I recently took the opportunity to go with Alan H to his woodland site in N Wales where he rings chicks in a number of nest boxes and there were a brood of Pied Flycatchers ready along with several boxes with Great tits and Blue Tits. The added attraction was the wood held a good number of Greater Butterfly Orchids.
Unfortunately along with many other birds this year, the boxes hadn't faired well. We managed to ring a brood of Pied Flycatchers and Great Tits but another brood of Blue Tits were dead in the nest. its a recurring theme this year. I usually have seven occupied boxes in my garden .This year I've had four and brood sizes are very small. Two of my boxes were abandoned after a single egg was laid. Ringers throughout the country are reporting the same.
Greater Butterfly Orchids love calcareous soils and this woodland had plenty of exposed limestone and included the remains of an old limestone kiln where the stone was burnt to produce quick lime for traditional lime mortar.
Anyway, back to the orchids. Without really trying hard we found 30-40 spikes and they really are beautiful looking plants and nice t osee them doing so well at this site.
2 comments :
What is causing the birds to die? is this the bird flu that is doing the rounds in Northern Britain? dave61603@gmail.com
Hi Dave. Bird flu hasn't been seen in passerines yet. The likely cuase is lack of food. It seems the cold weather slowed the development of oak leaves which in turn meant fewer caterpillars. These birds normally synchronise their breeding with the emergence of caterpillars. This year they got it wrong.
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