RSPB Bath & District Local Group
Bulletin No 14
Well, here we go again! I am putting this issue together on the first day of Lockdown 2 so we will have to return to local, household walks and try to make the most of the autumn sunshine and colours. If you are struggling for ideas for places to visit, it would be well worth keeping an eye on Tony Cook’s Bath Birdwatcher blog https://bathbirdwatcher.blogspot.com/?m=1 . Tony is a Bath Local Group member and his blog documents the activities of the ‘Three Amigos’ (Bryan Cook, Dave Newman and Tony himself) who regularly go out to places of birding interest in the area and further afield and he writes about their escapades, what they have seen and where. Definitely worth a look!
Simon Kidner
On October 21st, we held the second of this season’s indoor Zoom meetings with Brittany Maxted talking on ‘Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey Project’ for which she is Project Officer. Brittany was young, hugely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Again we had 37 participants, and feedback has been very positive, including from some ‘visitors’ from other Local Groups who saw the event publicised on our website. Do encourage other members and friends to join the meetings – the content and format seem to match peoples’ wishes and are an enjoyable way of spending a couple of hours on a winter’s evening!
The next ‘indoor’ meeting is on Wednesday 18th November with Nick Wilcox-Brown, a professional photographer and film maker from Blagdon, who will be talking on ‘Birds and Wildlife of Uganda’. You can see a quality example of his work on https://www.behance.net/gallery/52126425/M urchison-Falls . We should be in for a treat!
Nick Wilcox-Brown Keep safe!
David Robertson – Group Leader – 5 November 2020
Ancient Sounds of Somerset
If you are in need of peace and quiet and a period of mindfulness, the link below might be perfect for you, courtesy of Lucy Delve and Philippa Paget of Elm Farm, Burnett. https://inkcap.substack.com/p/what-did-somerset-sound-like- 2000?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy
Who is this bird named after?
Birdsoftheworld.org Mohammed Khorshed
Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus) is a slim, medium-sized, long- winged bird of prey. It has a long tail, is smaller than a buzzard, and has more pointed wings than the similar hen harrier. The male is grey above. In flight, it shows black wing tips and a black stripe across the inner wing. The female is dark brown. It is an extremely rare breeding bird in the UK, (5 breeding pairs) and its status is precarious. Each pair needs special protection. It seems increasingly to be nesting on arable farmland rather than on marshes. It is a summer visitor, and migrates to Africa to spend the winter. There are two breeding areas – the area surrounding The Wash, and downland areas of southern England, from Dorset and Hampshire north to Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, no successful breeding appears to have taken place in Britain in 2020. Montagu’s harrier was named by the French ornithologist, Louis Vieillot and his Dutch colleague, Coenraad Temminck after George Montagu (1753 – 20 June 1815) who was an English army officer and naturalist. Montagu is best known for his pioneering Ornithological Dictionary of 1802, which for the first time accurately defined the status of Britain's birds. He showed that many previously accepted species were invalid, either because they were birds in summer or winter plumage or males and females of the same species. His study of harriers resulted in the discovery that the Montagu's harrier was breeding in southern England. He was also involved in the first British records of cirl bunting, whose breeding range in England is around his home in Devon, as well as of cattle egret, little gull and gull- billed tern.
