the Reserve. But no, this was definitely a squacco.

A frantic five minutes of phone calls to local birdwatchers soon followed in order to find someone who was nearby to confirm the report. After an anxious ten minutes more, the call came in confirming that it was indeed a squacco. Within half an hour crowds had already started to gather in what would become the biggest ‘twitch’ on the Reserve since the American sora rail in 2003.

The squacco is a short, stocky heron standing less than 50cm tall (body length only 20cm). It has a short neck and bill with an impressive wingspan of over 90cm. Juvenile birds have a buff brown back and buff, striped neck. However, the squacco’s appearance is completely transformed in flight when they reveal brilliant white wings.

Little and Large - Squacco and Grey Heron

Squacco herons breed in the marshy wetlands of southern Europe from the Mediterranean to the Middle East – the nearest population [in the Camargue] is over 1000 miles from Nottingham. They migrate south for the winter to Africa so it is very rare to see them further north of their breeding range. It is thought that this juvenile had been blown off course during migration, resulting in its arrival at Attenborough.

 

Visitors from all over the UK came to see the squacco over the next few days from as far away as Liverpool and the south coast. In all, around 1500 people were lucky enough to see the heron as it remained in its favourite fishing spot for over a week. It was last seen on Sunday 6^th November when it eventually flew off in the early evening. It was the first squacco I had seen in my 25 years of birdwatching and will hopefully not be the last.

Breeding Success for Mediterranean Warbler at Attenborough

A Family of Cetti's Warblers - © Ingeborg Van Leeuwen

Nottinghamshire may seem like a million miles away from the sunny climes of the Mediterranean, but that’s not to stop one little warbler from calling Attenborough Nature Reserve its home. Even after one of the coldest winters on local records, we have been delighted to find out that the cetti’s warbler (pronounced chetty) has gone on to have its most successful year ever - with six pairs breeding on the Reserve this summer.

If you’ve walked around the Reserve in recent weeks you may well have heard a cetti’s warbler singing. You can’t miss their explosive bursts of song as it is delivered from deep within the undergrowth. They are almost around every corner. Presumed to be mostly juveniles from this year’s bumper breeding season, you can even see one singing in the reedbed in front of the Nature Centre! Double figures (of birds) can now be counted on a single visit to the Reserve and they are becoming so frequent that local birders have named them ‘Reed Robins’.

However it has not always been so easy for the cetti’s warbler. They first bred in the UK in Kent in 1972 and went on to colonise many parts of Southern England. Unlike most of the warblers in the UK the cetti’s is a resident species and does not migrate south to Africa for the winter. This species is therefore very susceptible to our cold winters. The severe winter of 1986/87 caused the British population to crash and for many years they were largely confined to warmer regions of the south, south-east England and southern parts of Wales.

The mild winters of recent years have since enabled the cetti’s warbler to expand its range and in 2007 the first breeding record for Nottinghamshire was confirmed – at Attenborough Nature Reserve. This pair successfully went on to raise four chicks (pictured).

The cetti’s is a small rich brown warbler with short wings, pale eye stripe and a broad rounded tail. The shy skulking behaviour of the cetti’s deep within the vegetation of its wetland habitat often makes them difficult to see. Despite this, the extremely loud song of the cetti’s warbler is guaranteed to give its presence away. Like the sweet song of the robin the sound of a cetti’s warbler always brightens up a cold winter walk around the Reserve.

They're After Your Chips!

Yellow-Legged Gull - © Richard Rogers

On a number of occasions I have found myself explaining to visitors at the Nature Reserve that there is no such thing as a seagull. However, a similar conversation that I had with a visitor the other day led to the discovery of a rare species of gull on the Reserve that would normally feel more at home in the Mediterranean – a yellow-legged gull.

Gulls are birds from the family Laridae and include a number of species commonly seen at Attenborough. Most of which are confusingly similar in appearance. To make matters worse, most species have about three or four different plumage states as they moult each year from their juvenile plumage through to gaining their adult feathers.

