The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Pair of Spotted Flycatchers at Blackmoor Farm, off Doddington Road, Lincoln - 21 July

When I last visited on 28 June, there was just the one adult around.

Today (Mon) there was an active adult pair flycatching from wires and the Farm's TV aerial and seemingly feeding young towards the back of the farmyard area which I couldn't access.

At one stage, a Peacock butterfly was caught : it was slowly but surely beaten to death on a ridge tile. OUCH!

Also : (incl.)
Buzzard - (very close views)
Green Woodpecker
Great-spotted Woodpecker (on telegraph pole).

Freddy

Glad you found the Country Park pair with young, Freddy. I led a Nature Walk there on 12 July and I guess the young were still in the nest, as we got only a few glimpses of the adults. The nest must have been close to the foot-bridge, as that is the area they had been frequenting.

Yesterday, 21 July, I found a pair of spotted flycatchers feeding young in the trees by the quarry on Tetford Hill. Also there one, possibly two, churring turtle doves.

John

Spotted Flycatcher in Buckminster

I spent the morning wandering around the attractive village of Buckminster, not far from my daughter's house in Harlaxton (near Grantham) - where I spent the afternoon.

I eventually tracked down an adult Spotted Flycatcher feeding from the outer branches of a massive Horse Chestnut Tree on the approaches to Buckminster from Sproxton. It was regularly perching on a fence before disappearing into a nearby garden.

I walked around the very large village Churchyard with its tall and ancient Redwood, Yew and Cedar but there was nothing to report. Yet again, a seemingly ideal habitat failed to deliver up a SpotFly. In 2012 (between May and September) I visited about 40 Lincs country churchyards in the certain belief the next one would deliver. I had a 20% return for my efforts :

Spridlington
Fulletby
Normanby le Wold
Horncastle
Edlington
Baumber
Edenham
Willingham by Stow.

Freddy

Hi Freddy.

The Flycatchers are busy feeding their young in my back garden this morning (I'm opposite St Helens church in Willingham).

There are definitely 2 young birds and possibly a 3rd as they keep moving rapidly between gardens.

Hi Ian,
Spotted Flycatchers in Willingham by Stow are certainly among those that are annual site regulars. I know that you and Dean Nicholson have been reporting them routinely over the years - with you having a great ringside spot to witness their yearly return.

Thanks to your post of 13 June, I was pleased to have a SpotFly sighting myself in the Churchyard.

Freddy

PS. Other LBC members who over the years have also had Spotted Flycatchers nesting in or on the borders of their properties, perhaps with adults and young birds visiting,(and who have kindly given me details) include :

Hugh Dorrington (Dunsby)
Mark Bibby (Fulletby)
Graham Hardy (Anwick)
Greg Roberts (Baumber)

Following a very warm walk in the Walesby area we felt it essential that we dropped in at the King's Head at Tealby and we're entertained by the antics of two Spotted Flycatchers in the beer garden.

Dave & Linda

Hi Dave,

Your post was just the spur I needed to get me out of my computer chair and into the fresh air.

Initially, when I arrived at "The King's Head" in Tealby, and after wandering around the whole pub garden area, there was no sign of the SpotFlys - they had gone flyabout locally. I decided to go walkabout locally as far as the Church/Churchyard at the top of the village but there was nothing to report.

Returning to "The King's Head" at c. 3.30pm, I picked up the signature flight pattern of a Spotted Flycatcher in the Apple Tree just by the garden entrance from the road. I sat down in the garden to enjoy drinking a half-pint of the local ale 'Tealby Tipple' and watching the main attraction. The SpotFly had flown to another Apple Tree about 30 yards away and was soon joined by a second bird. Perhaps that is where you also saw them in that Apple Tree area to the right as you enter the garden from the road. When I left about half an hour later the SpotFly pair were still around.

I missed out when following up your earlier Linwood Warren and Willingham Woods posts re the Market Rasen area but Tealby was third time lucky. Thanks.

Freddy

A single Spotted flycatcher seen feeding around Knaith Hall south of Gainsborough this evening 24th July.
Not sure if there was more than one about but great to watch on a fantastic summers evening.

Ian Birch

Spotted Flycatchers at Hill Holt and Knaith Hall - Sat 26th July

I called in this afternoon at the Hill Holt Wood Project on the Lincs-Notts border. Oliver Woodman had recently informed me that there were Flycatchers around in the trees near the buildings. I soon tracked down one adult feeding from an Oak Tree between the Office and the Barn. A member of staff on duty had also seen a SpotFly in that area recently.

I was introduced to Horst, a fine gloved-hand-held Harris Hawk displaying a marvellous predator hooked beak with its impressive sharp tip. Fortunately, Horst won't be introduced to the adult Spotted Flycatcher as he's not allowed free flight.

