Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
The Editor
HTML Transcription
© F.Coakley , 2021
[From Bird-Life in the Isle of Man]
On August 21st, 1924, I was near Ronaldsway when I saw a bird which was flying about as if lost ; it was black above and below, or, grey-black, more correctly, with a small black head, wings looking slate-grey and white under tail coverts; the flight was somewhat wavering. From having seen black terns a lot in Holland, Hungary and elsewhere, I have no doubt that this bird was one.
I think that this bird is a fairly regular visitor to the Island in the spring and summer; indeed, I should never be surprised if it is found to be nesting here presently ; indeed, I have had some suspicions once or twice as it is. My earliest date for arrival is March 12th, when Sir Valentine Chirol saw two which were flying lazily about over Derbyhaven Bay on a perfect morning and flew off towards the east. That same year ‘25, on October 4th, a bird was seen by me off Fort Island which was attacked by a Herring Gull, but it did not seem to mind and shortly after flew off south. Between March and October I have seen birds every month, except June, mostly off the Ayres, sometimes calling, always noticeable by their size and big wing-stretch. Once on August 28th, W. E. Mylecraine and I came on three birds which were apparently resting near the tide-line on the Ayres; one was a bird of the year, showing some buff, the other two, possibly the parents, had wonderful black manes — I can call their crests by no other name; they flew off and soon dropped again as if tired after a long flight. This is the best view that I have seen on the Island, but only one of.a good many others, and the sandwich tern is always a joy to watch : and I have had the chance of seeing them nest in Norfolk and at the Farnes, but their nesting habits are quite another story.
This species of Tern is very like the Arctic, and one has to be most careful to pick out the differences, which, to me, consist largely of the calls. It is not hard to get that of the common; I do not think that it is quite as harsh as that of the Arctic. Not so numerous on the Island as the Arctic, it keeps to itself and to its own little breeding areas and does well and slowly increases, so far as I can see. I believe that it was Tom Taylor of Oldham, a splendid observer, who first noticed the common breeding here. I have watched them doing the same sort of courtship as the Arctic by carrying small fish to their mate. There is very little difference, if any, in the nesting, and the eggs, though I think that they are rounder, perhaps, as a whole. The parent birds will go for you just as the Arctic; indeed, I have seen a common tern quarrel with a little tern for coming into its territory. The earliest date that I have of their arrival is May 12th. They nest in June, the last nest I have found was a clutch of three on July 9th; and the latest date to see them about is August 29th. They are equally assiduous in feeding the young with small fish and suchlike, and I have seen a mature bird which was busy feeding its child which was nearly as big as itself.
From careful observation, I think that this bird fully holds its own as a breeding bird on the Ayres, and, with a certain amount of protection, keeps its numbers up well, probably increasing slightly; but, with the tern, one must always take into consideration the question of sufficiency of the right kind of food to be collected in the sea. The arctic tern is a very beautiful bird, rightly often termed the "Sea- swallow". I found a bird one day badly wounded on the pebbles by the breeding place, and it seemed hard to have to put such a lovely creature out of its misery, with its black cap and plumage of white and grey and the long tail streamers. The bird arrives here in May ; my earliest date is the 11th. It is interesting to watch the courting ; once at Peel, the female was perched on a wooden bar at the end of the Pier and the male was bringing fish to her in the most courtly manner, and she received his gift in a very coy fashion. The eggs are laid in June ; once Guy and I found four nests at the Point of Ayre on the Sicma, if one can call them nests; often less than no material, sometimes some old dry seaweed. The eggs may be of all shades of colour and are at all times a glory to the eye; and it must be most uncomfortable to sit on them among the hard pebbles of those great ridges at the Point. When the eggs are nearly hatched, or when the young are about, the old birds are most vicious and will swoop violently at any person who is too near and often actually strike. The job of getting food for themselves and young must be great, and is done most gracefully; some of the headers into the sea are a splendid effort in diving. Most are gone before August is over. An occasional wanderer may be seen in September, and my latest date is that of one off Fort Island on October 3rd. Once, late in August, I had a dead bird which was found in Glenroy, and I gave it to Doctor Dorothy Pantin, who kindly examined it and found that the cause of death was a nest full of thread-worms in the wind- pipe which caused suffocation ; and, curiously enough one of the breast-bones had been fractured, from which it had recovered.
