An evening walk along the Caldon Canal.

So far May has been warm and fairly dry, though with heavy showers on the 9th, 10th and 11th May and last night to help keep the gardens and countryside watered. Yesterday evening I walked along the Caldon Canal from Endon down to Baddeley Green. My aim was to see if the Snipe that had been present, and occasionally displaying earlier in the year on the upper Trent valley near Baddeley Green, were still around. As I had planned I arrived at the place where I had seen them before I didn't see or hear any so I assume that that area is just too dry during the spring and summer to support breeding birds. However I had a lovely walk and saw, smelt and heard plenty of other wildlife.

Flowers.

May blossom and Cow Parsley on the John Emery land - Endon. 

First of all the smell of hawthorn blossom and Cow Parsley was pervading the air, which, along with its abundance made for a very pleasant atmosphere. And, as with 2013, we seem to be having another good Meadow Buttercup year; the meadows are full of them.

Birds.

Starling roost at Baddeley Green

Secondly, many bird species were singing an evening chorus, notably the Robins were more vociferous than they have been in recent mornings. There were several males singing from the willows etc. along the disused railway line. I also heard  a Reed Bunting in the willow scrub in its accustomed territory adjacent to the canal at Stanley Moss. Several Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Garden Warblers and a single Song Thrush  were also present. In the small plantation near Stanley Road (by the Stockton Brook Golf Club) I watched Woodpigeons eating either the emerging leaves or flower buds of the Ash trees. young Rooks in the rookery there testing their feathers as they prepare to leave the nest for the first time, heard a Jay harrassing the Blackbirds in the same copse. Then further down into Baddeley Green I discovered that the Jackdaw roost that is present in winter is also occupied during spring; presumably these are non-breeding birds, as their conspecifics are busy with nests in other places (e.g. the chimneys of my neighbours houses). And I managed to take this blurry photo of a male Grey Wagtail near Stockton Brook.

Male Grey Wagtail in Sycamore tree on side of Caldon Canal  near Stockton Brook.

Mammals.
Plenty of Rabbits were out nibbling the pastures alongside cattle under, what presumably, is the relative safety of dusk light. And as darkness arrived bats appeared to feed on the numerous insects that were flying over the canal and along the hawthorn hedges; perhaps the blossom attracts the insects and this in turn attracts the bats? 

Photos of Caldon Canal towpath upgrade.

The new cycle path surface. 

Coir rolls in place along the Caldon Canal between Ednon and Stockton Brook. The coir rolls are intended to reduce bankside erosion and be more sympathetic with wildlife interests than would be hard engineering see below.

The engineers have had to use hard engineering along this short section of the towpath. Clearly, had they used this along the whole length the hard,vertical edge would have been inimical to aquatic mammals, amphibians and reptiles which use this canal. I think the soft engineering look  is a lot more aesthetic too!

Do ducks carry their eggs to safety?

On the morning of 6^th May on the Caldon Canal, near Hazelhurst Junction, an unusual event occurred. A female Mallard plus two males took off from the side of the canal. The strange thing was that the duck had what appeared to be a whole egg in her bill. The two drakes followed close behind her. The duck shortly dropped the “egg” and it entered the canal water and sank. Initially it appeared as though the drakes were chasing the duck in order to mate with her, after all this is a commonly seen behaviour at this time of year – it being the breeding season. The next day a fox was seen in the same place as the Mallards had been seen the day before. I decided to find out what might have be going on. There isn't much information about this phenomenon on the internet but this is what I did find.

In 1978 The Wilson Bulletin (published in the United States) describes observations of (American) Wood Ducks carrying, what were perhaps, whole eggs. It seemed that, when a predator - in this case Red-bellied Woodpeckers, had broken some of the eggs in a duck's nest she removed at least one of the remaining eggs to a new site. It is speculated that this is an attempt to save her remaining offspring from predation. According to this paper (see link below) this observation, by individuals from this species in particular, has been recorded several times. In an attempt to test the theory that the ducks were influenced by the action of predators an experimenter placed broken eggshells on previously un-predated nests whilst the ducks were temporarily absent. On their return the ducks removed an egg or eggs. In another paper written by an American and a British academic, the second from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge (Glous.), the authors document reports of parent birds of various species carrying their young to safety either on their backs or in their bills. In this paper, egg carrying by Mallards and other species of Anatidae (swans, geese and ducks), is described (see second link below) though in this paper they mention only addled eggs being removed from nests. The authors discuss how unlikely it seems given that the anatidine bill is poorly adapted for carrying items as they write that these species do not directly feed their young or courtship feed, and appear to have difficulty carrying nest material in their bills.

