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Species update by warden Jack Woodley

Wednesday, 16th June 2010

The hard winter weather left a disappointing legacy with our crane eggs proving infertile.. However the presence of last years youngster and the indefatigable incubation by the female show our sandhills to remain a strong breeding pair who will no doubt lay fertile eggs next year once the new nets are in place. The nesting attempt by the White-naped cranes proves they are settled in to their new luxury abode, and has at least distracted their attention away from the turf!

Over half of the hooded merganser eggs we've collected from around the site turned out to be fertile however the merganser species have now stopped laying and are starting to moult.  They have left us with plenty to rear including the baby Scaleys from the waterfall aviary who are growing well and are on show in the brooder room, just off the viewing gallery.

Our black-necked swans have hatched off two balls of cotton wool which are enjoying regular boat rides on daddy's back. We've also taken eggs from the northern pintail ducks which have hatched and the shoveller who are clearly enjoying the new conditions since their move from the wader pen.

In the flamingos area our fulvous flock have so far being playing the cuckoo game and dumping all their eggs in a moorhen nest! We're hoping that soon they'll start putting in some effort and doing things properly but for now the eggs are safely under broodie hens. Two pairs of marbled teal have been moved to be on public show.

Next to the flamingos area we've undertaken an extreme makeover to the marabou new home by adding logs as perching platforms at various points and planted reeds and grasses for interest and to improve aesthetics. The male marabous beak ensured that blood and tears were a big part of our efforts, but its well worth it to see our birds enjoying their new enrichment.

In the Wader Pen the Bewick swans are nesting near to the fence line, which is great news mainly because it's a long way from the staff gate and they don't tend to stray too far from the nest! Bar headed gosling have hatched out as has the unexpected white stork chick who is growing at an astonishing rate and clattering like mad whenever food approaches!

In the Dulverton and Ibis aviaries we have had a success with a clutch of redshank have hatched and will be parent reared for the public to see, we also have lapwing, stilt and little egret nests all with eggs and in the Ibis aviary the critically endangered northern bald ibis are starting to build as well!

Breeding is going well in the Wader Aviary with young turtle dove and bearded reedlings fledged  this month prompting ahhhs and awwws as the public get close up video feed of the babies on the feeder seen on the feeder cam in the foyer of the shop! A female avocet is vociferously guarding her nest next to the wave machine and the female shoveller is easily foiling our laughable attempts to locate her nest site.

One of our best broodie chickens is rearing Lady Amherst chicks and making a genuinely adorable sight in one of the squirrel enclosures.  The female Lady Amherst has not been seen for a while so we are back on pheasant-spotting duty to try and spot her new nest. As for the squirrels themselves the three youngsters are doing great and it is thought that the female has now given birth to her second litter.

On the corncrake front our first clutch is due to hatch any day now and another nest full of eggs has just been found.  We've made a trip up to Whipsnade and brought back three new birds to increase the gene pool and bring about new pairings.

Finally a round-up of the duckling situation. So far we've had Goldeneye, Hooded Mergansers, Northern Pintail, European Shelduck,  Puna Teal, Mandarin and of course our Scaley-sided Mergansers. We also had a clutch of Ruddy Shelduck which didn't breed last year, two of whom turned out to be bright white without the usual grey splodges! With a long while left of the breeding season were hoping for lots more to come.