I love this little chap, the smallest of its kind which comes here to nest in the summer, along the shores of the Ayres. One thing which I have noticed is that its numbers seem to vary tremendously, and it continuously shifts its breeding place; also it takes too many risks by getting too near the tide-line, and lots of eggs must get washed away. My earliest date of arrival is May 11th, when I heard and saw two birds. Once, early in June, I saw nearly 100 together, a very fine sight as they wheeled and circled over our heads, and gave their little shrill calls. They, like the other terns, start nesting early in June, and make little, if any, attempt at a nest, and prefer sand to lay their eggs in (often three in number) rather than on the stones or pebbles; and the eggs, generally grey, are not easy to distinguish from the surroundings. Once, on July 9th, I found several nests still about while others were feeding young; and the young are such pretty little things with their grey and buff colourings, and so tiny when first hatched. I have found them on August 14th, just beginning to fly. The old birds, like all parents, are most gallant in defending their eggs or young. Once I saw a bird go straight. for a black-headed gull which was coming too near the nest, and that gull retreated rapidly. Before the end of August they have once more left the Ayres, but I found a bird at Derbyhaven on September 24th and 26th which was busy fishing; and there was a very weary young bird at the same place which I found on October 3rd resting on a rock. And then they go off far away to the south where warmth and food await them.
I have seen this graceful Gull in Norfolk on the Broads, and off the Italian coast and elsewhere. Twice it has been seen by me here, and both times in September, with Rex, by Douglas Pier. Once it was on the 12th when a bird kept circling round not far from the Battery Pier, showing its dark axillaries. The other time was on the 19th, when a bird was flying between the Pier and the Tower of Refuge, showing a few dark marks on the head and the dark axillaries.
These Gulls inhabit the Island practically all the year round; although, during the breeding season, there are only a few to be seen, presumably non-breeding birds. I think their numbers are greatest during September. I have noticed vast numbers during the latter part of that month, all the way from Port St. Mary to Port Grenaugh. Sooner or later they will breed here, I am sure. I have found them on sheltered ground in the Central Ayres, in pairs, very late in April. They are not backward in coming into gardens for food. When I lived at Parkfield, Douglas, I have had birds which came late in November and ate crumbs under the window ; one came specially for a Christmas feed on Christmas morning. Their heads are not black; they are a dark brown, and later, in July or August, they lose all this brown off the head, and early in the following year it comes again. Actually I saw a bird on Douglas shore with a complete brown head on November 24th, but that is most unusual. Once, in March, Guy and I were at Peel and watched ten birds which had evidently found something good to eat just below the surface; they made desperate efforts to dive for it, Some were more than half submerged at times, and their unusual efforts were rewarded with success.
This bird may be looked upon as one of our migrants. I have seen birds about as early as July 15th — on this particular date there were some birds at Keranstal — from then on they keep increasing in numbers but it is during or after a big storm that they may be seen in their largest numbers, when, at times Derbyhaven shore is white with hundreds of them. so that they really come and go as it suits them. Very few are to be seen after the beginning of March when they are moving further north to their breeding haunts, and I have only one note of a bird after that time which was on May 17th, off the Point of Ayre.
