Water Voles

More from the Water Voles later on this week, stay tuned!

Little Owl saved by member of the public

Quick thinking member of the public came to the rescue of this Little Owl at Portbury. The Owl was found on a path being perhaps picked on by Magpies? When we got the owl we could see no sign of damage just a few pulled feathers, and bit under weight and so obviously suffering from shock. Now at this time of year this adult could be a parent Owl, so time is of the essence. We had to get the bird back, if it could go back, as quickly as possible. We kept him in a dark warm container for a few hours this to help him recover from any shock. Then fed him, and left food with him. After picking him up late Saturday afternoon, by 2300hrs, he was starting to pull round a bit and move around his box.

Sunday Morning 0600 revealed he had eaten a lot, and was bouncing around his box, great!
However we did not know if there was any unseen wing damage, so at 1200 hours he was flight tested. OK not bad, leave him few more hours and see. 1700 hours second flight test, yippee bloody perfect! Elevated from the floor straight up with no problem at all, also good direct forward flight. Decision made is Little Owl to returned to site by 1900hrs, this in case any young were down to being one parent family and needed help. Took him back to the site on time and released in ideal Little Owl habitat exactly where he came from. Turn around of this Owl was, well about 24 hours, not bad eh!

I could have not done this without the help of Thomas Sperring aged 9 and 3 months, after he becoming inspired by his visit to see Jemima Parry Jones at NBPC, and of course the fact that his favourite bird the Little Owl needed help, so Tom really came up trumps on this one, and he really did help with feeding and looking after. Well done Tom this successful turn around is down to you.

Tom and the Little Owl, perhaps the next generation of Wildlife rehabilitator

Rest In Peace Oscar

This sad news came from Ed Drewitt of the BOC. Oscar Bristol's Eagle Owl has been found dead.
Apparently the victim of Gulls and Crows. If the boys studying Eagle Owls in Sweden are reading this please comment on this and tells us whether Stockholms Eagle Owls suffer the same fate?

Oscar did a great job not only promoting wildlife interest in the city Bristol but also for Eagle Owls and their presence in UK. He did not like some so called experts said he would, catch Dogs and Cats, chase small children and pick on rare birds.
Instead he munched his way through Grey Squirrels, Brown Rats and Feral Pigeons.

RIP Oscar; Bristol's free flying Eagle Owl and pest controller

Still Nest Site Monitoring

And where there's life, then we always have hope!

Climate Change, Birds, Marine Nature Reserves and very importantly, people

Programme Transmitted Tuesday June 2nd BBC Radio 4

Well what a title, but believe it or not I will be presenting a BBC Nature programme which has all these elements rolled into one. This programme is part of the series called Nature and is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesdays at 1100hrs. The real title of the programme is "Canaries of the Cliffs", and I have just spent the weekend with BBC producer Mary Colwell in a lovely coastal Scottish village called "Tain" were we met Bob Swann BTO Scottish rep and a real expert on his sea bird colony's having spent many years studying them. Good also to talk with a fellow ringer this year being the centenary of the ringing schemes. On the very steep cliffs I also interviewed Professor Sarah Wanless of the Center for Hydrology and Ecology (Note to Mary C, I remembered). Then for the second day we were on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. Now I don't want to spoil the programme for you so will not say anymore about it.
I think you should listen to this programme, especially if like me your a land lover who had never been inspired by a sea bird colony's to think beyond the cliffs. The real story as I just hinted is beyond the cliffs, so book a time to listen to this one. I think you will find my clumsy title to this blog becomes more apt as the programme develops. Transmission is on JUNE 2nd at 1100hrs BBC Radio 4 and of course online at the BBC Nature website http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006sr7c after the programme has transmitted.

For those of you who become inspired after listening to the programme, then David Steel the National Trust head warden and his team on the Farne Islands do a fantastic job not only with the important research they do, but also with the general public that visit, and indeed these Island are a must visit. Here is the website http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-farnes/

Oh yes, I did take some pictures so I will leave you with a sample of the pictures I took on the Farne Islands. These were a bit rushed, I could spent weeks there!

Artic Tern with food
Eider Drake
Gillies
A reptilian looking Shag
Razorbill

And here they come now, everyone's favourite sea bird.

Puffins





That's all folks!

