Aside from the glorious weather in the last week on Havergate, what else has been going on?
The breeding season is starting to gather momentum. The gulls have taken a little while to get going but both the lesser black backed gulls and herring gulls are now on eggs, though there is still less than 200 nests in total. Compared to last year this feels like a slower start which is perhaps an accurate assessment as by the 17th of May the first Herring gull chicks had hatched. This looks unlikely to be replicated this year.
Common terns have returned to Cottage flood and look likely to breed again. Interestingly, this is much earlier than last year. It remains to be seen how they'll cope with the increased predation pressure that nesting earlier in the season will bring. A lot depends on density and numbers of nesting and how effective our nest protection is. However, it is great to have these charismatic birds back, they certainly bring life and excitement to the island.
Commons gulls are still hanging around their usual spot but I won't expect them to be on eggs until early June. They are beginning to look increasingly settled with pair bonding In the upcoming week the blue rope that stops undue disturbance will be going up. This should enable them to settle and get about the business of nesting and raising chicks.
Avocets sadly are absent from the island at this moment. Its not impossible that we will still see some return to the island to breed, last year the birds didn’t return until late May but it is likely to be failed breeders from other sites rather than a colony of our own.
The barn owl's are on eggs in the usual place. After a flurry of activity in early April sightings have reduced again. This is a classic sign that the birds have gone to ground to incubate eggs, we should expect to see an increase in barn owl activity in late May early June.
As for the other birds, the first goslings of both canada geese and greylag geese have hatched this week. Oystercatchers, Shelducks and various passerines are all starting there nesting.
We should start to get some numbers of breeding birds in the next couple of weeks as the survey season begins in earnest.
Passage birds have been few and far between on Havergate however. Highlights in the last week where a stonechat quite likely to be the only record this spring and even perhaps the only record all year, yellow wagtails have been frequenting the island but not in the same numbers as last year. A juvenile Spoonbill was on the island briefly on Friday, the lack of spoonbills in the spring months as been disappointing but Bar tailed godwits, Whimbrels and Common sandpipers have been passing through the island in the last week
The summer survey season began today on Havergate with the traditional season opener the Hare Transect. This is the count where we determine how many Hares we have on the island.
Last year the population of Hares stood at 29 and in 2011 the population stands at 27. Though this is a decrease of two, the population is by and large stable this is despite another harsh winter and a die off some adult Hares in the early winter.
Truthfully, this cannot be described as the exact population, the transect provides us with a population index. A population index allows us compare across years without knowing the exact number of Hares on the island. It is virtually impossible to guarantee that we count all the Hares on the Island, they are very skilled in camouflage but perhaps more pertinently it is also virtually impossible to say we don't count some Hares twice as well.
So, How do we do determine our population index? Every year we walk the same route at roughly the same time of the year and count the Hares. As long as we use a similar methodology across the years then we can compare the results across the years. The most important important thing to determine is if we have had any dramatic falls in the numbers of Hares who indeed any dramatic increases.
The other interesting facet that we can use the data for is to determine what parts of the island the Hares prefer. This informs us if when we do any future management on the island and when it comes to pointing visitors in the right direction to see the Hares. It comes as no great surprise that the Hares favour the gorse behind the volunteer huts. 14 Hares where surveyed in this area alone, which compromises over half the population on the island, the other important area is the area of the gorse near Dovey's lagoon which holds 6 hares. The rest where found in singles around the salt marsh between Doveys and Cottage flood.
We have some great photo's of Hares on our commmunity page, if you want to see any of the Havergate hares.
The Hare transect this year would not have been possible without the help of Paul and Ryan Edwards, who are a couple of aspiring natural history film makers. They are out on the island for a couple of days taking photo's and gathering film shots of the Hares and whatever joins them on the island. Please visit their website here for an idea of what they are up to.
