More species in wet fields.

Last week a walk along to the temporary pools near Dunwood showed that plenty of wetland birds benefit from the winter flooding that occurs in these fields. This week there were many of the same species present with a few additions. The flock of Lapwings has increased from about 90 to over 200 birds, plus there is a large flock of Canada Geese also feeding there. The Canada Geese are probably the flock of about 240 birds that regularly overwinters in this area (that is assuming there is only one flock that is!). One new addition to the list this week was a juvenile Grey Heron which was being closely followed about by a Carrion Crow. The crow appeared to be taking food items from the area close to the herons head. It looked as though the crow was keeping a close eye on the heron and when the heron found a snack, the crow quickly grabbed the food from under its bill. Perhaps this is not surprising as crows are known to steal food from herons that are flying to their nests with crops full of food for their young. Maybe this is simply another version of that behaviour. The complete list of birds seen is below the photos.

Comparison of species recorded on the wet fields and surrounds between last week in November and first week in December. 

	25 and 26/11/15	01/12/15
Meadow Pipit	2
Raven	Heard in the distance
Starlings	Flock of perhaps 120 or more	Amongst Lapwings
Redwings	Some amongst Starlings, about 20 seen
Black-headed Gulls	3 feeding alongside Lapwings	5 or 6
Lapwings	About 90 Feeding amongst pools on the flooded field	200
Fieldfares	Smallish flocks (20 or so birds) feeding and flying between trees	Small flock of about 20
Carrion Crow	About 35 feeding in fields or perched in trees	same
Buzzard	1 Perched watching for prey	heard
Mallard	About 30 mostly males on the seasonal pools	same
Blackbirds	About 5 feeding in Hawthorn trees	01/02/15
Pheasant	3 feeding in field
Wigeon	About 30 males and females	same
Great Tits	3 seen	present
Blue Tits	3 – 4 seen or heard	present
Green Woodpecker	1
Magpie	1	same
Jackdaws	About 30 flying over	same
Robin	2 singing winter song	present
Pied Wagtail	1 Flying over	About 11 feeding at edge of temporary pool
Wren	3, two singing	same
Kestrel	1 perched – looking for prey
Goldfinches	Flock of about 10
Chaffinches	4, males and females
Sparrowhawk	Flying over
Reed Bunting	male
Woodpigeon	About 8 flying over	About 3 seen
Jay	2 together	heard
Bullfinches	Party of 5	heard
Greenfinch	1
Dunnock	1 singing near Station Road	same
House Sparrows	Flock of perhaps 20 in garden hedge near Station Road	same
Siskin		1 seen
Canada Geese		perhaps as many as 300
Grey Heron		1 juvenile

Birds in wet fields.

Birds seen over the last two days on walk along the railway line between Endon and Hazelhurst Junction. The bird list is below the photos.

Disused railway line near Station Road, Endon.

Cables taking electricity from Sellafield.

Temporary pools with Dunwood in background.

Starlings.

Temporary pools form in depressions where the Endon Brook used to flow prior to canalisation. 

Meadow Pipit	2
Raven	Heard in the distance
Starlings	Flock of perhaps 120 or more
Redwings	Some amongst Starlings, about 20 seen
Black-headed Gulls	3 feeding alongside Lapwings
Lapwings	About 90 Feeding amongst pools on the flooded field
Fieldfares	Smallish flocks (20 or so birds) feeding and flying between trees
Carrion Crow	About 35 feeding in fields or perched in trees
Buzzard	1 Perched watching for prey
Mallard	About 30 mostly males on the seasonal pools
Blackbirds	About 5 feeding in Hawthorn trees
Pheasant	3 feeding in field
Wigeon	About 30 males and females
Great Tits	3 seen
Blue Tits	3 – 4 seen or heard
Green Woodpecker	1
Magpie	1
Jackdaws	About 30 flying over
Robin	2 singing winter song
Pied Wagtail	Flying over
Wren	3, two singing
Kestrel	1 perched – looking for prey
Goldfinches	Flock of about 10
Chaffinches	4, males and females
Sparrowhawk	Flying over
Reed Bunting	male
Woodpigeon	About 8 flying over
Jay	2 together
Bullfinches	Party of 5
Greenfinch	1
Dunnock	1 singing near Station Road
House Sparrows	Flock of perhaps 20 in garden hedge near Station Road

Birds seen on a walk around Stanley Pool today.

This afternoon was a breezy and sunny with some patchy cloud. A walk up to and around Stanley Pool produced the following, not particularly impressive, bird list.  