Nuthatch

I had 10 minutes to spare, so watched one of our boxes that we originally erected in 2001 as part of the Nest Boxes in Schools project (NBIS). The box was intended for Great or Blue Tits, however the bandit bird has taken it over. I think Nuthatches are great, they are Kings and Queen of the bird table or feeders, that's if you are lucky enough to have them visit. Their songs begin as the last of cold of the winter fades, and as you can see from the pictures they can rearrange very professionally the front of Tit box you have painstakingly built. They are the comics and demons of the woodland or indeed semi wooded garden.

As you can see for the pictures above what is being brought back to the nest for the chicks inside is not nuts or seed material that most associate this species with, in fact its insects, flying insects at that, with may fly and black fly seemingly the most in this short time I was observing them. Also of note most of the may fly was concentrated on the Hawthorn that is left to grow wild around this nest.

And for my last pictures from today, as I was leaving my house this morning I happened to look back and saw a Mallard Duck on my roof?

This is silly, what is a Mallard Drake doing on my roof?

Handsome, yet very silly Mallard Duck

Its now the breeding season and I'm very busy!

Today saw the start of the nest site monitoring season, and Tawny Owls were the first birds to be checked. We set off early this morning for county Dorset, and a magical woodland so full of colour in the spring like weather. Actually, the wind was quite cold, this until we started climbing steep hill after steep hill, we could have have been on the equator after that.

As no doubt many of you know, especially those who have heard me moaning about the affects of climate change on various species, and also few of you close to me would have heard me curse the last 2 summers for being disastrous for Owl species (except Little Owls). I will now digress, this only because the Blackbirds in my garden last spring and summer produced in all 4 clutches of young and without much predation and plenty of food had an amazing success rate. Whilst this year all but 1 of the first brood of 4 is dead! So whats the difference? Well for those who have forgotten, the last 2 summers have been wash outs which is great for Blackbirds and Mallard Ducks, awful for Owls and Blue Tits, Swallows, House Martins etc, etc, etc, etc. But now the Spring of 09 is dry, but its sting is the fact that I would not say its been warm. Now my garden looks more like a desert than the lake of last year. All this means very few Worms, slugs and alike. So this explains why the Blackbirds are having a bad time, but what about the Owls.

Well for Tawny Owls things could not get any worse. So today we have checked 30 Tawny Owl nesting boxes in two Dorset woodlands, my early predictions of a better year for Tawnies is based on the silence of Tawny Owls during the Long-eared Owl surveys of Mendip and Quantock during February/March, were as in bad productivity years they keep calling.

These 2 in the picture above don't look much like Tawny Owls, more like they are keeping an eye out for any Tawny Owls, in case they become part of the menu.

Was this going to be another false start to the season? First ten boxes checked and no Owls!
We continued our mission around these incredible woodlands. The smell of Garlic was everywhere and there almost seemed to be a great battle of the woodland plants being played out before us.

On one side the Garlic now in flower, battling against the Bluebell for space and ultimately supremacy across the woodland floor.

Within these woods there was just so many flora sights, and many different Bird species singing, I was almost being overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance of it all.

Spotted Orchid

So to conclude, was I right or not? Well out of 30 Tawny Owl boxes checked 9 had nothing in them at all. Jackdaws occupied 5, with 7 being used by Grey Squirrels, 3 were occupied by Stock Doves and Great Tits had taken over just 1, and wait for it.... Tawny Owl's much improved on last year were found in 5 boxes. This is a great success so far and only the beginning of course, however if this result pans out across Somerset and North Somerset the night air of summer will be filled once again with the sounds of many Tawny Owlets

So here's the pictures you are all waiting to see!

Three of the Owl pairs were still on eggs, whilst the other 2 had both 2 young each. If these 2 woodlands set the standard then these nests are earlier than last year, but 2/3 weeks later on my records of 10 years ago. The most important thing to come out of this is that this is still going to be a much better Tawny year than we have seen for sometime, and boy do they need it! There are many more Tawny Owl nests now to monitor and this timing comes with the news that some barn Owls have began egg laying very early, this means its going to get very busy. I have also checked calling Little Owls near to home, however this was back in late March and again the news is not just good but its very good, as I left off last Autumn saying that they were back calling in areas they had not been heard for around 10 years. So that has continued, pairs in March were recorded calling in all but 2 of the historical sites. However how there success pans out during this dry spell will be interesting.

NOTE FOR All COP GROUPS.