Most breeding bird species are now on eggs with the exception of the common gulls who will not lay eggs until early June. However, the large gulls are now on eggs, as are some Oystercatchers, the geese and Mallards. Shovelers and Tufted Ducks are prospecting for nesting sites and in some cases are on eggs. It will now not be long until we survey these species.
Migratory wise it has been a quiet time on the island with most of the action occurring at our Boyton marshes reserve.
Spring has undoubtedly sprung this week with the weather to match. With it has come to the usual early spring bird migrants including a Black Redstart, an array of Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and the first Swallows and Sandwich Terns of the year.
Star birds recently must be a Black Necked grebe which spent about a week on Havergate feeding in front of Gullery lagoon, this is only the 6th ever record of this species on havergate, though I have a feeling that it should be an annual winter visitor as it winters in sheltered spots along the coast and saline lagoons and not technically on the island but within the Havergate recording area was a Great crested grebe on the river, only the 13th ever record of this familiar grebe. There has also been a Peregrine and Short Eared Owl around at various times this week.
Operation Spoonbill was finally completed on Wednesday (see pictures). Unfortunately I don't have any before hand photo's. What Operation Spoonbill consisted of was trying to recreate a small part of Wadden Island on Havergate Island, in the hope that this might entice a pair or two to breed on Havergate.
For those unfamiliar with the status of Spoonbills in Europe . The Wadden Islands are the name of the area in Holland that a majority of the dutch Spoonbills breed. Over 900 pairs of Spoonbill call these islands home. The islands Spoonbills colonies are small to medium size grassy and marshy islets surrounded by ditches and dykes with minimal predators and low levels of disturbance.
So what have we done to encourage them, this winter and Spring we have patched up the decoy Spoonbills so they look almost as good as new. We managed to get some photo's from the Dutch colonies and from this we have chosen where to place the decoy spoonbills carefully. We have also transplanted some bushes from our nearby Hollesley marshes reserve to give the area a more Wadden island feel and finally we have replicated Spoonbill nests as closely as possible (they tend to be large sprawling affairs, not to dissimilar to Cormorant nests).
Some of characteristics of the Wadden Islands we already have in place, small grassy islets surrounded by saline water, we have also had the sluice gates open throughout spring to try and encourage as many shrimps and small fish into the lagoons as possible (Spoonbills peferred food). Though we need to be careful with this as too much water places food out of the reach of even a Spoonbills bill. We also have a large colony of co- breeders in this gulls and relatively low levels of mammalian predation.
It is perhaps unfair to expect miracles from the management this spring but least it is something to build on. One of the biggest problems when managing for Spoonbills is that there is no set program, no booklet, no guide, this makes managing for and trying to attract Spoonbills the ecological equivalent of pin the tail on the donkey.
However, encouragement can be drawn from the fact that all the new colonies currently spreading throughout Holland and Germany where from sites with large summering flocks. As has been well established, for the last 10 years or so, Havergate has played host to a large flock of summering Spoonbills. Therefore maybe the best management technique we can deploy is patience.
Late March has seen the island begin to don its breeding season cloak.
Big numbers of gulls have arrived at the last Webs count 624 Lesser Black backs had returned to the lagoons and 518 Herring gulls. This count doesn’t include the salt marshes or the long shingle bank at an estimate these populations add another 200 or so to each species. Which means we are somewhere near the islands population. In addition the Common gulls have returned to they colony and have begun to establish territory. Its not only gulls that are on the move, avocets have been passing through the island, though how many will remain to breed on the island is unclear. Skylarks have been in full song and the meadow pipits are beginning there distinctive parachuting flight display.
The Hares are increasingly active, or at least relatively active. Nether the most lively of animals on the island the warming temperatures have seen them become increasingly boisterous. Its a quirk of the island population that whilst this inherent laziness makes them incredibly confiding it also means that actual behaviour can be a little low on the ground. A warm day tends to get them out and about but too warm tends to leave them sprawled in a big heap catching the sun and soaking up the warmth.
