With the persistent, heavy rain we’ve been having recently this has really affected how our sedge beds have grown up this year. It seems the cold weather, coupled with the high water level has temporarily halted our sedge beds from growing into the thick, robust sedge beds the grebes need to nest in. As you can see from the graph below the water level this year has had the opposite trend to the previous two years. Slavonian grebes will start nesting when they have tall thick sedge beds available, at the moment the sedge beds at the loch are under quite a bit of water with only the tops of the sedge to be seen.
This had not put off the grebes from using the loch though, in the last two weeks I have seen pairs performing the ‘penguin dance’, this is when both birds rear up out of the water, touch their chests together and shake their heads. I have also seen pairs perform the ‘weed rush dance’, which is where a pair of birds both collect weed in the beaks, come together side by side and whilst rising slightly out of the water they move quickly rushing through the water for up to 10m!! These are amazing spectacles to see and although the water level is high and hiding the sedge beds it’s really encouraging to see the grebes are exhibiting some marvellous breeding behaviour.
Although the sedge beds are looking a bit sorry for themselves we have seen some territorial behaviour between the grebes too. Two pairs of grebes have been seen swimming and chasing each other in and out of the artificial sedge bed on the other side of the loch. The artificial sedge bed was created in the late 90’s to provide extra nesting habitat for the grebes. Throughout this period of high water level this sedge bed has faired better than the others, it has maintained it’s height and thickness to hopefully provide adequate nesting habitat.
The sedge bed in front of the hide is still a busy place too! Two pairs have been regularly seen swimming amongst and patrolling in front of the sedge. Occasionally a third pair will try and sneak in but the resident pairs, whilst they seem to be happy with the other pair’s presence, will not tolerate this new pair. There has been some ferocious fighting between these birds and so far the two pairs seem to have won. At the east end of the loch we have seen up to five pairs vying for territory amongst the sedge beds and at the west end we have seen two pairs and two singe birds swimming near the sedge beds.
From the hide we have been watching a great tit building a nest in a nearby nest box, they have been busily collecting moss and when it’s quiet you can here it pecking away at the hole on the box (must be a bit of a tight fit!)
Recent sightings
Little grebes, teal, wigeon, tufted duck, mallard with chicks, red breasted merganser, mute swans, greylag goose, oystercatcher, lapwing, curlew, common sandpiper, cormorant, heron, black headed gulls, common gulls, jackdaw, hooded crow, carrion crow, raven, buzzard, red kite, sparrow hawk, osprey, cuckoo (heard), swallows, swifts, sand martins, house martins, willow warbler, grasshopper warbler (heard from the car park), chaffinch, robin, blue tit, great tit, song thrush, reed bunting, meadow pipit, wheatear. And while driving on the local roads I have been very lucky to see a black grouse and a bunch of 15 golden plovers!!
Cat Owen-Pam
Reserve Assistant
Well another week means another completely different week of weather. It started off a bit drizzly but over the past couple of days it has been glorious sunshine! And this seems to have woken the Slavonian grebes!
The water level is starting go down after last weeks heavy rain and this is starting to expose the sedge beds again. It has been a slow start to the year, and although we have at least 4 pairs regularly showing at the east end of the loch, they are still all to establish territories in the sedge beds. The hide has been a great place to watch them this week. On Tuesday morning all four pairs where fighting for territory in the sedge. It was an incredible sight and could be ferocious at times as they chased and pecked each other with their beaks. At the moment there seems to be just the one pair holding territory in the sedge bed in front of the hide, but every now and then you see another pair hovering around the back of the sedge hoping they haven’t been spotted! Last year this sedge bed held four pairs so there really should be room for a couple more pairs to squeeze in.
On Monday I saw two pairs fighting and calling between each other in the sedge bed at the far eastern tip of the loch. I was really surprised and happy to see this as we haven’t seen any activity in this sedge bed all year and there were no nesting attempts there last year. This sedge bed is pretty exposed to the elements and one of the main threats to Slavonian grebe nests is flooding through wave action, as the wind gets stronger this causes waves on the loch to destroy nests and even wash eggs or chicks into the water. If it’s particularly windy early on in the year this will discourage the grebes from nesting there altogether! So with these calm couple of weeks we’ve had it has been really encouraging to see the grebes back in this part of the loch, let’s hope they stick around!
If you’re visiting the loch I’d really advise you to hang around in the car park, from here I have heard cuckoo and grasshopper warbler (first I’ve heard this year!), it’s also a great place to spot osprey flying over too! Whilst walking to the hide there has been a pair of bullfinches by the path every day this week, lesser redpoll in the birch tree’s lining the path and common sandpiper can be heard whistling as they fly around the edge of the loch. And this is all before you’ve got to the hide to see the fantastic Slavonian grebes and our stunning pair of red throated divers who are visiting the loch at the moment.
Greylag goose, mallard, tufted duck, teal, wigeon, little grebe, common sandpiper, longtailed tit, coal tit, great tit, robin, black bird, bullfinch, grasshopper warbler, willow warbler, oystercatcher, common gull, black headed gull, lapwing, sand martins, cuckoo, great-spotted woodpecker (heard drumming).
It has been a wet week here at Loch Ruthven. The water level in the Loch has risen drastically over the last couple of days which has submerged some of the sedge beds and has also turned the first section of the path muddy. The path will be returned back to it’s former state soon when contractors can access the site once this wet weather has passed. Luckily the condition of the path improves once you get to the loch so you can still get to the hide to get some terrific views of the grebes. Along with the rain the weather has also continued to be cold which has slowed down the onset of spring and so has slowed down the growth of the sedge beds into our glorious Slavonian grebe breeding habitat. Lets hope we have some balmy weather soon!
