The Lincolnshire Bird Club

A pair of Nuthatches ( or 2 if you like ) have been seen regularly in Hoplands Wood LNR throughout the winter and at least 1 individual has been visiting a bird table in Hanby where the species has bred recently. Between these two sites lies the whole of Welton and Willoughby woods. My walks through these woods have produced no sightings of Nuthatch over the past few years.
Today I loaded a good recording of Nuthatch song onto my phone and Monica and I set off on a walk through Welton and Willoughy Woods to Hoplands, stopping in every area where suitable mature tree habitat occurred.
Although we did not hear any Nuthatches calling/singing before playing the recording every time I played the recording it illicited a call/song reaction from Nuthatches to the extent that on one occasion there was a 'near miss' on Monica from an irate bird!! In total we found 5 new Nuthatch pairs in an area that I had previously considered to be devoid of this species and there is alot of Woodland that we did not check.
So, is this a recent move East and quick colonisation, or have I totally missed Nuthatches on my walks through the Woods?
Whatever, I reccommend the use of a good song playback as a reliable way of censusing
Nuthatches in any suitable woodland habitat at this time of the year. Have a go you may be surprised ( or attacked )!!

Nuthatches have put in an appearance fairly recently in Market Rasen area as well. Whilst I agree with Edmund that recorded song play-back is a good aid to censusing, I do not think it should not be done during the breeding season. (I've just re-read this and it should say "play-back should NOT be used during the breeding season.")

Hi Ed

Thats very interesting and it would be good to try the tape in some more woods around the wolds. The crude numbers are that in the 1990 atlas, Nuthatch possibly bred in 3 out of 19 10km squares in east Lincolnshire. In the current atlas which finished in 2011 Nuthatch was confirmed breeding in 3 squares and possibly bred in 4 more so there has definitely been an expansion.

In Hubbards Hills near Louth it is now thought there are 4 pairs, but because of the low numbers of birds detected more widely to date the density numbers coming out of East Lincs will not be that useful but its clear from your experiment that we probably have quite a few more than we thought.

It's worth adding, especially if you want to avoid tape-luring, that the post-fledging period is another good time to find Nuthatches (as Phil knows from a visit to Hendale Wood last summer). The family parties are very noisy and quite easily seen then - last year I found them easily in that way in the second week of June. I imagine even a single family (i.e. where territorial calling might be relatively limited) would be obvious.

Andrew

Thanks to The Scunthorpe Museum Society reports it is possible to get a pretty good idea of the spread of the species into the north and north-west of the county -- Details from SMS reports below to 2008 and a few additional details from my notes to 2011
It seems that birds were initially slow to colonise new woodlands but in recent years the rate of increase and spread has intensified with new sites quickly holding breeding pairs after initial visits;

1992 vague report of pair in Normanby Park in summer

1994 - 1995 Normanby Park 1 December – January 18th

1996: A male in Scawby Park on 17/3 (GPC,ND) was only the fourth area record; the species was last recorded at this site in 1986.

1997: Ashby August 20th 6th record for the area

1998: One in Scawby Park 17/1-1/2 with possibly a second bird calling 30/1

1999: An individual was present in Normanby Park from January – April at Least and visited a Normanby garden from 30/1 – 1/2. Later in the year 2 were in Normanby Park on the 5/9.

2000: A male was present in Normanby Park Jan – June at least and was holding territory in the spring, but was unsuccessful in attracting a mate.
The only other records were of singles at Scawby Park 25/2 – 4/3

2001: In the early part of the year singles were seen in Scawby Park on the 23/2 and 25/2 with 1 seen in Owlet Plantation, Laughton 21/4. Later in the year 1 was recorded in Normanby Park which was associating with a tit flock on the 16/12.

2002: The single seen last year at Normanby Park remained in the area to 14/2 at least. An unusual summer record concerned a single seen at Atkinson’s Warren on 26/6 then later in the year a male was seen in a roadside hedge at Scotton Common 18/8 and 2 were in Scawby Park on 3/12.

2003: Singles were seen in Scawby Park on 9/1 to 19/2 at least.

2004:
There has been a dramatic change in the status of this species in the area this year with many sightings from 4 different localities.

In Normanby Park 1 was first seen on 10/2 then an obvious pair was seen at an old woodpecker hole which subsequently chased off a Great-spotted Woodpecker that was also showing an interest in the hole on 9/3. On the 24/3 a second male put in an appearance resulting in a battle between the two birds while later the same day the female was observed taking nest material into the hole. In early May the pair had started to cement the hole up with mud and had almost completed the job by 15/5. There was little activity around the nest site during early to mid June apart from the male which was still calling regularly so presumably the female was sitting. It is assumed that they successfully bred with 2 – 3 seen in the park thereafter to the year end. This represents the first confirmed breeding in the area.
In Scawby Park a male was holding territory from 15/2 to the end of March at least but it is not known if breeding occurred while 1 was seen in Hendale Wood at Grasby again in March.
At Barton a presumed juvenile was seen in Baysgarth Park on 20/7 which represents the first record for Barton.

2008:
Normanby Park has become the stronghold for this species with sightings throughout the year. In the spring males began to sing and hold territories with one bird seen inspecting a previous nesting hole on 10/2. In March a bird was observed entering this hole and subsequently the female was seen cementing the hole up with mud and towards the end of April 3 pairs were nesting. During the rest of the spring and summer these 3 pairs continued to attend the nest sites so it is assumed that all 3 pairs successfully nested. There didn’t appear to be any increase in numbers later in the year at this site so it is assumed that the young soon disperse to other suitable sites.

There were regular sightings of 1 – 2 birds in Scawby Park with at least one pair breeding here and at least 1 pair bred in woodland on the escarpment at Alkborough. Elsewhere 2 were seen in Owlet Plantation on 17/2, 1 was at Briggate Lodge Golf course on 17/3 and 1 visited a Burton garden on 24/3.

2010:
a pair breeding Owlet plantation and 2+ pairs at Alkborough

Barton quarry September 12th 2010 only second Barton record; the bird appeared from the west in a line of low hedgerows and moved quickly east into the clay pits area - presumably a dispersing juvenile

2011:
Barton pair in Baysgarth Park probably bred first breeding record for Barton;
3+ pairs at Alkborough and 2+ pairs in Scawby Park where first noted in 1996

Also reported from Goxhill in 2009 to most north-easterly outpost!

Nuthatch seen and calling Hardy Gang Wood 2-3-12

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Found this an interesting read especially Mr Catley's report. I'd like to correct him on the 2004 sightings. He says that one was first seen at Normanby Park on the 10th February. I've checked both my log books and I saw one on the feeders at the cottage behind the gift shop on the 5th February. He hasn't anything for 2005, but I saw two on the 17th March at Normanby Park.

I'm also a little perplexed that he hasn't mentioned the Brumby Wood birds. Although I've not seen or heard them, a pal of mine has, but not of late. And I'm sure other members from the Scunny area most likely have.

Kind regards

John

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