Further to Ian Birch's recent post, I drove on to Knaith Hall off the A156 Gainsborough road. The SpotFlys there were certainly not the most showy of their species in this afternoon's hot weather but I eventually tracked down a pair performing occasionally from Sycamores just a few yards from the Hall garden entrance.One bird actually flew into the upper branches of a tall Yew just inside the entrance but there were long gaps between feeding forays. One of the SpotFlys flew down towards a gravel path in pursuit of an insect but appeared to miss. It stayed on the path for about half a minute before taking flight - unusual behaviour.

Also a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Buzzard around.

Thanks for the leads Oliver and Ian.

Freddy

Hadn't seen any spotted fly-catchers this year so I decided to leave the clubs at home and look around Manor Golf Club. Rewarded almost as soon as I arrived. Three spotted fly-catchers (2 adult, 1 juvenile) in their usual place around the green-keepers' cabin.
Cheers,
Patrick.

Hi Patrick,
I remember your informing me a couple of years ago about finding some breeding Flycatchers at the Laceby Manor Golf Club near Grimsby off the A46. I believe they were nesting in Ivy on a building not far from the entrance to the Club (the green-keepers' cabin?)

Glad you've made contact again this year.

Regards,

Freddy

Given the fine weather today, I settled for a trip through the picturesque Lincolnshire Wolds (via Wragby) to Hainton and Louth and on to Laceby.

Arriving at Laceby Manor Golf Course at c. 11.00am, and knowing the location of the greenkeepers' cabin from a previous visit, I was very soon watching the local SpotFlys.

They were circling a large glade with the one juvenile being fed by both adult birds. Once or twice the adults came down almost to ground level but in the main they stayed in the tree canopy.

Also joining them were :
- a party of Long-tailed Tits
- a Chaffinch family group
- Blue tits - Great Tits :
so there was plenty of distraction movement in the branches above my head.

A helpful greenkeeper informed me that in addition to the Flycatchers there was a Nuthatch around but I didn't see it.

Thanks, Patrick, for the lead.

Freddy

Pleased you found them, Freddy. I was out on the course with green and great-spotted woodpeckers the highlights today.
I did also have a good round for a change!
Cheers,
Patrick.

2 pairs of Spotted Flycatchers in Woodhall Spa - Mon 4 August

An enjoyable and successful morning in Woodhall Spa where I had 2 more sightings :

One pair of Spotted Flycatchers were feeding from the bare topmost branches of an Oak near the Italian restaurant "Il Parco" on Coronation Road.

There was nothing to report (NTR) in The Dower House Hotel garden area where I'd had a sighting in June although it served as a useful watering hole for me.

I went on to the Woodhall Spa Country Park but didn't hold out much hope of seeing the Spotflys I had recorded there on 17 July (well over two weeks ago now). Surprisingly, the adult birds were still around the same (bridge) area. I didn't locate any juveniles but they could well have still been in the area.

Today's Spotted Flycatcher sightings bring my total so far this summer to 26, all recorded on the LBC website. All in all, I recorded 43 sightings in 2011 and 50 sightings in 2012 - with nothing meaningful in 2013, thanks to John Reddisson.

Within a week or two, we should receive news of the first inland post-fledging/pre-migration groups of Spotted Flycatchers, with groups numbering from 5/6 to well into double figures (smaller numbers may also filter through). Group hotspots in recent August/September months have included :

Woodhall Spa - Coronation Hall area
Hubbard's Hills - Louth
Fillingham Cowfields
Swanpool Cowfields
Baumber - Churchyard/Baumber House area
Linwood Warren

One occasional disarming feature of these migrant groups can be that one day at a particular spot there is NTR, the next day perhaps 10 noted, and the following day NTR again.

Gibraltar Point (thanks, Kev, for helping me to achieve sighting number 50 0n 2 Oct 12 ), the north Lincs coastal hotspots and Lincs sewage treatment works (eg Dunsby), should also sooner or later start recording migrant SpotFlys passing through with records in some places continuing over several weeks into early October. Again, some of the birds only remain the one day before slipping off into the night bound for central and southern Africa. Unlike many passerine migrants, Spotted Flycatchers do not build up large fat reserves prior to migration - they feed regularly en route.

3 successful sightings today (Thu) :

27. - Adult Spotted Flycatcher at Swanpool watched from 10.15am, further to a telecall from Andy Sims (see today's Swanpool/Boultham Mere post). Many thanks, Andy.

28. - Adult Spotted Flycatcher in Dunsby. Further to Hugh Dorrington's info re some Dunsby ongoing hotspots, this afternoon I connected with a SpotFly feeding from the bare upper branches of a Scots Pine Tree. Also seen :

Buzzard circling
Turtle Dove on wires
Chiffchaff - at Dunsby STW.
Many thanks, Hugh.

29. - Adult Spotted Flycatcher in Billingborough.
I returned to BBH via the village of Billingborough ( N of Dunsby) where SpotFlys had nested near the Village Hall three or four years ago. I spent an hour wandering around and found a SpotFly feeding from the upper branches of a large Willow Tree in a horsefield by the Village Hall. There must have been an emergence of flying ants for also flycatching near the SpotFly, were :

A pair of Chaffinches
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
plus
Blackcap (female) gorging on Elderberries.

Freddy