We still have four pairs and a couple of single Slavonian grebes at the east end of the loch. There have been some amazing views of a pair of grebes right in front of the hide this week. They are very territorial and chase away any other bird (grebe, teal or tufted duck)! And we had views of them mating on a ‘platform’. The platforms are weedy islands which they build themselves by dragging bits of dead water weed and piling them up amongst the sedge to create platforms which they mate on. It has been great to see this breeding behaviour right in front of the hide, it’s reassuring to know that during this wet, cold weather the grebes are still going about their normal business.
The other three pairs at the east end have still been swimming in and out of the sedge beds investigating possible territories amongst the sedge. A couple of pairs have been displaying in front of the sedge beds and there has been a lot of birds calling to each other, with the still mornings we’ve had the call carries right across the loch. Today, watching in the hide with a couple of visitors, we had five grebes all in view through the scope! Amazing!!
Let’s hope that we have some dry days soon so the water level can go down a little to expose some of these sedge beds and the grebes can start nesting!
Other brilliant bird sightings have been; osprey fishing right in front of the hide! Sandpipers bobbing on the rocks by the beach and a beautiful pair of red throated divers. Even through the rain it has been a great week at Loch Ruthven!
Recent sightings.
Common gulls, black headed gulls, mute swans, little grebes, mallard, tufted duck, teal, wigeon, red breasted merganser pair, red throated diver pair, common sandpiper, redshank, golden plover, oystercatcher, lapwing, curlew, osprey, kestrel, siskins, reed bunting, great tit, coal tit, long tailed tit, treecreeper, robin, blackbird.
Where as in the last blog I wrote about the unseasonably mild weather with temperatures in the early 20’s, I had sat by the loch during the intensive sedge bed watches in my t shirt looking forward to the warm (dare I say it ‘hot) spring. These past couple of weeks we have had 4 inches of snow at Loch Ruthven, temperatures down to freezing and I have been wearing as many layers as I could whilst still be able to operate a telescope!!
I was concerned as to how the grebes would react to this sudden change in climate, but when visiting the loch after the snow I was relieved to see the same number of pairs and single birds as there where the previous week. Luckily the weather has stayed calm so visitors have had some excellent views of the grebes swimming and diving amongst the sedge. A pair has been regularly using the sedge bed in front of the hide, and chasing away any other approaching bird. These birds have given some amazing close up shots for photographers and visitors to the reserve.
So far this week we have had four pairs and three single birds at the east end of the loch and two pairs and two single birds at the west end. The grebes have been calling regularly to each other and are still to establish their territories, swimming in, out and around the sedge beds. Numbers are still fluctuating so I’m hopeful to see more birds on the loch in the coming weeks as we still have a few unattached grebes out there!
I saw my first common sandpiper and wheatear of the year last week, the sandpipers can be seen at the loch edge. Keep an eye out for their typical ‘bobbing’ stance as they perch on the rocks. I have also seen my first osprey of the year! Magnificent birds, I have heard the common gulls commotion at there presence before I have noticed the osprey flying over the loch. There have been sightings from the hide of them catching fish in the loch and I saw one catch a fish at the west end of the loch today, an amazing sight!!!
Osprey, mute swans, greylag geese, mallard, buzzards, wigeon, teal, tufted duck, goldeneye, little grebe, red-throated diver, cormorant, red breasted merganser, oystercatcher, lapwing, common sandpiper, curlew, common gull, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, sand martin, wheatear, mistle thrush, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, redpoll, siskins, great tit, blue tit and chaffinch.
My name is Cat Owen-Pam and I’ll be the Slavonian grebe and Central Highlands Reserve Assistant for the coming twelve months. I am just coming to the end of my fourth week at Loch Ruthven. It has been a busy and enjoyable four weeks, and I am thoroughly looking forward to getting ‘stuck in’ to the survey season and learning as much as I can about these beautiful birds.
With the milder winter we’ve had this year the loch thawed by mid February. The grebes seemed to know about this and caught us all off guard by turning up at the end of February, with the first sighting on the 28th and two birds seen the next day! Up to three birds were seen regularly with the first pair spotted on the East end (the end where the RSPB reserve is) of the loch on the 19th March. Last year the Loch was completely frozen until mid March with the first pairs arriving in early April!
The intensive sedge bed monitoring started at the beginning of last week. This involves watching each sedge bed in turn and recording the breeding behaviour of the grebes onto maps. With the unseasonably mild weather this seems to have encouraged more birds onto the loch. Numbers this week have been good with peak counts of eleven birds (four pairs and three single birds) being very active at the east end of the loch, and seven birds (three pairs and one single) at the west end. It has been fascinating watching the grebes interacting and displaying to each other, and confusing at times when ten birds have suddenly erupted from the sedge beds whilst I’ve been trying to keep track of them all!! Arriving at the loch earlier on in the week when it was particularly still, and hearing them call to each other was a fantastic early morning welcome from them. With plenty of time until the sedge beds grow into prime nesting habitat for the grebes, let’s hope that there are more birds set to arrive at the loch!
Other sightings over the past few weeks have included; buzzard, whooper swans, mute swans, greylag geese, wigeon, teal, mallard, tufted duck (pair), goldeneye, red-throated divers (one pair and one single bird still in winter plumage), little grebes, common gulls, cormorants, woodcock, meadow pipits, jackdaws, great tits, long-tailed tits, reed buntings and chaffinches.