So, it seems we can't be sure what was observed, but perhaps the presence of the fox seen the next day is significant. Maybe the birds were disturbed by the fox and all three flew up, the female's instinct impelling her to grab the egg which she subsequently dropped. Had it been a fresh egg presumably it would have eventually risen to the water's surface and floated, whereas an addled egg would stay under water. Next time we see something like this we will watch to see if the egg sinks or floats! Anyway, whatever is the actual story it certainly prompted some interesting speculation!

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v090n01/p0131-p0132.pdf

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=biosciornithology

A Mallard and her ducklings. 

Two new spring migrant species arrive this week.

Last week saw House Martins and a Grasshopper Warbler arrive. This week Sedge Warblers and perhaps unusually for Endon, a male and female Wheatear were seen on the disused railway line between Endon and Denford. Presumable they stopped off to feed on their way further north. I have never seen Wheatears in Endon before so that's a new bird species to add to my local list.

Last week I heard a Grasshopper Warbler near the John Emery Land, whereas this morning one was heard in the sedgy wetland near Hazelhurst Junction. The Sedge Warblers were also in that area.

End result - Curlew habitat lost and potential flooding increased!

I moved to Endon nearly eleven years ago. Every spring since then I have heard Curlews calling as they fly over nearby fields or a single male has proclaimed his territory with the species' characteristic bubbling. I have heard them this year too; they arrived in our area, from wherever they have been wintering, around the 12th March. In previous years it appeared that a pair of Curlews attempted to breed in a damp hollow in a nearby field. I don't know how successful they were as the field is on private lad (a  farm) and is not visible from a public place. Anyway it seems that this year the Curlews will be excluded as the farmer is now installing drainage in that small rushy patch (see photo). This year Curlews (though I can't be sure it is the same pair) are occupying a field near Endon Sewage Works (see photo). This field does not seem to offer as good quality habitat as did the damp hollow. It provides less cover and is more likely to dry out during a dry spell, thereby reducing feeding opportunities for this ground feeding insectiverous species.

Of course this agricultural "improvement" not only destroys the habitat of a declining upland bird species it will also increase the rate of runoff of precipitation from this piece of land. Before the drains were installed the rushy hollow would have soaked up some of the water which would then have been delayed on its route to the brook and subsequently to the the River Churnet. So next time we have heavy rain the water will percolate through the soil just that bit quicker than before - and then that water will proceed more quickly into Endon Brook and on down ultimately to the Trent. Thus, in a minor way, this action has increased the chance of the river overtopping its channel and flooding adjacent fields and homes.

On its own this single small drainage scheme is fairly insignificant, but isolated actions such as this all combine to add to nationwide flooding problems that many if us are expected to suffer from over the coming decades. End result - Curlew habitat lost and potential flooding increased!

Reply from Defra to my letter asking about Pheasant releases

Here is the original letter http://endonwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/letter-to-my-mp-about-impact-of.html

Here is the reply.

Grasshopper Warbler, Little Owl and liverwort.

I heard a Grasshopper Warbler singing from bushes near John Emery land this morning - the first of the year. Will it stay to breed I wonder? Also watched a Male Blackbird  trying to chase off a  Little Owl from a hedgerow in Stanley Moss. The owl did fly off, but I think more because it was me that was being bothered by the bird.

I also admired a fine carpet of Common Liverwort plants growing on the cobbled area of the John Emery Land. It looked as though all the plants were male as no female receptacles were visible. Gemmae cups can be seen on the bottom left-hand corner of the photo (below).

Grasshopper Warbler habitat in Endon today.

Marchantia polymorpha  subsp. montivagans 

Summer migrants continue to arrive in Endon and queen wasps become active.

I heard the first Blackcap of the year in Endon today along the railway line near Station Road. They have probably been here since last week, but I did not hear them as I was in N. Yorkshire and Northumberland where I actually heard my first Blackcap of the year at Fairburn Ings nature reserve. So so far Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Swallows, Blackcaps have arrived from S. Europe or N. Africa. The longer distance summer migrants, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroats, Cuckoo, Swifts and House Martins should arrive soon. If we are lucky Hobbies and Grasshopper Warblers may also be seen around Endon (they were last year).

Today was the first day I saw queen social wasps out in the sunshine, they and the Tawny Mining Bees, always become active at the same time as my Gooseberry bushes come into flower. From my observations they are the main pollinators, along perhaps with Common Carder (bumble) Bees.

A vespinae (social) wasp.