Nightingales in November (19 page)

Favoured locations for nest scrapes tend to be poor, stony areas with limited plant growth, which offer both good cryptic camouflage and yet excellent all-round visibility. With the precise spot chosen, both sexes will then enlarge the scrape and proceed to line it with whatever is close to hand. As she becomes broody, the female will then constantly add extra material to the nest as a precursor to laying the first egg in her clutch of four.

Once the nest excavation is complete, the Kingfishers should be in a position to mate. However, the female might not have always read the script and even at this stage can still prove unreceptive to his advances. In contrast to the Lapwings, where courtship seems to be key before mating, the male Kingfisher's tactic involves bribery. Offering the gift of a fish may well help break the resistance of any females still reluctant to commit. Suitably assuaged, the submitting female will then lie prostrate, quivering her wings and suddenly changing her tune to one of encouragement. Jumping on and flapping for balance, the male will often hold his mate's crown feathers in the tip of his bill to ensure compliance as they touch cloacas. The act itself often looks quite rough but is usually over in less than ten seconds. Unlike the Lapwings, the Kingfishers don't collect any material to actively line their nest, but a smelly layer of fish bones and scales will frequently quickly build up to make a cup of sorts as the breeding season develops.

Even though it's doubtful the male Robin will ever win any awards for ‘most devoted husband', his generosity does extend
to helping feed his mate as her nest building nears completion. Courtship feeding is often initiated by the female uttering a sharp call as the male approaches with food. Lowering her wings and quivering with excitement, her tune then changes to a rapidly repeating note, mimicking the call of a hungry baby bird. By constantly begging from the male in this way she will receive the vital calories necessary for the incredibly demanding task of producing a clutch amounting to two-thirds of her body weight in the space of just a few days.

As spring arrival in Britain varies according to location, and with Blue Tits keen to rear their young at a time of maximum food abundance, the dates when a pair starts nest building can vary enormously according to whether they are Blue Tits from Devon or Dundee. Generally in southern England, Blue Tits will begin construction duties in late March, with the same chore often pushed back by as much as a month in northern Scotland. In addition to this, sudden weather changes such as prolonged wet periods or a warm spell can even produce variation from year to year at the same location. The job of building the nest is always carried out by the female, and so the period when March fades into April should see many female Blue Tits gathering the necessary nest construction material as they start the ball rolling on their one and only breeding attempt of the year.

April

With around six hours more daylight and average daily temperatures at least 5°C higher than the dark, cold days of January, April is the month when the natural world breaks free from the constraints of winter, and attempts to make up for lost time by forging ahead with the business of passing on its genes. As frogs and toads squabble for mating partners, hedgehogs, bats and reptiles will also have fully emerged from hibernation by now. This frenzy of activity also coincides with the buds of familiar trees such oak, Beech and Hawthorn bursting as Bluebells, Wood Anemone and Wild Garlic carpet the woodland floor below. This month will also see the majority of migrant birds pouring back into Britain, which will instantly transform the dawn chorus into a sound sensation as, depending on the habitat, birds from Blackcaps and Bitterns to Woodlarks and Willow Warblers add their voices to this glorious natural symphony. Stealing a march on these
fair-weather immigrants, many of our resident birds should by now either have started to lay, or already be incubating clutches as they attempt to precisely time the hatching of their brood to match the exponential increase in food that spring brings.

Early April

Even with early migrants such as Wheatears, Sand Martins and Chiffchaffs already arriving in force by early April, for anyone even remotely interested in wildlife, the first Swallow sighting of the year is always a red-letter day. Having traversed the entire continent of Africa, crossed the Sahara Desert, flown straight over the Mediterranean Sea and travelled through Europe, the final obstacle – the English Channel – should present little problem to these international jet-setters. The first Swallows are usually recorded in south-west England, a mere five to six weeks after they leave South Africa, and as ever larger numbers begin to pour off the sea, they will then steadily fan out in a north to north-easterly direction across Britain. With the first Swallows often not recorded until early May in Scotland, any birds returning to northern breeding sites will be keen to make sure they're not travelling ahead of spring, which is generally considered to arrive a month later than along England's south coast. This means Scottish Swallows can afford to take their time as they feed up on the flush of invertebrates further south.

By the time the Swallows cross into Britain, most will have also completed their long, protracted moult, which will have begun as long as six months ago. At this stage the males can easily be picked out by the intense blue plumage covering their crown, mantle, rump and long, elegant tail streamers. The long outer tail-feathers of the males are much more than just a superfluous fashion statement and will soon play an important part in attracting any prospective females at the
breeding sites. A higher proportion of the early birds tend to be male, with the females generally entering UK airspace a few days later. Most adult Swallows are also highly faithful to breeding sites, with those males returning ahead of the competition being in pole position to secure the best nesting sites by the time the females arrive.

As the Swallows begin to zero in on their tried and tested breeding locations, the female Tawny's patience and devotion should now finally be paying off, as chick number one wins the first of many battles by successfully managing to emerge from its egg. Despite a gap of 56 to 64 hours between when each egg was laid, in reality the chicks hatch pretty close to one another time-wise, with the chick from the final egg the only one to often emerge substantially later than the others. Tawny Owl chicks hatch in a relatively undeveloped state and initially are blind and unable to regulate their own body temperature. Arriving into the world in such a helpless state means that these scantily-clad balls of down will for some considerable time be entirely dependent on the life support system that is their parents.

The white egg tooth adhered to the top of the chicks' bill usually drops off within the first week, and during these early stages they will spend most of their time nestled under the brooding female, simply keeping warm. Initially, the chicks are unable to beg for food, but will take small morsels when offered. As their eyes are closed, it's thought they are only able to sense food when it brushes against the bristles at the base of their bill, giving the signal to ‘open up'. With the female carefully tending to the chicks' every need in the nest, it will be the male's responsibility to find enough food to provision his new family. Announcing his arrival with a call, most of the prey is delivered to the nest at night and he will usually alight only long enough to drop off the food. At first
their food demands are minimal, but as the chicks begin to grow and their appetites increase exponentially, their father may then also be pressed into catching food during daylight hours too.