This is of course the commonest Gull which is to be found on the Island shores, and also inland, on occasions, and, as they breed here, the numbers never seem to diminish, but rather to increase. Their calls are very noisy, but, with it all, they are very clever in imitation, whether by accident or design I know not. Once, late in November, a bird was perched on a chimney-pot in Newsham Terrace, Douglas, and laughed so exactly like a human being that I stopped and looked back. I have heard birds "mewing" just like cats; but once at Port Grenaugh my wife and I heard noises like a dog in difficulties and in pain, and we tried to find it, only to discover that it was a gull. I once watched a most amusing sight on Douglas foreshore. A young male bird, a second-year bird, got sidling up to a majestic old female and cruised round her, rubbing his bill over her plumage and even over her bill. She treated him with complete indifference, I might say with cold contempt, and at last flew off to get away from him. I cannot say if the youngster was her child or suffering from calf-love! The real courting begins fairly early in the year, the rubbing of bills being one of the amusements. The numbers of nests which are built around the coast run to vast figures ; heather and bracken are used, or even grass and bits of turd; and they are well made for the usual three eggs ; and if one gets into or near a gallery where many birds are nesting, the noise is simply deafening. There is trouble too when one bird sneaks an egg from another nest and tries to have a cannibal meal. I have seen nests away up on the north side of Snaefell, half-way up the mountain, among rocks and stones, and built of heather, grass and moss; but these antics are not to be encouraged, as the herring-gull has got into a bad habit of liking a sheep or lamb if it gets a chance. The little birds are interesting to watch; they have an ostrich-like habit of hiding in the crevice of a rock, I caught one looking up sideways at me, and it had thought that it was not seen, no doubt. I have watched the mother pick up a young one in her bill and put it in a safe place, and then push down another in its place, also with her bill, talking querulously to them at the same time. | And then, later, they gather in great crowds on all shores and in many fields ; quite 500 have been seen by me circling round Derbyhaven, packed close together like a crowd of golden plover, and then settling on the water, and all so quickly and neatly done. In the matter of food, I think a gull will eat anything, and can swallow very big things, for it is gifted with a very big gape, a very elastic gullet, a huge windpipe, and very large eye and operculum ; one will see at once that it has powers of endurance in storm, of sight and hearing, and lastly of taking in big food. I have watched a bird on Douglas shore which was trying to eat the most filthy offal which had been passed by by others; well, it got the stuff down with a gulp, and it looked dreadfully sick for some time after. I have mentioned the increasing fondness for mutton or lamb, which has caused an Act to be passed to try and decrease the numbers in the most humane manner. One can see the pampered, over-fed creatures which wait all day for food from the visitors on the promenade. I have seen a broken-winged bird which was kept by a certain gentleman near a rookery; that bird was always ready to dispose of any young rook which fell from the nest above. It was a great sight one day in November to see a magpie and two of these birds chase a weasel across a field near Crogga; one of the gulls nearly picked it up, but the weasel just gained the shelter of the wood. One very severe February I watched the birds in a field near Ronaldsway digging away at the turnips for all they were worth, while the sheep, for whom the turnips were meant, looked on quite placidly. With all their marauding, they are a marvellously beautiful bird and, in so far as concerns garbage and suchlike, they most certainly have their uses.
This is a migratory gull which arrives early in the year ; but it is a bird of two species or sub-species — that is to say, there is a very black-backed gull which passes here for further north. My earliest date is January 30th, after a fierce storm ; as a rule they are to be seen in February. And then a little later the greyer-backed birds come in, and that is generally from early March. These birds stay in the Island, and on the Calf, to breed, and, besides being found on the coast, may be occasionally seen on Injebreck waters — or the Eary. These birds have a deeper note than the herring-gull and are fairly quarrelsome. One bird which was attacked by a hooded crow made him clear off with a lot of squawking. But the finest sight which I have seen was on Fort Island, where there was a scrap between two of these birds. One got the other by the back of the bill and fairly shook it; by a great effort it freed itself and got away at last, but meanwhile the other gulls had collected together and formed a regular ring. It was most amusing. The birds build a substantial nest of bracken or heather and, if they can manage it, rather like to get under the lee of a rock. Canon E. C. Raven and I got some good photos of them on the Calf one year. The majority of the birds have gone by September; the 18th is a late date; but every now and then birds have been seen by me in the winter, as, for instance, on December 3rd when, after a big storm, I noticed several which were in a field near Peel.
