Castlemartin Range - yesterday - Choughs are now starting to fledge

 

A migrant Spotted Flycatcher was feeding at the Linney Head lookout yesterday (Friday) although the local breeding Wheatears were none to pleased; the male chased it off one of his usual perches. A single 2CY Black-headed Gull flew west passed Linney but there was not much over a reasonably calm sea other than local resident seabirds – including Shags coming and going from a nest site, feeding their chicks on rather wiry-looking fish (pipe fish?).

The male Wheatear was not at all happy about the flycatcher using his perch!

Counts of the breeding gull population along the Castlemartin peninsula have shown another large decline this year. Although the Herring Gull population is not especially large, compared with last year's count, the total number of apparently occupied nests on the cliffs is down by 37% this year. The much smaller Lesser-black backed Gull population has halved compared with the number of occupied nests last year. 

In contrast, our minimum estimates of numbers of Herring Gulls breeding on the industrial estate roofs around Pembroke Dock this spring (those that can be viewed anyway) suggest an increase of at least 24% since 2019 when we last counted them and the number of breeding LBB Gulls has increased by 29%. 

Perhaps these roof-tops, plus the lure of discarded delicacies at Tesco, McDonalds and now also KFC are providing them with better nest site options and food resources in the breeding season?

The first Choughs were fledging at one nest site yesterday (3^rd June) at Castlemartin, slightly earlier than usual, but this was not earliest fledging date recorded at Castlemartin though. Fledged Choughs have been recorded on 1st and 2nd June in some years. Hopefully, by mid-June, most of the confirmed breeding pairs should have fledged young (fingers crossed). 

A couple of pairs have nested quite late this season though, including this one with a colour-ringed female now in her 18th year. For these two it seems that their breeding season has probably recently ended in failure.    

The colour-ringed female (born at Stackpole back in 2004) has been a very successful breeding bird over the last decade and more. Perhaps she has now reached the end of her reproductive life?