A Week on the Estate: Omega Block, Casting Clouts & Cryptic Bitterns

Mother Nature is putting on quite a show as well. Some believe that the old rhyme ‘never think to cast a clout / Until the month of May be out’ refers not to the month of May but to the flowering of the May tree, better known as the hawthorn. The hawthorns in our hedgerows are brimming with beautiful white blossoms so we’re going to go ahead and cast our clouts!

Paul’s banner image shows the blackthorn, a close relative of the hawthorn. Both produce creamy-white five-petaled flowers but time their spring displays differently. The blackthorn flowers before it leafs from March onwards, stealing a march on its cousin the hawthorn which leafs then flowers from April onwards.

Our splendid variety of wild birds also continues to delight. Regular readers will recall that in January, our BirdWeather sensors recorded 50 activations from the amber-listed bittern.  We kept an eye on the data and in the four weeks to date (10^th April) we’ve logged 93 bittern activations, the best scoring 5.5 (this breaks down as 95% confidence in the acoustic ID and 3% probability of the bird being in the area). The bittern is currently our 41^st most common bird out of 114 species detected.

The bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is a stocky, buff-brown relative of the grey heron most famous for the male’s resonant, long-range, booming courtship call. For those of our readers who’ve tried to observe bitterns, you’ll know that they are masters of camouflage and blend in beautifully with tall reeds. Their plumage is described by the BTO as ‘cryptic’ for this reason. This species is amber-listed, mainly because it is highly dependent on mature, extensive reedbeds, a landscape that is unfortunately rarer than it used to be. All of our bittern activations have come from a single sensor near a biodiverse watercourse that might suit this wader.

On 3^rd April, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (LWT) reported that bittern sightings were “coming in thick and fast” at Far Ings on the south shore of the Humber Estuary. At least five male bitterns are booming away up there and LWT are hopeful for another good breeding season. Bitterns are also thriving at the Bourne North Fen and Willow Tree Fen reserves in the south of our county. Our own Paul Barnes is pretty sure he’s seen one in our neighbourhood but couldn’t quite get his camera out quickly enough to snap it. Incidentally, the bittern pic below was taken at Far Ings.

We’d love to host bitterns long-term and that would be a wonderful cryptic feather in our cap. The evidence for their current presence on the Estate is solid but it’s too early to say whether they’re here to stay. We hope to deploy extra sensors augmented by trail cameras this year so watch this space for more wonderful wildlife news.

Speaking of birds, the hits keep coming. The swift (apus apus) is a dazzlingly agile summer migrant that appears to enjoy the bug bounty of our biodiverse pastures. Swifts generally return from Africa in late April and early May but we’ve had 12 activations in the last fortnight. The best hit scored 6.4 (83% confidence & 9% probability) which isn’t emphatic but we’ve had an unusually warm and sunny start to spring so perhaps it’s been worth this bird’s while to arrive a tad early.

Finally, here’s some excellent news for fans of our fine Massingberd-Mundy produce. From now on, ALL ORDERS for beef, gin, soap and gift sets will be dispatched WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY. You’ll no longer have to wait for specific delivery dates: just order and you’ll get your box of wonderful Wolds produce within a few days.

You can also collect your goodies from South Ormsby Estate on any weekday as well as pre-booked Saturdays. Click HERE to browse and order.

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* Common swift image by Andrey Gulivanov via Flickr CC.