For those of you now waiting for boxes to be checked you will tell from this blog entry, we need to set dates for Tawnies quickly!

For those of you interested in using these results as a climate change barometer then stay tuned, there will be some interesting results being published soon.

BFN and see some of you really soon, oh and if you can't get hold of me, then I just might really be up a tree!

The return of Jemima Parry Jones

Jemima Parry-Jones MBE and Red Kite

A couple of weeks ago, we had an official Hawk and Owl Trust visit to the International Centre for Birds Of Prey http://www.icbp.org/. I remember as a young naturalist being inspired by the original owner and founder the great Falconer Philip Glasier who would give his time freely during our visits to talk with me, mainly about wildlife and in particular wild owls.

As most people know the centre was taken over by his daughter Jemima Parry-Jones MBE, then JPJ left to conquer the U.S.A. Now before this story gets too complicated lets bring it up to date. Now Jemima is back at the Newent location she sold just a few years ago.

It was really good to see her back home doing what she does best! During one of three flying displays JPJ apologised to the audience for the fact the centre had only been re opened since February so Birds flying were not yet fully fit. Now folks I have seen some flying displays in my time, and all the birds did very well indeed, in particular the last Falcon which was the best Lanner Falcon flying I had seen for many years. So Mima, if you are reading this, if that's below par I can't wait to see the real thing! People often ask me where they can see the best flying displays and I always used to say Newent with JPJ or Ashley Smith at Hawk Conservancy, Weyhill, Wilts. Now I can say it again with pride and know that no one will be let down.

Welcome back Mima you have been missed!

Here is the link again to the website http://www.icbp.org/ if you want a great day out with Birds of Prey whether you are taking pictures or genuinely interested in the art of Falconry and of course Bird of Prey conservation you will not be let down, get yourself off to Newent a.s.a.p.

I took lots of pictures so here are just a few.

Songs of Praise

Yes its true, if you watch Songs of Praise on May 3rd you will see me on "Songs of Praise".

Easter Rabbit

The dawn chorus season has started, and thanks to so many that want to take part in this years events means I have had to put more early mornings on than ever before! I do think the popularity of this years dawn chorus is because people are fed up with the gloom and boom of the credit crunch and everything else on the news. For those of you that have never done this before, well its a magical experience. We meet at 0400 hrs, walk for about half an hour to a secluded woodland, this were at that time of the morning the smell of wild garlic will wake you up if nothing else. I point out all the birds singing as we become apart of the awakening world around us.

Around 0600 we move into the open ground to listen for Willow Warblers, Yellowhammer, Skylarks, Redstart etc. Then by 0730hrs its breakfast! On a nice sunny morning its a magical way to observe the dawn breaking, and even on rainy mornings the birds won't let us down.

I'm off now for an Easter break for a few days. Wishing you all a happy Easter and lots of chocolate, yum yum!

Long eared Owl Project on BBC1 Countryfile

Watch BBC1 on Sunday 29th March at 1100hrs, you will see Otus and myself on the programme talking about the Long-eared Owls and their conservation.
This was recorded last Tuesday on the Mendip Hills with John Craven.

Sorry I have not been blogging for a while, but I'm trying to finish off projects before the end of March, and then start new ones. I will try and give a more in depth update when I have time.

Here's some pictures of John Craven, Otus and myself during the filming.

I have to say John Craven is a real professional, really nice gentleman, showing a genuine interest and understanding of the natural world, and he really was the easiest person to work with, yet incredibly creative. I know many of you will say "so, that's what he is like on screen".

If you re reading this John, hope to work with you again soon.

Don't forget all you BBC Countryfile fans, the show is moving to its new time slot after this Sundays programme, to Sunday evenings, 1900hrs on BBC1 for one hour.

By request: A recorded jam, me playing two guitars, but not at once

Yes here it is, as requested by more than one of you! I recorded this in about half an hour. I have called it "Muck About" as that is what it was. Made up on the spot so to speak. The two guitars I'm playing are the 6 string part of the CSL double neck, and a Fender squire strat. I know the piece is total over indulgence but hey what would you except, when let loose with a drum machine 16 track recorder and 2 guitars. Its a bit long but your hearing it as recorded no editing at all.

Lizzie Brown "Singer" has agreed to do some serious recording with me, this as soon as we both have 5 mins, and hopefully you will hear us play live again, as soon as Kenton returns for Brazil which is supposed to be sometime in May.