These Gulls appear to have increased round the coast very considerably of recent years. During the winter months, they are often seen in solitary state. Being vicious, dangerous birds, they are given plenty of space by the smaller birds. They seem to be fond of Peel Harbour, but may be seen in most of the likely spots elsewhere. The birds appear to pair early in the year, about February. Once during that month, when I was between Garwick and Groudle along the cliffs, I saw great numbers which were constantly moving on, as if it were a sort of migratory morning. Once, in March, I watched a great big male on Derbyhaven shore which was obviously courting a female, walking past her with his great wings outstretched. She pretended to take no notice ; and then he rose, uttering a noise like the bark of a small dog, but she was not far behind him. She also rose, circled and then followed him, lest he forget ! With the breeding season in full force, the male, always noisy in his call, gets a still more hoarse, gruff call, quite different to that of other neighbouring gulls. The nests are very big, as are the three eges : vast structures, sometimes of bracken or heather ; sometimes of grass and ling torn up from somewhere near the site; and the birds are very fierce in the care of their nests, though nothing like the skuas, which are really brave, and that is hardly a characteristic of the great black-back. I have already mentioned this in connection with my notes on the shelduck and the cormorant, and I have even seen one of these big fellows being badly chased by jackdaws at Derbyhaven, and not liking it. During the winter months it is not unusual to see some of these birds inland. They have been seen by me at the Eary and Bishop’s Dub, but they are, other than these occasions, an entirely maritime bird; and their nests, whether off Marine Drive, or on the Calf, or elsewhere, are either on or near rocks.
This species may almost be termed a migrant. Really the birds only come in to land during the summer months for breeding purposes, and for that purpose they come to land; and the numbers which collect at Black Head — part and parcel of Spanish Head — are enormous and appear to get larger every year. They nest all up the precipitous sides and on ledges within the caves which run in here ; and, standing up on the clifis on Spanish Head, one is nearly deafened by the high squeaky yells of "kitti- wake-get-away" which, owing to the echo caused by the neighbouring caves, rise up in an ever-increasing volume of sound; whereas, if on the sea in a boat, one gets away from the noise in a few minutes for the kittiwake keeps very strictly to his territory and does not go far afield during the nesting time. Towards the end of April I have seen them building their nests largely of seaweed; they become very hard. Looking down on them from above, they have the appearance of being plastered against the cliffs, I have certainly seen a bird sitting as late as July 20th, but by early August all, or practically all, the colony has gone once more to sea. One may see birds round Peel during August and part of September waiting for the offal from the herring-fishing boats, and a pretty graceful sight they make, perched on the breakwater and flying close by, so gentle and quiet in their ways. From that time onwards it is only on rare occasions, and then probably after or during a severe storm, that these birds may be seen close to land, though I have notes of most winter months, especially December, at such places as Douglas, Groudle and Langness; but the majority are, no doubt, far south to sea.
On April 12th, not so long ago, I was on the Ayres and was lucky enough to see a bird on the water which was very close in ; shortly after it rose, showing the white wing piece very plainly. This is the only one I have seen round this coast, though I have had the pleasure of watching them on their breeding grounds in Shetland, as well as many out to sea between here and Portugal.
It was on the 1st of January, and J. F. Cregeen and I were out on the brows above Garwick Bay when suddenly a big, dark bird flew, apparently, off the cliff just below us. It was generally brown on back and wings, with a very dark, practically black, head with some white in front and up the neck: but it was the curious twisted, crooked tail with rounded feathers which attracted us most, and I had no doubt as to what it was, as I have seen numbers of them at sea. It went into the sea and then lay down on its side and died. The body drifted with the current towards Clay Head, but we were unable to recover it. Storm-driven, and badly hurt and just the wish to die off the land was my only conclusion, but it was an unique experience of its kind.
These birds are by no means uncommon in the latter part of the year off the coast. I have notes of birds from July 15th to October 2nd, and one note for March 4th when, on that evening, one was seen by me off Garwick, flying north. Once in September I was at Port Grenaugh and saw a pair which were calling a lot ; indeed, it was the call which drew my attention to them. I followed them along the coast to Santon gorge, when I lost sight of them. I have seen them off Port Keranstal and the Point of Ayre, as well as Pooil Veash and Clay Head. They are most graceful in the air and a delight to watch; but beware of them when they are on their breeding ground. I have found both nests and young in Shet- land, and I think they are far the most vicious birds in protection of eggs and young that I have come across; they make the most terrific dives at mere man, and one is lucky to get away scathless.
