Monday 29 June 2015

Tufties, Froglets and Subsong

Tufted Duck have bred on the Magic Garden pond, the first breeding for a number of years. There were nine ducklings there tonight. Tufted must be remarkably discrete nesters as I haven’t seen any evidence of  the birds there for a number of weeks and I had assumed the pair seen in May had gone.


Also masses of Froglets moving through the grass this evening


 
A few days ago I spent a long time trying to locate a sylvia warbler that was singing in thick foliage. It was very quiet but was singing almost continuously and because of that assumed it was probably a Garden Warbler. In fact it turned out to be a male Blackcap.

I have often heard quiet singing (known as subsong) before but only outside the breeding season and I have assumed it’s either young birds learning adult song or birds ‘humming’ to themselves but this intense quiet singing in the breeding season seemed different. There was a female Blackcap present in the same tree so I can only assume it’s some reaction to the close proximity of a mate?    .

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