Next blog entry from me will be about the Long eared Owl survey currently taking place in Somerset.

The Beast Comes Home 1970 to 2009

When I used to walk on stage with this guitar they use to call it "The Beast" Maybe because of its weight, or more than likely because of its incredible sound. I'm of course referring to my double necked guitar. This 12 and 6 string electric guitar has had a complete make over and restored to its original glory by Guitar expert Charles Sundquist from Stoke St Gregory.

The Beast

I have not used this guitar for at least five years, and really thought it was the end of it.

However Charles has done an amazing job on it, completely re-doing the wiring, pick ups and the machine heads. One of its main problems was that it was unplayable due to the frets being pitted, again the workmanship that's gone into the neck is incredible as I have just been playing it now, and it sounds better than I have ever known.

I bought the Guitar in 1991, and according to Charles it was made in Japan around the early 1970s, its a Gibson copy made by CSL, and looks like 2 Gibson SG's bolted, and not glued together. Charles has also re wired the guitar to probably as he says "the way it should have been" so that you can have both necks switched on at the same time. I think when I bought it, someone had probably already changed things from its original spec, and Charles has painstakingly taken it back in time to what it should have done. I have just played it again now and can't wait to get this guitar back on stage. So many songs were written with this guitar, and now I must say once again it plays so much better than ever.

Charles plays his musicman Guitar/Me on the double neck

Reunited with an old friend

According to Charles it may well be a collectors item, but to me its something that should be played on recordings and also live as well, in other words used!

Hey Kenton! The Drummer of Raptor currently somewhere in Brazil, if you are reading this, then time to come home we have some serious rocking to do...

Charles thanks for all your help with this guitar, it really sounds like new! And full of inspiration..

Snow stops the Long-eared owl survey

Just spent the weekend on Mendip Hills. Only just got there, were as the Snow was melting here in Portishead, but on Mendip you may as well been on a different planet. The picture below is the after affects of Thursday 5th Feb blizzard, the drift in this Mendip lane is measured at around 5 foot.

With the landscape transformed, many species of bird seemed to move out from these top areas, but predators like Kestrel Buzzard, and Owls such as Tawny and Barn were falling victim to the conditions. However some were surviving and good to hear story's from one such Mendip farm, were by Barn owls and even Little Owls were holding on, indeed this farm still one week afterwards has got a lot of Snow still lying in the fields.

Above is a Rabbit hole, which was buried under Snow however within 24hours you can see the Rabbits are back in action and judging by the tracks leading away from the hole managing to get by. Below is the view looking towards the Velvet Bottom (Somerset Wildlife Trust reserve) gate.
Walking in the Snow along this path was really quite tiring as in places on the footpath it was 2 foot deep, I really needed the Swedish Snow shoes for this walk!

The contrast of light at sunset was stunning, from the fire of the sunset sky, to the almost Artic looking scenery of the open top of the Mendip Hills
In the picture below its not Snowing, this is in fact Snow being blown around by the bitter north easterly wind, this is what was causing some of the major drifting. On the night of the 7 th of February this areas night time temperature went down to -10C, this due mainly to the wind chill factor.
And finally below is St Hugh's Church at Charterhouse, this a wonderful Swiss looking Church, always gets lots of photographs taken of it.
Well I must have taken around 500 pictures of the Snow, now I have not got the time to process them all, so this is just a selection. This weekend should have seen the start of the Long-eared Owl surveys. Yet one week on the deep snow still causes problems, so I have had to cancel both survey nights on Quantock and Mendip. A thaw is in place, yet during the evenings it freezes again.

Hopefully this is last of the Snow, and the surveying can begin next weekend. Once we have started any early results will be published here on this blog.

Long eared Owl Bio-diversity project Surveying Mid Feb-Mid March

We are just about to start the annual Long-eared Owl surveys.
This year we are surveying Quantock and Mendip Hills area's of outstanding natural beauty, (AONB). If you live within or around these areas and want to get involved, then please e mail me. I can send you dates, times and locations etc. Training is provided and the knowledge that you are helping one of the U.K's rarest Owls should be reason enough to get off the couch and out in the countryside at night.

We have been erecting willow baskets for Long-eared Owls on Mendip and Quantock, here's a some recording I did the other day on Quantock, which should explain more.

Don't forget for more information e mail me at info@chrissperring.com