Pied Flycatchers, Ruthin

Almost  three years ago Al invited me to a woodland reserve near Ruthin to help ring Pied Flycatchers breeding in nest boxes - see here. The weather, as we can all recall, was abysmal last year and the nest boxes weren't checked as there never seemed to be a dry day! 

All went to inspect the boxes a few weeks ago and found 6 were occupied by Pied Flycatchers. An increase in numbers since our last visit. Late may we went back to check them again and found two boxes with young big enough to ring and we also caught and ringed an adult female. Two boxes held blind and naked young and another bird was on eggs. Unfortunately 1 very young brood were dead in the box. Despite the fantastic dry weather we'd had in early spring the dreaded rain had struck again and its likely these youngsters just weren't getting enough food as their parents struggled to find caterpillars that had been washed off the leaves.

Planning to go back a week later we were again thwarted by the weather and had to wait another few days until it was dry enough to check the boxes again. Again another two broods were ringed and the final brood had already fledged with no sign of the young or adult. 

With a brighter sky today I took the camera in the hope of getting some photos of the adults and was lucky enough to get some shots of one of the adult males.

This wood is also well known for its Greater Butterfly Orchids but the dry spring has meant orchids in many parts of the country haven't flowered as well.  Here was no exception and whereas, in a previous year, we found plenty of both butterfly and Common Spotted Orchids we struggled to find more than half dozen Greater Butterfly orchids and no Common Spotted at all!

All the Pied Flycatchers were ringed under licence as part of a national project monitoring these long distance migrants whose numbers have dropped alarmingly in recent years.