In many ways the habits of the Razorbill closely resemble those of the Guillemot. They come to land at about the same time; they leave the same time ; but their nesting sites are not quite the same. Whilst the guillemot loves the open ledges, the razorbill prefers some more covered ledge or crevice when it can get it; it lays one egg, like the other bird, and it is not easy to tell one from the other when put together. Razorbills are to be found nesting on Spanish Head, the Calf, etc., but they never appear to me to be in quite as big numbers as the other species. From time to time birds may be seen off the coast outside of the breeding season. I have seen them at Peel and Port Erin in December, off the Point of Ayre in November, and elsewhere in other months. They also suffer badly from getting oiled; it is terrible to see them suffering. I have watched this bird when it has been diving, and it does the most prodigious feats, both in time and distance, though I think it comes close up to the surface to get a breather and then down again; and, when under, I have noticed that it dives with the open wings and works both feet and wings at a great rate. It is a most interesting sight.
This species come to the Island regularly every spring in very large numbers to take up breeding quarters on the innumerable ledges which are to be found on the big headlands, such as Spanish and Maughold Heads and the Calf; and, when there in their myriads, they produce the most unearthly sounds from their never-ceasing chatter ; sometimes it sounds like a hen-run, sometimes like a pack of hounds ; and when they are worked up at full steam, some seem to shout "wow-wow", and some bring off a squeak like that of a stuck pig; and once, when a hooded crow came too near for the liking of some of them, they drove it off with a lot of grunting. I have seen them in rows on the cliffs on March 25th, and from then on till the beginning of August the sea all round the cliffs is alive with birds fishing or racing down from the ledges, where they may be seen, some facing out to sea and some inwards towards the cliff, and one wonders how the one big egg — so big for so small a bird — gets properly attended to for hatching; and, if it were not for the peculiar shape of the eggs, how they even stay on the ledge. It is interesting to watch their flight; they will rise from the sea, treading water for yards and flapping their wings on the surface with such a noise; then, when they get going, their wings work like a motor, with their feet and claws full length and spread out behind them, and they travel at a great rate. During the winter they are not to be seen much, only an occasional one here and there, until once more the spring comes round. But the sad part of the life of these birds is the appalling destruction by oil and tar, Cases are not so common here, I am glad to say, but at Dungeness, in Kent, I have seen the whole shore strewn with dead and dying; for one can really do nothing for them, once they have got tarred, and die they must. It is so terribly sad.
I love watching these birds. We in the Island, who watch birds, are lucky to have them to watch, as this is the only place south of the Solway to have them. I have not seen much of their nesting here, as the places are beyond me, but I have been lucky enough to find many in Shetland and Orkney, where the eggs are to be found well back in rabbit holes or under rocks. One nest I found was in a hole over an old castle gate on the Island of Mousa. Their flight is low and fast, and they get on like a badly moving propeller ; but they are wonderful under water, they will be diving from 45 to 50 seconds, and they move very fast under water, using both wings and feet, and paddling hard with the latter. I watched one, which, after its quiet slip down and up again, had a small crab with which it had a great struggle; having finally won, it raised its bill, rose in the water and spread its wings. Then there is the time when they collect off their breeding places, and there comes across the waters to one that curious dreary morning call like a mournful bronchial whistle; sometimes it rises to a whine, almost like a small dog trying to get in at a door ; and then one may see them moving in and out, keeping in a long line and then suddenly take to flight, with a rustling sort of scutter of wings. And when the birds are close in in winter, one gets such a mixture of winter plumage, of greys and whites and speckles, and a sort of black ring round the eye, and the birds looking so dainty riding the rough seas, maybe. They come to full summer plumage towards the end of January, as a rule; all sooty black, with a white wing patch and axillaries, and crimson legs and gape and black bill. And presently come the young, all black fluffy feathers when a few days old. I have handled both old and young ; and have watched in late June, when the old birds have been coming in to feed the young with brown-looking lug-worms, and, because I was seen, floating off-shore and occasionally dipping their bills in the sea to freshen up the worms. I know of four nesting places in the Island, and there may be more; but, outside of these, they may be seen off Derbyhaven or Douglas or elsewhere, when big storms have driven them in from the big waters outside; but they come and go, and there is no accounting for their movements, but a bird lover can never see too much of them or their ways.