The most common species that you are likely to see at Attenborough (again confusingly) is not the common gull, as you might expect from the name, but the black-headed gull – which incidentally has a chocolaty-brown head, not black. Larger gulls such as the lesser black-backed gull and herring gull can also be seen frequently – especially in the early evening as they make their way from their daytime feeding grounds to communal roosts at sites such as Church Wilne Reservoir.

The yellow-legged gull is very similar in appearance to both the lesser black-back and herring gull. It has only just recently been recognised as a species in its own right, having previously been thought to be a Mediterranean sub-species of our herring gull. Adult yellow-legged gulls (like the bird currently at the Reserve) have lighter grey upperparts than the lesser black-back gull with larger black wing tips than the herring gull although with smaller white ‘mirrors’ (the white spots on the wing tips). They have a yellow bill with a large red spot and a red eye-ring - and of course as the name suggests, they have bright yellow legs. Each year at least one individual is seen at Attenborough through August into early September – where it tends to spend most of it’s time on the sailing marker buoys on Coneries Pond. 

Next time you are at the Reserve, why don’t you try to get to grips with gulls? On a good day during the autumn migration you could see up to seven different species on Clifton Pond alone. A good field guide is a must as there is much variation in the plumage. However with a little practise you could see gulls as something more than just menacing birds that steal your chips at the seaside.

'Not so Smart' Phones

The Cetti's Warbler - Photographed Using Traditional Field Skills

There has been an unusual amount of media interest surrounding the Nature Reserve over the last week (and I’m not just talking about Phil Spencer’s visit from Location, Location, Location on Thursday the 19th). The main focus of the media frenzy has been the use of smart phones by a small minority of photographers. They are being used to lure otherwise shy and skulking birds from the undergrowth so that they put on a display for the cameras with very little need for patience or traditional field craft.

As the popularity of smart phones has increased there have been some very useful applications (apps) developed that have quickly become the modern day equivalent of a wildlife field guide. With photos, videos, illustrations and songs for almost every bird species in Europe at your fingertips, there could be no need to cart around heavy field guides again. However, there have been a number of cases on the Reserve over the last few weeks where the songs from these apps have been used for a more selfish purpose.

© The Daily Mail, 12th May 2011

Tape luring (as it is called) is very much frowned upon by birdwatchers and conservationists alike as it disrupts a bird’s natural behaviour and causes them to waste precious energy. During the spring months, male birds will be singing frantically in order to secure and defend a territory from rival birds and to attract a female to mate with. Such is the likeness of the pre-recorded bird songs on smart phone apps that even the birds are fooled and look to see off the ‘intruder’. This causes the birds a great deal of stress and regular disturbance, throughout the day in the breeding season, could potentially cause nests to fail as adult birds waste time seeing off non-existent threats - when they should be tending to their young.

One species in particular that has been targeted is the Cetti’s warbler - an uncommon species in Nottinghamshire which first bred on the Nature Reserve in 2007. This normally shy and retiring species skulks around the dense undergrowth as it patrols its large territory, stopping at various points to give deafening bursts of staccato song (usually the only indication of their presence). If you are lucky enough to actually see one, you might notice their rather nondescript appearance. Resembling a large wren they have chestnut brown upperparts with a faint pale eye stripe and pale belly – often sitting with a cocked tail.


Breaking the law

The Cetti’s warbler is one of the more recent colonists of the UK (first breeding in 1973) and therefore is included on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) – which makes disturbing one in the breeding season a criminal offence!

Going for a Song

Reel 'em' in - A Grasshopper Warbler in full song. © Sean Browne

Anyone who has been up at the crack of dawn and made an early visit to the Nature Reserve over the last couple of weeks would have no doubt noticed (or heard) that the delights of the spring dawn chorus have well and truly begun. From the moment you arrive in the car park and step out on to the Reserve you are immersed in one of the most magnificent and beautiful natural events in the wildlife calendar. In fact, the last two weeks of April and the first couple of weeks of May are arguably one of the best times to witness what can best be described as ‘the biggest open-air concert on earth’ – what’s more is it’s free to attend!