He was born at the family home of Lackham House in Wiltshire, some three miles south of Chippenham in the northwest of that county, and baptised at Lacock Church on 9 July 1753. In 1770 he joined the army as an Ensign in the 15th Regiment of Foot. He resigned his commission as a Captain in 1777, but eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Wiltshire Militia. In 1773 he married Ann Courtenay, niece of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. They settled at Alderton House in Wiltshire. In 1798 Montagu left his wife and moved to Prospect House, near Kingsbridge in Devon. It was here that he wrote his two- volume Ornithological Dictionary; or Alphabetical Synopsis of British Birds. He subsequently entered a relationship with Elizabeth Dorville who worked with him illustrating several of his scientific articles. They went on to have four children together. Montagu also had an interest in marine and freshwater natural history, and in 1803 published his Testacea Britannica, a History of British Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. This described 470 species of molluscs, 100 of which were new to the British list. He supplied some new species of crustacean to William Elford Leach at the British Museum, and recorded some species of fish for the first time in English waters, as well as discovering new species including Montagu's blenny and Montagu's snapper (Lutjanidae). He also described the lesser horseshoe bat for the first time. Montagu's ray, Montagu's sucker and Montagu's sea snail are also named for him. He died of tetanus after stepping on a nail at Knowle House. He was buried at Kingsbridge Parish Church. Montagu's collection of birds was bought by the British Museum, about 200 of which are now housed at the Tring Museum. His annotated copies of the Dictionary and Testacea were bequeathed to the Linnean Society.
Caching
A prudent forager makes the very best of their feeding opportunities. For several garden species, this involves storing food during times of plenty so that these morsels can be retrieved during times of scarcity. Caching, as this behaviour is known, is a strategy that is typically employed during autumn. Individuals may expend considerable time and effort amassing these reserves, which may prove a lifeline over winter, so remembering hiding places and stopping ‘thieves’ is very important.
Hide and seek Caching is not a rigid behaviour but one that may change depending on social context. In general, individuals become much more cautious when storing food if they think that they are being watched. Grey Squirrels, for instance, travel further and are much more vigilant when burying their food if they think they are being observed. They are known to turn their backs on potential on-looking squirrels and to create ‘dummy caches’, where nothing is actually stored. For Grey Squirrels, food type also influences caching behaviour, with individuals more likely to stop digging if they think they are being watched while burying a preferred food rather than a less preferred one. They can also be remarkably canny, eating acorns that will perish quickly, while storing those that have a longer shelf-life.
A typical tactic for reducing the number of caches that are stolen is to scatter them widely. Coal Tits, which can be seen storing food gathered from garden feeding stations and other sources during autumn, find a variety of hidey-holes for their caches, helping to reduce the thieving efficiency of species such as Great Tits. Coal Tits prefer certain hiding places over others – the inner parts of trees being safer than the outer parts, for instance – and will travel further to use such places. Despite having many different stores, Coal Tits appear to be quite good at remembering where these are. An aviary experiment showed that they can remember where they have stored their food for up to four weeks. In contrast, Grey Squirrels can rediscover many of their stores for at least a couple of months, using their memory and sense of smell.
Mark R Taylor Coming to a pillowcase near you...
Unlike Coal Tits, Nuthatches defend territories throughout autumn and winter. This territoriality serves to protect their caches, with pilfering rates tending to be low (perhaps less than around 5%). Like Grey Squirrels, Nuthatches also safeguard their stores by being cagier if a potential thief is present. Under such circumstances, they store less and eat more food, thereby increasing their internal (fat deposit) reserves rather than their external (cache) ones. A member of BTO staff once found a stash of peanuts in her pillowcase; on further investigation she found that the culprit was Nuthatch. It was taking peanuts from her feeder in the garden and caching them in her pillowcase!
During early autumn, the GBW reporting rate of Jay increases as individuals each collect and store as many as around 5,000 acorns. For subordinate birds, this process can be particularly arduous. Research shows that a dominant Jay will hide many food items, move them frequently and will steal the caches of a social inferior in plain view of the lower-ranking bird. In contrast, a subordinate Jay has to be much more secretive about where it hides its food and only becomes a thief when dominant birds are some distance away.
Jays can store acorns several kilometres from where they are gathered, although most are buried (with some placed in tree crevices) within a few hundred metres. Up to 75% of these caches may later be retrieved, although a figure of just 30% has also been reported – it seems that some Jays are better at remembering their hiding places than others. Research shows that Jays find taller (over 20 cm high) landmarks particularly useful when rediscovering their stores. Such landmarks are less likely to get covered in snow or leaf fall, or to be obscured by vegetation.
One brave raven! (Well, I think it’s a raven!)