It was encouraging that a number of members contacted me this year to comment on sightings around the course.
A Stonechat was observed in February along the drive by Beryl Boucher. This bird used to be fairly common, but like a lot of birds it is less so these days. They do however favour sitting on top of Gorse, so maybe more of them will be encouraged on to the course.
The earliest recorded Swallow this year was observed on March 17th by Dave Roberts flying around the 18th fairway. The weather at this time was particularly cold & wet, so how it fed itself on insects is a mystery, as there was still a single bird there several weeks later.
The first nest I found was a Long Tailed Tit’s nest in the Gorse to the right of the 9th Fairway in late March: these beautiful little birds are always early breeders and can have as many as 14 young. There was also another nesting pair to the rear of the 9th tee.
A Magpie’s nest to the left of the path from the 12th Tee in early April was closely followed by Crows nesting to the right of 10th Fairway
One of the most inventive nests was that of a pair of Blue Tits first found by the ever observant Steve Mooney. They had nested in the crevice of the trunk of one of the Laburnum trees to the right of the 2nd fairway.
Although some golfers dislike the Gorse, it seems our birds have found it to their liking because apart from the Long Tailed Tits, a pair of Chaffinches had a nest in one of the bushes to the left of the 8th green and successfully reared a brood of four. There were also two more Chaffinches’ nests on the course: one in the conifer bush on the practice green and the other again found by Steve Mooney in the lone conifer on the approach to the 2nd green.
The Green staff were constantly scolded by a Wren for going too close to its nest under the eaves of the open shed: this pair had made use of an old swallows’ nest to raise their young.
The Nest Box Scheme was a complete disaster this year, mainly because Blue and Great Tits time their hatchings to coincide with the emergence of caterpillars and aphids. Unfortunately, as the newly hatched birds came into this world the weather turned to being very wet and cold and windy, which meant the caterpillars were washed off the trees and were not available to the parent birds to feed their young.
The list of results below makes rather sad reading:
Box No1 Green keepers shed - Great Tits (unable to access so no record of numbers)
Box No2 Brood of Great Tits
Box No3 Left of 10th Tee- 8 young hatched but seven days later were all dead
Box No4 Down bank from 10th Tee- All had mysteriously disappeared
Box No5 Right of 9th green- Three young Great tits fledged but four eggs were left in the nest.
Box No6 Left of 9th tee- Blue Tits were found dead in the box. The lid was off the box and grass had been flattened below the box suggesting human disturbance.
Box No7 Copse between 6&7th Fairways- 2 Great Tits fledged.
Box No8 In tree to left of 4th Fairway- Had considerable Woodpecker damage. No sign of any young.
Box No 9 Between 15th&16thy Fairway- No brood.
Box No10 East side of clubhouse- No brood.
Box No11 Right of 2nd green- Nest built but abandoned. No brood.
Box No12 Copse to right of 16th Tee- No nest built.
Box No13 1 Great Tit fledged but 2 eggs left in nest.
Box No14 Was South side of clubhouse before it was removed.
Box No15 Copse to right 18th Fairway- 5 Great Tits fledged.
You can see from this list that unlike last year, this year’s breeding season was a disaster.
All is not doom and gloom however because a pair of Goldfinches
successfully reared a brood from a nest to the left of 2nd
Fairway. These birds are now becoming more common than ever, the reason
being that they are predominantly seed eaters and have learnt to use garden
feeders. They therefore are not affected by any shortage of insects in bad
weather. Obviously the reason they breed later is because seed needs time to
set. Incidentally, a flock of Goldfinches is called a ‘Charm’ of
Goldfinches.
The pair of Mute Swans (which mate for life) nested in the usual place at the back of the 5th Green on the abandoned barges and produced a family which can be seen on Sow Brook to the right of the 13th Green or on the drainage ditches crossing the course. Likewise the Heron was seen in its usual spot along the drive.
Other successes were two broods of Blue Tits from nests in the brick vents: one at the side of the Secretary’s entrance to the clubhouse and the other on the other side of the Secretary’s office.
Beryl Boucher pointed out a Great Spotted Woodpecker’s nest in the copse to the left of the 2nd green, producing two young.
And last but not least, Alison reported seeing a large Badger crossing the drive in front of her late at night in May.
Brian Ankers
27/09/2008