I have seen birds here on a few occasions between the latter part of October and early in January, and it goes without saying that invariably they have been seen after a heavy gale or gales. My earliest date is October 25th, when three were in Derbyhaven Bay, where I watched them bobbing up and down on the roughish water and quite happy; occasion- ally diving for food. Once on December 26th Rex and I saw a bird which came flying from the direction of Castletown Bay — there was a stiff north-east breeze at the time — and dropped in the water by Fort Island. Then again, quite recently, J. F. Cregeen and I, in the middle of December, found a bird which was feeding off Fort Island; this was also during and after a fierce gale, and another one "blew in", and these or similar birds stayed on quite happily until January 15th. Once, at the very end of the year, a bird was picked up dead on the promenade, storm-driven and battered, poor thing, and one wonders how these poor little birds, not more than the size of a small thrush, do not have to pay the penalty more frequently when coming south from their summer resorts and facing all kinds of tempests with their diminutive size.
The Puffin comes under the same category as the Guillemot and Razorbill so far as its comings and goings are concerned; but its nesting habits are quite different ; its one large white egg being laid in holes, sometimes those of the rabbit, mostly dug out by themselves, and often very far back. On the Farne Islands I have seen the egg only a few inches from the entrance. In Orkney I could only just see the bird far back by lying on the ground. The bird itself is a quaint little person, with its vast bill of many colours, the outer shell of which, so to speak, is shed in the winter; its queer-looking eye with a rim to it, andits very brilliant legs, generally vermilion ; and I have watched it scuttling along a rock for all the world like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, and somehow I almost expected it to look at its watch, nor would it have been out of place, for these birds always seem to be busy and in a hurry. Watch the speed of the flight when a bird dashes down off the side of Spanish Head or the Calf. It is tremendous; a whirring rush like a piece of fast-moving machinery. When it rises from the water it makes two sort of paddle strokes and then rises with its little red feet stuck outwards and upwards like a pair of wee paddles. The late T. A. Coward used to liken them to a dragon-fly. About the middle of July the old birds are at the height of their busy time with the feeding of themselves and the child, now well grown, and the sound is full of their comings and goings. And three weeks later they are gone, far out to sea and to places where food is to be found, and it is only an occasional wanderer or storm-driven bird that may be seen through the long winter months, until the birds return once more to their breeding haunts towards the end of March. Once, at the end of December, I had in my hands a bird which was found half dead on Douglas shore. I did all I could for it until it got quite peaky, and finally, before I let it go, rewarded my trouble with a good solid bite. Such is the way of the world, even of birds !
I thought that hearing a bird call at Government House on April 22nd was a good date for the arrival of this migratory bird until, one year, a bird was given to me on April 11th, which had been hit and killed by a bus on the top of Baldrine Hill, Lonan. The land-rail or corn-crake is far more common in the Island than in England, chiefly, I think, because the grass is not cut at the same time as on the mainland ; besides, there are a lot of damp meadows which are hardly, if ever, cut, and just suit these birds, which have been heard, or seen, by me in practically every part of the Island. Up on Cronk-y-voddy, I once watched a bird which lifted with legs trailing, hovered a moment and then dropped into the grass. Nests have been found by me in many places, Union Mills more than any other ;. after that the fringes of Ballaugh Curraghs, where in one field where I had a nest, I had, earlier on, the luck to see a big party together which must have just arrived. J. Teare and I had one nest of eleven, less than nine yards from a building adjoining his house at Ballacrys. The bird ran off and flew; we kept an eye on her, and she reared some eight youngsters, a good percentage, as, if rats do not suck the eggs — one nest I found had only one egg left out of six — there are heaps of other depredators. On one occasion when I came on seven chicks from a nest near Rushen Abbey, the mother kept flying a few feet in the air and then falling down on the ground so as to try and lead us away. Some people loathe the sound of the craking, especially when it goes on all night; personally, I love it, and am always sorry when it ends some time in July, though I heard one at it as late as August 12th in Santon. Most of them are gone in September, and under my article on the Sparrow-hawk I have already told what happened to E. C. Kneen with a bird in that month. Captain Spittall sent me a bird which he had shot on the Rheast on November 9th, that is the latest date which I have known. And what a beautiful bird it is, with its lovely chestnut wings.