Blackbirds	3 feeding on hawthorn berries
Bullfinch pair
Buzzard	Being chased by 3 Rooks
Blackheaded Gulls	C94 mostly resting on the water
Blackbacked Gull	Just one on water with BH Gulls and I wasn't sure if a lesser or greater
Mallards	One pair by dam and two males on the small pool
Robins	A few heard
Starlings	A flock of c10 flying about
Woodpigeons	3 -4 flying over
Redwings	C5 feeding on Hawthorn berries
Chaffinch	1 female
Carrion Crows	2 feeding in arable field

A new winter roost for Jackdaws and other corvids appears.

This year, as the bird breeding season came to an end, I noticed that as evening approached Jackdaws were beginning to congregate in the trees in the field behind my house. In the morning as it got light I heard them awaken and begin to fly off for a day's feeding and other non-breeding season activities hence I thought a new winter roost had begun somewhere nearby. There is a large, well established, Jackdaw and other corvid (Carrion Crow  and perhaps Magpies) roost at Baddeley Green. Previous counts indicate it has between 200 and 400 birds. It can be observed from the Caldon Canal towpath near Heakley Hall Farm and is located at map ref. SJ901 517. I have watched this roost for the past threee years and presumably it is older than that. I have written about it here. And I have mentioned another nearby one here.

The new one is in a plantation of mixed conifer and deciduous trees that were planted only a year or so before I moved to Endon twelve years ago. At that time the trees would have been too short to provide any cover for a roost, however now they are at least 3 metres tall, probably more. And, as some will have foliage all year round they will provide some shelter for the birds during harsh winter nights. Whether this new roost is a smaller one that I failed to notice before (though, as I say, it seems unlikely that it is more that five years old as the trees would have been too small then) that has grown into something more noticable, or that it is has freshly established this year I cannot be sure. Also, I wonder if it is comprised of birds that have previously been overwintering at one of the other nearby roosts and have split off the for this new one - again I do not know. Also, does it mean that the local Jackdaw population is growing so that a new roost is required to accomodate all the birds. Again I do not know. According to the British Trust for Ornithology's Bird Atlas 2007 - 2011 (published 2013) over most of the Britsh Isles breeding success for Jackdaws has been increasing over the past few years. Assuming %age mortality rate has stayed the same then the population of Jackdaws living around Endon could be increasing, which may help explain the necessity for an extra roost. Alternatively the other roosts may be less favourable for some reason and so birds from those have decided to find a new place to spend the winter nights. I will have to go along to the Baddeley Green one and see if it looks like there are fewer birds this year. Though, as it is very difficult to get an accurate count, I am not sure that this would help me to come to any conclusions. And, of course I don't know what is happening at other roosts that I either don't know about, or have never counted.

A futher point is that Jackdaws nest in the chimneys in the houses in my street, at least in the ones they can access. Some houses, including mine, have their chimneys capped to prevent them geting in. A few years ago a pair of Jackdaws investigated a Tawny Owl nest box I have installed on a tree in my garden; I dont think they actually produced a brood. So there is a breeding colony of Jackdaws close to this new roost.

Anyway, here are some photos taken on the evening of 03.11.2015 at about 16:40. The roost is visible from the Caldon Canal towpath beside the fields behind Post Bridge Cottage Farm and is actually on land belonging to Kypersley Farm (SJ931 528).

A pre-roost congregation arriving in a row of trees near the main roost.

Close up of photo above.

Jackdaws arriving at the main winter roost sight - you can just see that they are in paris as the males are guarding their mates - as is the usual behaviour for this species at this time of year (Jackdaws pair for life). 

Something disturbed the roost and this is hundred or so birds disturbed  flying up from the tree tops. this is typical behaviour, it takes quite a while for the birds to finally settle down for the night - perhaps an hour. 

Another temporary gathering area, before finally entering the trees.

The plantation where the roost is located. 

Notes from a walk to Stanley Pool

The Canada Geese flock that spends the non-breeding season in the Endon area was in a pasture near Stanley Pool today. I counted about 270 birds (and one Greylag Goose). A single Green Woodpecker flew into the nearby trees.

There were about 10 Lapwing, a flock of approximately 100 Blackheaded Gulls, one Moorhen and  2 Great Crested Grebe using the water in the pool which has been very low for the last month or so.

The small pool - showing how the exposed mud is green with vegetation. 

The large pool. 

There was a pair of Stock Doves perched on a lamp post on the outskirts on Bagnall. Along the Caldon Canal,a Kingfisher perched on the landing stage near Greenway Hall Golf Club, and two Blackheaded Gulls were sitting on their regualr fence posts further along the canal. A Snipe flew up from the willow carr which is adjacent to the canal at Stanley Moss. 

Second update - Blueprint for Water campaign.

  Here is the reply I have received from Ms Bradley from the letter that is shown here And below that is my reply to her.