They are looking increasingly smart now. However, Its not been an easy winter for the Hares. Two factors have contributed to a long hard winter for this animal, the cold spell in late December which led to at least a week of completely frozen ground and a covering of snow. However, perhaps more seriously was the loss of five adult animals in October, the exact cause is unknown but the return of the viral haemorrhaging that afflicts the population on Havergate is not out of the question. Partly brought on by the poor diet, Sea-purselane and an enormous amount of salt is not ideal for Hares.
Such an outbreak is recorded on the islands every four to five years and when one considers that the island only plays host to around 29 hares, losing five from the population is a significant chunk. However, Havergate Hares are nothing if not resilient and i'm sure they'll bounce back and they remain remarkably easy to see on the island. The annual Hare census will not be conducted until early May now so results will not be known until then.
Migrants have started to arrive including a Black Redstart and the first Chiffchaff of the year. However, winter still lingers in the shape of a fantastic Short Eared owl and the large flock of Shore larks remains on Belpers lagoons, though mobile and often at times frustratingly elusive. Indeed the flock was missing assumed migrated and but for the sharp eyes of the Webs counters this would have remained the case. It remains a long shot and no doubt in many ways a vain hope but it would be truly great for the island and the species as a whole if Havergate became a favourite of there’s in winters to come. Management of Belpers will reflect this hope next winter.
On a separate note, Operation spoonbill has begun with the area set aside for this enigmatic species beginning to be prepared.
Despite the lack of blogs recently its been a busy time on Havergate Island.
The last two weeks have seen a flurry of activity, some great birds and a real sense that the seasons are once again on the change.
Going back a couple of weeks to a cold February morning myself and the now sadly departed Matt Williams completed the accretion monitoring (Thanks Matt). This is essentially monitoring the rate of mud collection in the area of the island dedicated to managed retreat. This data is then used to predict and inform any future changes in the management of the Suffolk coast. In the longer term Cuckolds will go from being long rank grassland to a fully fledged Saltmarsh. Essentially, boiling it down to a simplistic measurement the mud “accretes” 8cm’s a year.
Later on that month the winter brush cutting on the island came to an end. A few years ago this was far more of a major operation as large parts of Dovey’s lagoon where also strimmed. However, due to a change in the management policy to try and entice a greater variety of diving ducks large parts of Doveys lagoon is flooded and will be so until early April. Therefore the need to do lots of brush cutting in this lagoon is reduced as saline water is an effective herbicide! This year brush cutting was focused on Belpers lagoon and the Avocets and Tern islands.
The Rat program has been stepped up; eighty percent of the island is now covered under the eradication programme with the remaining 30 or so boxes to go out next week. Surprisingly time consuming, once all these boxes are out then the eradication can really begin in earnest.
The winter work party has moved from its winter quarters at Boyton to starting construction of the new Doveys screen. So far, so good. Though not without teething problems, initially the screen was decided to be to low and required raising but now the team is racing ahead with construction.
Operation Common gull is completed and the new discreet nesting areas have been created in the gorse. Hopefully the Common gulls will take to these areas, though this may take several years.
Easily the highlight of the last week or so was 23 Shore lark on Belpers lagoon, feeding on the recently strimmed areas. Without a doubt next winter a degree of staggered brush cutting will be used as both times this has proved a greats success with the birds. 23 is the joint biggest flock in the country this year
Two female Smew have taken up residence on Doveys lagoon along with up to 12 Goldeneye including several smart males.
Sadly the Short Eared Owls have started to become less regular and many of our wintering ducks have moved on, though these have been replaced by good numbers of Brent geese and Lapwings, who are daily, at least for now.
Lots of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black backs have begun to return from there wintering quarters and today for the first time I noticed a significant number of Common gulls gathering around the Saltmarsh near the volunteer chalets.
And with two visitor trips this weekend, early March has taken on the feel of the seasons beginning to change once again.