For many of the Reserve’s resident bird species such as the robin, blackbird and song thrush, the dawn chorus started back in late January and February when some individuals even continue to sing throughout the night! However, by early May most of the migrant warblers would have arrived back at Attenborough for the summer and this is the time when birdsong is at its most intense and varied.

Despite numerous species performing songs of differing complexity, the common goal of a bird’s song is to attract a mate and secure a breeding territory. In almost all species found on the Reserve, the singing is performed solely by male birds who attempt to ‘woo’ a female with their impressive repertoire of fluty and scratchy notes. The earlier a bird starts to sing in the day is a good indication of the individual’s fitness and therefore quality as a mate (singing requires a huge input of energy). In the early morning, sound also travels further due to calmer winds and there is less background noise -created by humans - for the birds to compete with, meaning there is a greater likelihood of the song being heard by a potential mate.

The best thing is you don’t need to be an expert on birdsong to enjoy the sounds of the dawn chorus and once you get over the initial shock of a 4am alarm call (usually by drinking a jug of coffee), an early morning walk can be a most uplifting and exciting experience.

One of the top spots on the Reserve to compare different species in song during the dawn chorus is the scrubby grassland adjacent to the River Trent and Clifton Pond. This species rich habitat attracts a great many warblers including sedge warbler, common whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, blackcap, and willow warbler, you might even hear the strange ‘insect like’ reeling of the grasshopper warbler.

Migration, Migration, Migration

All Change Please - Waxwings depart as the summer migrants arrive

It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was last talking about the subject of migration. Then, the summer warblers, swifts and swallows were leaving us for their African over-wintering grounds and winter ducks and thrushes from Scandinavia and beyond were starting to arrive on the Reserve (followed by one of the coldest winters on record). The more recent arrivals however, over the last week, bring with them the prospect of warmer weather on the horizon and signal the start of the spring migration.

The first spring arrivals are usually sand martins. They are the smallest of the European hirundines (martins and swallows) and come to the UK to breed following a 2000 mile journey from the Sahel, a region to the south of the Sahara desert where most of them have been over-wintering. Look out on Coneries Pond over the next few weeks and you’re sure to see them as they cruise above the water catching insects on the wing. They nest in tunnels that they excavate 45-90cm deep in the soft mud along the banks of the River Trent and on some of the islands within the Nature Reserve. A single bird was spotted on the Reserve on Friday the 11^th - almost a week earlier than last year, followed by two birds on Saturday.

As you walk around the Reserve at the moment you might also hear the easily recognisable call of the chiffchaff (a kind of ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’ song). This small olive-brown warbler is another of the early spring arrivals to the UK, and some birds that breed further north will have even over-wintered in the Country in small numbers. It is not uncommon for the male chiffchaff to return to its breeding site two or three weeks before the female. On arrival the males immediately start singing to establish ownership of the territory and to attract a female.

For me though, the biggest excitement over the last week had to be a flock of birds that were travelling northwards from the Reserve (back to Scandinavia) with the arrival of about 150 waxwings in Attenborough Village. This rare winter visitor comes to the UK in small numbers each year where their traditional winter habitat often includes supermarket car-parks – due to the frequent use of rowan trees (a favourite food source for waxwings) in amenity planting schemes. Very occasionally waxwings come to the UK in larger numbers called irruptions – when a failure of berry crops in the bird’s native Scandinavia forces them to seek food elsewhere. This winter has been regarded as one of those ‘good’ years (for birdwatchers) as thousands of waxwings have been reported across the length and breadth of the Country.

Spring is in the Air

Hungry Mouths - © Edward Nurcombe

As I walked around the Reserve over the last week I found it hard to believe that less than a month ago we were caught in the grip of the coldest winter for over 30 years! The ice has since cleared from the lakes, the days are getting longer and at times, when the sun was shining, it has felt rather spring-like.

As I made my way along the Wet Marsh Path, adjacent to Tween Pond, I could hear a familiar sound coming from high in the trees on one of the islands – the clapping bills and loud, harsh chattering calls of Grey Herons that were busy tending to their nests. For this species in particular, spring and the breeding season had already begun.