I do not pretend to be able to give any definite information about the migratory movements of water-rails, but it must be a fact that there is a con- siderable movement in the latter part of the year, as, over a fair number of years, I have had birds in my hands which have been killed at the Point of Ayre lighthouse ; three of them in October, from the ist onwards; four in November; two in December. Once, on October 26th, a male bird was killed by a dog on the tennis court at Ashfield, Douglas, and was handed over to me for identification. Once, in November, I was out on the Garwick brows with T. F. Cregeen who, quite by chance, hit a young bird, which was down the side, with a stick. It made a queer call, like "wee-wee" then landed on top of a bramble bush, stayed there long enough for me to get a good look and then disappeared : I handled a dead bird which had been shot by Captain Spittall in March in some boggy ground on the Kheast, 1,200 feet up. I fancy that they are far more common in the Island than is generally realized; they hide up in such very wet places that, unless one does not mind a good wetting, they are not easily seen ; but, if not seen, they may be heard, and they utter the most amazing yells. Once in April I flushed a couple by a pool in a dreadfully boggy spot in the Curraghs; they retired into an impossible bog and proceeded to make weird noises like a man in pain. J. Teare and I found one nest of eight, in a very quaky place, in the centre of some long grass which was growing round a small sally-bush; the bird came off and flew some distance with legs dangling. On another occasion we found freshly hatched young ones, which were all black, close to the nest, which was in a very wet bog and under a lot of grass. The youngsters kept calling a plaintive little "pip-pip" whilst mother called "check-check". Another nest, of nine, was in and on top of some very high and very thick grass. It is a very handsome bird with its lavender chest and a back all rich brown with black lines through it.
Wherever there is a small piece of water, then almost for certain, will a bird or birds be, either in or off the water or wandering about for search of food, sometimes even on the lanes and roads. One bird which was seen by me in a lane was very lame on the right leg and walked exactly like a horse with string-halt. Once, in March, T. F. Cregeen and I found a bird in the top of an ivy-covered tree, about fourteen feet up, in the Curraghs; but on another occasion a bird came out of a tree which was fully fourteen feet to where it flew from. It is amusing to watch a bird walking up a reed and feeding off the top like a huge reed-warbler. I have watched a bird which was squatted on’ a very thin branch of a half-submerged bush and was balancing well on its precarious foothold. In the way of courting I have watched the male with his tail and white feathers all fanned out, while the female swam towards him at leisure ! And again, when both birds have made little short runs on land and then stopped, and repeated the performance again and again when getting the nest ready, I have seen a bird which was pulling off bits of reed with the bill and then lying on the nest to flatten into shape. Sometimes the nests are well into the water; sometimes they are to be found at the ends of the branches of bushes or trees. Guy and I found one nest which contained eight eggs and looked most rickety at the end of a gorse branch. At Garwick a bird was seen by me sitting on its nest on March 25th; this same bird, so I believe it to be, was busy collecting grass in big lots for building on July 18th. On August 18th I noticed just one chick, which was trying to climb up an islet in the centre of the pond to join its mother ; it fell back into the water three times and then succeeded at a fourth gallant attempt. On September 5th it still appeared to be very small, swimming about and making a noise rather like a sandpiper. The little chicks are pretty black creatures. The bird occasionally makes a clumsy attempt at diving, making a big spring in the air, and only submerging for a few seconds. But it is so easy to watch their habits, as they may be found in so many places from Bride to Kentraugh and even on the Calf.