 

 

06.10.2015

Dear Ms Bradley 

Thank you for sending on to me the letter to you from the Environment Agency enclosed with your letter dated 17.09.15. I found the letter from the Environment Agency to be rather illuminating, and I believe it supports what I said in my original letter to you on this subject (August 2015).

For instance on the third paragraph the letter says that the River Churnet, where it passes through Endon, and Endon brook, itself is classified as “moderate” under the Water Framework Directive, and has been so for the last 6 years. Moderate is the middle category of a five category Water Quality scale which ranges from high, through good, moderate, poor and ends with bad. Having the Churnet and its tributaries classed as moderate is hardly a ringing endorsement of our local natural water courses is it? The letter then goes on to say “this means that these water bodies are not deteriorating”. I wonder does it though? What was the quality prior to 2009? I cannot find that on the internet and I would be interested to know, perhaps you can find out for me? In any case, according to the EA website, water quality is reviewed on a six-yearly basis – hence no change in six years could mean that the there has been no review for six years, not no change in water quality. The paragraph continues stating that, as those streams and the river have not deteriorated (and, as I say, that is debatable), they are not classified as “high priority water bodies”. This is very surprising since the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website says, “The purpose of the Directive is to …...ensure that all aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to their water needs, terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands meet 'good status' by 2015”. Clearly the streams and river in your constituency are going to fail to meet the requirements of the directive.

In spite of this the only examples of any work being done to improve the water quality of the Churnet catchment are being done by local charities; the Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership headwater streams projects and the Wild Trout Trust's reprofiling work on Horton Brook. On this I have made a few enquires. As a result I have been told, that the work on Horton Brook was actually done as part of a deal arranged by the EA as a form of compensation paid by a farmer who had caused a serious pollution incident. I will be pleased if you will discover if this is the case.

The letter also acknowledges that some local farmers are responsible for polluting the streams and river with excess phosphate and herbicides and are not very forthcoming in putting it rights as, according to the letter, “not all landowners are willing to carry out this work themselves”. In any case it seems they need not feel too pressured to clean up their act as in a recent speech given by Liz Truss (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/environment-secretary-speech-at-the-oxford-farming-conference) she said that, “Food and farming is one of the areas of our national life that is most burdened with red tape – much of it unnecessary, as I’m sure many in this room are aware. I want farmers farming not form filling. Since 2010 we have:

• Cut 10,000 unnecessary dairy inspections a year.
• 14 out of 31 inspection regimes now allow farmers to earn recognition, saving them time and money.
• We are reducing the volume of Defra guidance by 80%.......”

I am not the only one who is of the opinion that the Government is failing in its responsibilities. According to the Guardian newspaper website: “ WWF UK, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal say they have been granted permission by the high court to pursue their challenge to protect rivers, lakes and coastal areas from further damage. They are seeking a judicial review, arguing that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency are failing in their legal duty to take the necessary action to tackle the problem.Their case focuses on habitats known as Natura 2000 sites, including “national treasures” such as Poole harbour, in Dorset, and the rivers Avon, Wye and Eden where pollution is having a harmful impact. Poor land management is blamed for causing soil carrying nutrients and pesticides to wash into waterways. The campaigners say the UK government is required by law to take all necessary steps to ensure rivers are in good health by December 2015, and they maintain that that will not happen”. So it doesn't look good for our river does it, if we can't even properly look after the places that have been given the highest conservations status?

Finally I just want to reiterate a few other things that I mentioned in my first letter, and which have either not been mentioned in the EA's letter or that are not their particular responsibility. Firstly runoff from roads. They did not mention anything to do with that, maybe it is the Highways Authorities responsibility? Secondly misconnections. I know that there is a problem with these in Endon as I have reported detergent foam (and even milk or paint on one occasion) in the Endon Brook where it passes under Station Road to the EA on several occasions. They have now told me to inform Severn Trent Water (STW). But the problem is intermittent, mainly only showing up during dry weather when the stream is at its lowest flow. Hence I would have to have contacted STW on several occasions every year for the past eleven years. I would like to know what any authority does to monitor this problem. Do they rely on people like me reporting incidents? According to the STW website misconnections are the householders responsibility. Does anyone ever get prosecuted I wonder?

I think, given all the evidence I have supplied, I suggest you might write to Liz Truss once again, saying that it is not just one of your constituents who is concerned about the state of our local water courses, that you are yourself. I look forward to hearing the answers to the questions I have posed in this letter.

Yours sincerely

Two fungi at Rudyard Lake.

There were more that just these two species visible on the route around Rudyard Lake today. However, not having much time meant I took potos of just these.

Orange Peel Fungus  Aleuria aurantia.

A big Bolete, 20 or so cm across the cap, growing under an oak tree.