Death on the Pit

Wildlife Watch this month was going to be celebrating the release of six healthy cygnets at the Pit. Sadly things didn’t turn out as planned. The RSPCA had been in touch with me and asked if they could release some cygnets at the Pit, as part of a scheme to create space at the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre. Several other sites in the county were also chosen, and each cygnet was tested for any sign of avian flu, before a licence for movement could be applied for. The six cygnets were released at the Pit in mid November and initially kept themselves as a group at the Bricky Lane end of the pit. Within a few days they gradually emerged nearer the Alms Houses side, and people were able to give them food. The six cygnets were birds that had been rescued from several sites and one was very interesting, being a “Polish swan”, a mute swan with a particular colour morph. Unlike the great majority of cygnets which are born a grey colour, it is white from hatching and remains this colour for the rest of its life. Things seemed to be going well, until we found the “Polish swan” dead at the waters edge. Two days later another cygnet was also found lying near the fishing platforms and had to be removed. The following day two others of these beautiful creatures succumbed, and we worried for the remaining two. I checked on them before church at 9.30am on the 4th December, and they were swimming about slowly but alive, but by 12.00noon they has also died. I had the distressing task of collecting them in bags and taking them over to the RSPCA Centre. At present no other release site has had problems, but all the symptoms our swans suffered, points to avian flu, for which there is no cure, and tens of thousands, perhaps millions of birds all over the UK have been affected. Gulls, terns, gannets, swans, buzzards, peregrine falcons, Canada geese etc etc. Ten swans were recently found dead at Poole Harbour, and there have been cases of swans with avian flu on the Wirral and in Shropshire. Let’s hope that a very cold winter will kill this awful disease. It is so disheartening to see such destruction of wildlife on such a wide scale. My thoughts also go out to all the poultry farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by this virus being taken into their captive flocks.

Following that depressing start to the article, there is better news in the area with two distinct flocks of approximately four hundred and two hundred lapwing being seen, at Stamford Lane, and Rowton. Both a single tawny and two barn owls have been spotted hunting, and there have been several buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel being seen in the village. Redwing and fieldfare have come into the village for berries, and can also be seen along the canal. Mistle thrushes and jackdaws are very active in the churchyard, as can be seen from the number of yew berries on the ground. Nuthatches are extraordinarily noisy and can be heard along Pepper Street and in the trees near Christleton Hall. Several large parties of long tail tits have been flying around the village, and I was delighted to see a good flock of chaffinches in trees along the canal, the first this year. Whilst walking along the canal I saw a magnificent kingfisher catch a fish, take it to a branch of a bush to eat, and then immediately dive in the canal for another, before flying off towards Quarry Bridge. I have daily reports of kingfishers being seen along this section of the canal, so keep your eyes open, if you are walking that way, There have also been reports of redpolls being seen, especially on alder bushes, and there seems to be a good population of both blue and great tits in gardens. We have two wrens flitting about the garden most days and a number of dunnock feeding on the sunflower seeds. We also have a small group of very active starlings, which seem to devour fat blocks in a matter of minutes. Great spotted woodpeckers also seem to be very active, drumming on poplar trees, and being seen especially in gardens along Plough Lane.