This species seems to have increased considerably in numbers during the last few years, and is to be found on all pools which are large enough for them to find their food. I fancy that Eary Dam has the largest complement of birds, where one can see them feeding at all times or making a paddle rush along the surface before lifting to go to another part of the water. When they plunge under for food, it is only for a matter of a few seconds. The courting begins fairly early in the year and consists mostly of fast rushes through the water and much display of wings; occasionally there is the inevitable row when a third party butts in. The calls to the mate are rather sweet, like "yonk"; the ordinary note makes me think of a distant motor-horn. I watched a pair building a nest in the reeds at the top end of Eary Dam; the material was reeds and the female was very busy beating them down into position with her feet. On Bishop’s Dub I have seen sedge mostly used. One nest which was found by Guy and myself was on an islet in very deep water in the Curraghs and had five eggs. I have seen a nest in the Eary with six eggs, in three feet of water. The young, when they begin to move about, make queer squeaky grunts, and, in the first year, show a lot of white in the plumage. On August 15th, one year, I found some very young birds on Bishop’s Dub; this must have been a very late hatching. I like to watch these birds when they are washing; they dip their heads and shoulders under water, then stand up in the water and have a good shake. Poor things, I have seen them looking so miserably wretched when the Eary has been frozen over, and they stand and even lie about, wondering what to do next, though this does not often happen. In some parts these birds collect in vast numbers. Once, in September, when I was in the Camargue at the mouth of the Rhone, they were so thick on the wings, in their thousands, that they appeared to be moving about shoulder to shoulder.
From personal observation, I should say that the Grouse are more than holding their own. As a non-shooting man, I love to see them get up with whirring of wings. Once, near Brandy Cottage, Guy and I put up two coveys, respectively of eight and six, towards the latter part of August; but what I love to hear still more is the old cock bird giving of his best with a valiant "Kek-kek-kek", though once on North Barule I noticed that it was most distinctly " Kak-kak-kak". I do not as a rule like going near the nests, as the birds so often desert if disturbed. Once in May I came on a bird up on Slieu Mona which nearly let me touch her before she rose off her eleven eggs, and out of the very comfortable nest in a big clump of heather. Late in May, I was up above Injebreck in the late evening and we came on a chick which looked to be about twenty-four hours old, and it was interesting to watch the old hen bird creeping round through the ling like an old guinea-fowl. Once, on September 14th, I came on a very small young bird as I was coming down by the plantation under Garraghan ; for the time of the year it was absurdly black and was calling a slight "cheep-cheep"; it managed to fly a little but dropped at once in the plantation. Once, on the first of the year, I put up a bird on Clay Head, an unusual place. These birds undoubtedly suffer from the peregrine falcon. One nest which I saw near Keppel Gate had to just lie unused with a full complement of eggs, as a falcon had got the hen when she rose from her nest. A hen-bird which weighed twenty-two ounces was struck by a falcon on the slopes of "Pen-y-Pot", and later I examined it. All the feathers were torn off the neck for nearly two inches ; there was a clean deep gash in the nape on the neck artery, nearly half an inch long, and a slight puncture low down on the breast near the heart, and this all done in the fracture of a second.
This can not in any way be called a bird of the Island. It has been brought in on occasions, but I think that I am right in saying that at the present moment there is not one left here. The last time that I heard the call of a cock pheasant was on May 21st, 1928, when I was out very early to watch the T.T. practices, and heard several calls as I stood by the Bollogh crossing, near Ballaugh.
This species ought to be far more plentiful in the Island than it is, but I fear that many are caught by unlawful means during the winter months. Even so, there is a good sprinkling, and probably Santon parish has more than any other part, so far as I know. Birds have been seen by me in all sorts of places ; on the Calf, Spanish Head, Clay Head, where I am afraid they have suffered badly from depredators. They were quite common, now are rarely to be seen ; the Ayres, and so on. Once in Jurby East, W. E. Mylecraine and I found a nest with nineteen eggs ; the nest was small and compact, and under a bank by a side road, semi-domed by a lot of grass above it. There was a nest of fourteen eggs which I found right alongside of the road to the Point of Ayre. At Ballamenagh Braddan, the bird was sitting so tight that she actually let me touch her before she flew, squawking, off her seventeen eggs. Once in the middle of July I disturbed two birds which were lying very close together; they must have got their claws inter-locked as, when they rose, there was such a struggle and squeaking to get up and away. I wish they could be seen as one sees them in many countries in England, in numbers along the roads and lanes.
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
The Editor |
||