Short-eared Owl and lots of birdsong

I had another tantalisingly brief glimpse of an owl at a distance over the Steyning Levels this afternoon, but at least this time I got a good enough view to identify it as a Short-eared Owl.  I was actually looking at something else (which turned out to be a Herring Gull) when I caught sight of the owl hunting along the riverbank.   I followed it quite a long way, until I was momentarily distracted by a Green Woodpecker landing on a telegraph pole and it passed behind some trees.  But I got a good enough view to be sure it was a Short-eared.  The Green Woodpecker flew down onto the tussocky grass, and seemed to be finding something to eat on the waterlogged meadow.  I had been watching a flock of Linnets in the top of one the tallest Ash trees and listening to Songthrushes, Dunnocks, Great Tits, Bluetits, and Long-tailed tits.  As I returned along the outer bank of Bramber Castle in the dusk the sound of birdsong rose to a crescendo.  Quite an unusual occurrence at the end of January.

Bryophytes and Lichens on the Steyning Downland Scheme

Bryum capillare

Mosses are very abundant in the shady hangar woods that form part of the Steyning Downland Scheme.  This one, Bryum capillare is one of our commonest mosses but there are lots of others.   In a few minutes poking about (before it came on to rain) I found Hypnum andoi on a fallen Ash tree and Rhynchostegium confertum on the chalky rootplate of a fallen tree.

I took a look at some Lichens on twigs and found  Xanthoria parietina and Physcia tenella on Elder.

 Xanthoria parietina

Early Bird Survey Results

The BTO have put the first results of the Early Bird Survey up on their website. We took part in this on 9th January (see post of that date).  Nationally, Blackbird came first, but we did not see one in the first half hour after first light.  The birds we recorded were:

1. Bluetit - nationally 4th
2. Dunnock - nationally 5th
3. Chaffinch - nationally 14th.

3455 people took part nationwide, 53 in Sussex.  There is a complete list of the birds recorded with average times of first appearance after first light, and a map showing the locations of participants - there were two other people in Steyning.  They are still analysing the data on artificial light and that will come out in due course.  To see the results so far in full go to: http://blx1.bto.org/ebs/ebs-results.jsp.  

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

This morning, like many thousands of people across the country, we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.  Things got off to a slow start (we didn't get going until 08:35).  Two Dunnocks showed up first and then a flock of House Sparrows flew into the honeysuckle and attacked the seed feeder, sharing it with one or two Bluetits, but then.....nothing.  A female Pheasant stalked around, but for long periods there wasn't a single bird in sight.  We speculated on the possibility that there was a Sparrowhawk lurking unseen (to us) somewhere and, sure enough, one flew over, heading south away from the house at about 09:00.  The House Sparrows, Dunnock and Bluetits reappeared gradually and cautiously, but it was not until quarter past nine that Blackbirds, two Robins, and two Chaffinches appeared.  Compared with our normal range of visitors this was a poor show.  I found myself wishing for a Woodpigeon to put in an appearance! Daft. Finally one did show up and a late Great Tit arrived on the feeder just before the end of our hour.

Sussex Ornithological Society Conference

The SOS Annual Conference was held yesterday in Haywards Heath and Clair Hall was packed with enthusiastic birders to hear talks by Neil Gartshore on Poole Harbour, Colin Shawyer on Barn Owl conservation, Dr. Stephen Baillie on BirdTrack and Nigel Redman on African birds.  Many of us were there to pick up our copy of The Birds of Sussex which has just been published.  It quite exceeded my expectations. It is enormous, beautifully produced, full of wonderful photographs, detailed accounts of every species on the Sussex list, distribution maps and information about habitats.  It is an essential read for everyone interested in Sussex wildlife and is going to be useful source of reference for years to come.
Colin Shawyer is the leading light of Barn Owl conservation in the UK and gave us a fascinating update.  The number of breeding pairs has risen from a low nationwide of 3,800 to a present level of around 9,000.  The main reason for this recovery has been the increase in the use of artificial nest boxes; apparently 75% of pairs use them.  Much of the decline was due to loss of nesting sites through the change in use of agricultural buildings, but 30% of owls used old Elm trees as nest sites and these all disappeared long ago.  The other factor has been the loss of tussocky grass habitat and through his efforts, some has been reinstated.  Barn Owl numbers fluctuate with the Short-tailed field vole population.  I expect they will be down locally with the flooding that we have had.  I have hardly seen one this winter.
Dr Stephen Baillie is Director of Science at the British Trust for Ornithology and described changes to BirdTrack, including collaboration with other countries.  Work is underway with eBird in the US and other initiatives are planned.  It explained much about the use of BirdTrack data and impressed upon us the need to submit complete lists (which I usually do), not just the special birds, or earliest sightings.
In the lunch break I nipped out for a walk around the park and saw eight Siskins in an Alder tree.  I will be entering them on BirdTrack as a 'Roving Record' after I have finished this.

Bonfire Moss

One of the attractions of taking part in conservation tasks like scrub-bashing is the bonfire.  There has been quite a lot of scrub-bashing on the Steyning Downland Scheme, especially on Steyning Coombe, so there are a few bonfire sites.  Bonfire Moss, Funaria hygrometrica is a common early colonist of bare ground and is partial to old bonfires.  I found this clump on one yesterday, still shiny with dew.  It is easy to identify because it is usually covered in a forest of swan-necked setae with big capsules which seem out of all proportion to the size of the tiny moss plants that are carrying them.  It makes sense though, because early colonisers of temporary sites like this need to produce lots of spores quickly in order to disperse and re-establish somewhere else before they are swamped by later arrivals.

Lichens on Apple Trees

I have been pruning our old apple trees and looking at the lichens on the twigs from the top of one of the trees.  This one has three species: Xanthoria parietina (the yellow one), Ramalina farinaceae, (the feathery one) and Physcomia distorta, (the grey one).  Another twig had Flavoparmelia caperata.   Many of the older twigs are quite encrusted with lichens and I am going to be examining them to see how many species I can identify over the next few weeks as I get on with the winter pruning.  My enthusiasm for this project has been fired by the Natural History Museum's 'lichens on twigs key' on its website.  I must admit to finding lichens a difficult group and the keys in Dobson's guide are not the easiest to work with, especially if you do not have the chemicals and a high power microscope.  But this was a doddle and I would recommend anyone to give it a try.