May 2016 News

Despite the cold wet April weather, the woodland is full of singing birds, including all of the nesting summer visitors. However, they are difficult to see because they are often hidden by the leaves on the trees. It is well worth learning their songs and calls because you can identify up to 20 species without actually seeing any!

The first butterflies and damsel / dragonflies are now appearing. Most of the early butterflies are those that over-wintered as adults such as the Peacock, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone.  The bright yellow male Brimstone is particularly noticeable at this time of year. All of these over-wintering species are hoping to mate, after which they will soon die.  However, their offspring will appear in late July and August.

Already, you can see some butterfly species flying that over-wintered as pupae, such as the Speckled Wood. This species has very obvious pale yellow spots on its inner wings. It has multiple broods and can be seen throughout the summer, often seen in sunny spots in the woodland, near flowering blackberries.

The first damselfly to appear is the Large Red Damselfly. It breeds prolifically in the pond near the Visitor Centre and can often be seen perched on surrounding vegetation. If you look very carefully, you may even see one emerging from its larva on the reeds in the pond. Dragonflies will start to appear in early June, so look out for them. The earliest is likely to be the Four-spot Chaser.

(Phil Rees)

April 2016 News

By the end of the month, the birds will be in full song in the woodland. On a good day you can hear over 15 species; unfortunately the emergence of leaves on the trees makes it difficult to see them! The most common birds heard singing are Robins and Wrens. However, one of the loudest singers is the summer visitor Blackcap, whose explosive song is a bit like a rusty wheel turning. Although there are usually about 7 pairs on site, they sing from cover and can be very difficult to see. Particularly in the late afternoon, you can hear the mellow song of the Blackbird, which usually sings from a fairly prominent perch and hence is easier to see.

We think that everyone would enjoy springtime walks more if they could identify some of the birds they can hear, but can’t see. To help you identify some of these birds by their song, RIMAG is organising an informal guided walk on 8 May. Please contact us for more details if you would like to join in.

The warmer weather increases the chance of seeing butterflies. These are species that over-winter as adults and emerge in spring to breed, after which they die. Their offspring then appear in late July and August and some of them will then over-winter for the following year. The most common species you are likely to see are the Peacock, with its large purple ‘eyes’ on it wings and the ragged winged Comma.

Phil Rees

(Posted from an island in the clyde pictures will be uploaded when I return)

March 2016 News

Although March is formally the start of spring, there can still be some wintry days. The volume of bird song increases through the month as the resident birds start to set up breeding territories. Even so, many will still be popping in to the feeding stations, particularly the one by the Tower, for a quick meal. Increasingly, you can see more aggression as birds start to claim breeding territories, which can spill over into the eating areas. During this month, many of the birds that came over from Scandinavia to avoid the winter start to drift back towards the east coast prior to returning to their breeding grounds. Some, such as Brambling and Redwing can occasionally be seen around the feeding stations.

Towards the end of the month, the first summer visitors start to arrive. Usually, the first to be detected is the Chiffchaff, with its unmistakeable repetitive “chiff-chaff-chiff” song heard high up in the trees. It is quite an inconspicuous plainly coloured small bird, not much bigger than a Blue Tit, but slimmer. It is not easy to spot and becomes even more difficult when the trees start to produce leaves. It looks very similar to its cousin the Willow Warbler, but that species does not arrive until April, seldom comes into woodland, and has a melodic song that easily separates it.

As the weather warms, there is increased activity in the site ponds. You should look out for Frogs spawning and, if you are patient, you may see Smooth Newts. Please note that all of the ponds also contain larger Great Crested Newts, but these are seldom seen in daytime.  (Please note that the Great Crested Newt is a nationally rare. protected species.  Its presence means that there can not be any pond dipping in any of the ponds on site due to the risk of disturbance.)

Phil Rees

Although February is classed as a winter month, the first signs of spring are already starting to appear, especially if there are warm day time temperatures.

The resident birds are still visiting the Woodland Hide feeding station, but you can start to see the return of species usually seen only on the mossland such as Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer. Their arrival increases the chance of beating the record of 20 species during a visit.

These species will eventually nest on the mossland and arrive back early to start claiming territories. They were driven off in the autumn by the lack of food. As food on the mossland is still scarce in the early spring, they often take the opportunity to ‘refuel’ at the feeding station.

Although there are no leaves on the deciduous trees yet, some are already starting to show flowers as a further indicator of spring. Most noticeable are the white flowers on the branches of the Blackthorn (the source of sloe berries), the yellow hanging catkins on the Hazel, and the ‘Pussy Willows’ on the various Willow species trees on the site. These in turn provide pollen for early flying bumblebees, particularly the Red-tailed Bumblebee. If the weather is particularly warm, you may see the early flights of butterflies that have over-wintered as adults. The most likely species you can see is the bright yellow coloured Brimstone. It is thought that the similarity of the yellow colour of this species to that of butter is the reason they are called butterflies.

Phil Rees