Tony found a nice Short eared Owl on the River Clwyd this morning, originally seen half way between Rhyl and Rhuddlan it moved to the Caravan site at Rhuddlan a while later. It was still there at 9.30am sat on a post.
Waders have started to move and at elast 9 Common Sandpipers were along the length of the Clwyd, a single Dunlin and 2 Black tailed Godwits. 3 1st summer Common Gulls and a single adult were also back on site.
I wonder what the SEO is doing/has been doing/will do? They can be quite a late Spring bird, but July...
ReplyDeleteThere have been a lot of late SEOs in lowland and southern areas this spring/summer.
I seem to recall that they breed on lowland sites in Holland - the large areas of fenced off coastal dunes, along with Hen Harriers. Perhaps they'd do the same in N Wales..?
Was thinking the same. 2 on the Alaw too. I thought they'd be failed breeders?
ReplyDeleteYou could well be right Rob.
ReplyDeleteWhen do late Spring birds end and early "autumn" SEOs start? Is it a bit like some wader species which have a brief window of a couple of weeks, eg Redshank, though i guess late Spring redshanks are going way to the north, and early autumn birds are failed southern breeders, so it would be a bit different in that respect for SEOs. I wonder if they're 1st year birds looking for territory in the lowlands or perhaps just not thinking about breeding at all, and staying near our seaside resorts where it's always sunny and therefore better for flying round without getting soaked.
I was wondering if its just juvs then why don't we see them more often during summer in lowland coastal spots?
ReplyDeleteConsidering the weather and openness of nests i'd lean towards a washout of nests but could be wrong.
I wonder if any other weather effects are being noticed? Certainly looks like an early dispersal of some species. Come to think of it I haven't seen a Kingfisher in ages. Can't imagine they've had a good season.
Yeh it's quite possible, the weather has been exceptionally wet, and SEOs may breed in their first summer for all i know. Another thing to chuck into the mix - the massive influx of SEOs last autumn during that high pressure. There were a lot more late Spring birds around the country this year than normal, so i wonder if some stayed here and didn't breed.
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