Wildlife -Winter 2008

[ashley]

Armin, 

In recent years blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) seem to have become far more common here in Ireland and maritime NW Europe generally, as far as I know because birds from central and eastern Europe have started overwintering here rather than migrating SW as before.  Previously Irish blackcaps migrated south for winter but increasingly are overwintering here too. 

Undoubtedly Mark will be able to give more precise information.

[Armin]

Ashley,
thank you. Is this a sign of global warming?
Maybe

[Lvandelft]

Is this a sign of global warming?
Maybe

Armin, I read that the first sight of a blackcap, overwintering in Ireland, was in 1970.
As far as I know, in the seventies we never hear of the words "Global Warming"
I think birds don't need the words, they simply know. 
By the way this first clever bird seemed to come from Austria  and now I remember
that my (Austrian) mother in law in those years always was saying that the climate changed 

[mark smyth]

Sorry I wasnt paying attention in class yesterday, dreaming out of the window and missed the question.

Winter migration is changing. Ducks and Gesse that used to come to the UK from Europe are no longer coming here becauise your winters are getting milder. 10s of 1000s of diving ducks, pochard and tufted ducks, are no longer coming to Lough Neagh in N Ireland in the winter.

For small birds especially the warblers, like was said up above, the routes are changing. It's case of why fly to Africa when you can stay closer to the home range. It was covered nicely on Autumnwatch this week. The problem is if we get a very hard cold period many of these birds will not survive. I remember getting very excited back in the mid 70s while at school someone brought in a photo of a strange bird feeding at their bird table. It was a female blackcap. When I went to look there was a male and female. They were leaving the wooded area across the road to feed on fat balls in the garden. Sadly the stream is no piped and the wood is cut down. This is because people dumped their rubbish in it attracting rats.

[Roma]

Anthony, are comma butterflies becoming common in Scotland?  My (fairly old) insect book says they don't come further than the middle of England.  I saw two this summer.  One on August 2nd in the butterfly garden at Scone Palace where the total score was one Painted Lady, one Comma,  two or three Red Admirals and probably one or two whites though they don't really register with me.  I saw the other at Cambo on August 29th where there were hundreds of butterflies, mainly Peacocks and Red Admirals with Small Tortoiseshells and white butterflies as well. It was very warm and the butterflies were very active so there could have been more Commas around.  If you want to see butterflies visit Cambo on a warm day in August!  There's more to Cambo than snowdrops.   

[mark smyth]

Some information
http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/Butterfly/17/Butterfly.html?ButterflyId=16&Country=sc&Size=&Colour=&Features=Black%20spots&Family=

[TC]

Paddy,
interesting - shouldn't the Blackcaps have already left for wintering?
At least here they are all gone.

Your "Monschsgrasmucke" (sorry, no umlaut on my keyboard), are probably in the U.K.  For some reason they seemed to shift their wintering quarters to Britain and Ireland about 20 years ago.  I see them regularly throughout Winter and occasionally on our bird feeders. Chiffchaffs have always overwintered in small amounts and now Willow Warblers are also being seen in Winter.  About 40 years ago, Lesser Black Back Gulls used to leave the Clyde area for Portugal, now a good percentage stay all the year round.  Global warming certainly must be playing a part.  However, I do not think that we will see a wholesale overwintering of our Summer migrants as daylight lengths in Winter would not give the insectiverous varieties enough time to feed and still survive the long nights.

[Gerdk]

Tom,
No problem if there is no 'Umlaut', you can write

ae = ä
oe = ö
ue = ü

- but we also know what a 'Monschgrasmucke' is (sounds funny)

Gerd

[Mick McLoughlin]

find codes for accents here:
http://www.usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes/accents-alt-codes.php

Cheers Mick

[Armin]

Mark & Mick,
thank you for the web links. Both are very interesting and helpful.

[Roma]

Thankyou for the butterfly link, Mark.  Very interesting and useful.

[Anthony Darby]

Roma, the answer is no, they are not common. They have been seen in central Scotland, even Dunblane (at the monument on Sheriffmuir both this year and last) but only the odd one or two. As their larvae are not gregarious and they hibernate as adults in hedgerows and not buildings, survival may depend on the winter as well as the summer. Too mild and damp is not good. I have yet to see one here, but I will pass on your records. Hard to think that little more than 100 years ago they were more or less confined to Hereforshire.

[Anthony Darby]

Tom,
No problem if there is no 'Umlaut', you can write

ae = ä
oe = ö
ue = ü

- but we also know what a 'Monschgrasmucke' is (sounds funny)

Gerd

If you can be bothered, you can use MS Word 'Insert' 'Symbols' and copy and paste umlauts etc üĕçůØ

[Maggi Young]

WOW! WOW! WOW!
I've just been watching the largest flock of Waxwings ( Bombycilla garrulus) I have ever seen! There must have been 600 or more , circling and landing in the tall trees , about 100m away, over the road from my house.  Never seen more than a couple of hundred before at one time.... what a marvelous sight. These are my favourite migratory birds.... I love them for their smart "hats"  (crests) and chatty nature. Sadly no way I could get a decent photo. Most have now moved on from the nearby trees, but I expect we'll have the pleasure of their company for a while ....there are good berry crops this year so there's every reason for them to stay in the vicinity! That has really made my day.If it stays dry I'll go out to see if I can fid where they are feeding, and enjoy listeneing to their cheerful twittering.... lovely garrulous little birds........there IS often a clue, isn't there? !! 

[Anthony Darby]

If crested tits are the punks of the Scottish birds, waxwings must be the "new wave"? Chunk a pile of soft pears on to the grass (oops - you have none Maggi) and they'll certainly stick around.