The Grey Heron is the largest European heron species and is a top predator in the freshwater foodchain. They mainly feed on fish, amphibians and invertebrates which they catch with their dagger like bills. However, Grey Herons are not exactly fussy eaters and will also feed on small mammals, and occasionally even small birds and nestlings.

Grey Herons have a very prolonged breeding season that begins as early as February when most birds will return to the same nesting site they had used in the previous year. Once any repairs and renewals are made, four to five eggs will be laid per clutch that will hatch after 23-28 days of incubation. Grey Herons typically nest communally with other herons to form a colony or heronry.

Despite being present on the Reserve for a great number of years, the Grey Heron first bred on the Reserve as recently as 2004 - following a disturbance at their traditional breeding site nearby in Brandshill Woods. That year the heron’s nests were widely spaced throughout the Reserve and were even spread along the Trent Valley towards Nottingham. It was not until the following year that the herons came together within the islands of Tween Pond to form a more traditional communal heronry.

Seven years after it was first established the Attenborough heronry has now become one of county-wide importance - second only to the heronry at Besthorpe Nature Reserve. In 2010 a total of 32 nests were counted on the Reserve, many of which can be easily observed from the Main Path Bridge or along Wet Marsh Path.

Grey Herons are one of the species that suffer greatly during severe winter weather and this year’s heronries census will give us one of the first indications of the effect that the freezing conditions over the last few months have had on the Grey Heron population at Attenborough.

Once 'Bittern', Forever Smitten

A Bittern showing off it's camouflage in Clifton Pond Reedbed - © Harry McMahon

Harsh winters can often spell trouble for many of our resident and over-wintering birds. One of the greatest challenges for wild birds during cold periods is to find food and ensure that they eat enough to be able to build up adequate fat supplies to store on their bodies and burn for energy.

As 2010 drew to an end, we witnessed the coldest December on the Nature Reserve since local records began (1960). From late November, snow and ice began to spread across the lakes covering all but the smallest areas of open water. Concern grew for our over-wintering bittern population, an incredibly rare species of heron which has traditionally suffered during such cold winters.

As the bittern’s usual feeding areas, hidden deep within the reedbeds, became locked in ice, they were forced into the open to search for food. Through much of December and January visitors to the Reserve were treated to unprecedented views of up to four of these normally shy and secretive birds as they fed, rather exposed, in the outflow between Coneries Pond and the River Trent.

The bittern’s gold and brown striped plumage would otherwise make the perfect camouflage in their marshy habitat with extensive stands of common reed – making them very difficult to spot. When alarmed, they stop and stretch their neck and beak upwards. Markings along the neck imitate dry reed stems perfectly and the bittern has even mastered the art of swaying in the wind to really blend in with its surroundings.

Over the last week as the remaining ice covering the lakes receded, the bitterns returned to their usual feeding and roosting grounds of Clifton Pond and the Delta reedbeds. Despite almost two months of frozen water on the Reserve, it would seem as though the bitterns were unaffected. A total of five birds were counted returning to roost on Clifton Pond on the 15^th!

Causing a Stir!

The excitement surrounding the arrival of the bitterns each year at Attenborough is wholly justified when you consider the rarity of this species and their unsettled past. Drainage of wetlands and persecution led to the extinction of the bittern in the UK by the late 19^th century. They returned to breed in 1911 yet despite a steady increase through the 1950’s the population never reached more than 80 individuals. In 1997 the population crashed to its lowest number since the 1920’s, with just 11 males recorded! – Counting the number of booming males is the only way to accurately establish the population size.

Fortunately things are now looking up for the bittern. A combination of careful reedbed management and biodiversity action plans, which encourage the creation of wetland habitats, has meant that the population is now showing a positive recovery. A total of 87 males were recorded in the UK last spring!

Each year there is a programme of management work here at the Nature Reserve which includes maintaining the reedbeds for bittern and other wildlife. Staff and volunteers work tirelessly to remove willow saplings and dead vegetation that would otherwise cause this wetland habitat to dry out. As part of the recent floodwall mitigation, reedbeds have also been created on Coneries Pond, Church Pond and Tween Pond that are sure to attract species like the bittern to Attenborough for many years to come.