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While watching Springwatch this year I was surprised to hear Chris Packham say that he had not seen Spotted Flycatchers since childhood. The population has declined by 92% since his childhood (1967) but it still surprised me that he hadn't seen any. I too have noticed a massive decline here in the Pennines. They used to be common, and now they are not. But I still chance upon a breeding pair or two each year, and I see passage birds, usually juveniles in the autumn. I'm assuming the decline in southern England has been even more severe than here in the north. The causes of the decline have proved elusive but research suggests poor survival of juveniles may be the issue. There has been no significant change in nest success rates and the number of fledglings per nest shows no trend. Juvenile survival could be affected before migration, during migration, or on the African wintering grounds.
Finally!!!...It's the first day of spring 2022. And what a fantastic day it was here in the UK as I spent a few hours out and about on Greenham Common in Berkshire.
This youngster must be from an earlier brood to yesterdays post as there only appeared to be one parent bird.
Moorhen - Gallinula
Hesketh Farm Park, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, UK.
As always I extend my sincere appreciation to all those who take the time to stop by and comment on my photos.
DSC_5783. Explore # 103. 5th July 2019.
A tiny, nimble, curious and quick British Wren taken yesterday at a rainy Springwatch 2018 location of Sherbourne Park in Gloucestershire. This little one was great fun to watch, entertaining me for quite some time by repeatedly disappearing and then popping up again nearby, little tail bobbing.....
'Fast Food''. The beautiful Barn Swallow with gape wide open catching flies on the wing, West Yorkshire.
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Swallows must be amongst the most popular birds - their arrival each spring in the northern hemisphere presages the onset of summer. Swallows are easily recognised with their slender bodies, long pointed wings and forked tails; martins tend to have much less deeply forked tails. While the deeply forked tails may help their manoeuvrability in pursuing aerial insects, in many species they are also used as a signal of male quality, those who can grow longer, and importantly symmetrical, streamers being the most favoured by the females.
All swallows are strongly migratory, with many making journeys of several thousand kilometres each year. Unlike other passerines, they migrate mostly by day stopping frequently en route to refuel. Before crossing barriers, such as the Sahara Desert or the Mediterranean Sea they will fuel for several days to ensure they have enough fat for the crossing. The amount of fat they lay down is closely correlated with the size of the barrier, carrying excess fat is extremely costly in terms of impaired flight performance. During migration, and in their winter quarters, birds will gather in large roosts, particularly in reed beds and some types of crop for the night. This gregariousness is carried over into the breeding season, with most species nesting colonially to some extent. BTO Notes.
I have just returned from a trip abroard (more of this at a later date) to find this flickr mail -
Thank you for adding your image to the BBC Springwatch Official Flickr group - I am writing to let you know that we selected your image for use in last night’s Unsprung programme.
If you weren’t able to catch the show live yesterday you can watch it on the BBC Springwatch website here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dx2t8
Best wishes
***************
BBC Springwatch Unsprung Production Team . .................................. What a nice thing to to find !!!!! . This popular nature programme was shown on U.K national television at eight in the evening on BBC 2 and the episode number is number 9 . The above picture is not a re post but two frames ahead of the featured image