At this time of the year it is all change in the bird world with a great deal of activity with the end of the breeding season near and some birds thinking about migrating. Some birds have already moved south as the adult cuckoos have gone on their long journey to Africa. Whilst the numbers of cuckoos in the rest of the UK has drastically declined in recent year the numbers appear to have been stable in Scotland. This year around Inverness the numbers have been good with many males calling in most areas earlier on in the year. It seems remarkable that the young birds reared by foster parents such as meadow pipits will not leave for Africa until a month or so after the adults and yet they still find their way. Swifts are just as intriguing as the young birds stay comparatively much longer in the nest than most other birds. The juveniles leave the nest and may depart south for Africa in a couple of days whilst the adults may not leave until a few days later.
Despite the poor weather this summer with lower temperatures than normal and periods of rain many birds have had a very successful breeding season. This has been very much the case with garden birds and small birds such as siskins have had two broods, both successful. Robins have had not only two broods but in one or two gardens there is the suggestion they may have had three. Robins from the first broods now have the brown breast feathers replaced with the usual red colouring. In contrast the later juveniles are still very spotted with brown markings. The bird in the photograph was taken on a feeder in a garden on the edge of Inverness. It clearly shows the spotted breast feathers and the yellow gape at the at the base of the beak. Robins will readily take to the “open fronted” type of nest box where there is no entrance hole as half the front of the box is open.
The colonies of house martins under the eaves of houses in and around Inverness have also bucked the national decline of this fascinating bird. This year some of the colonies have seen an increase with numbers higher than for several years. One intriguing aspect of this is that a greater percentage of the birds have been using the artificial nest boxes that some house holders have erected. Nobody seems to know why this has taken place but the trend may continue. The reason is that whilst some pairs may move straight into a ready made artificial nests others can spend several days, up to two or three weeks, building a nest. Using the artificial nest also means that in hot summers the mud for the nests is often difficult to find so the ready made ones seem to be the answer. Many house martins this year have now finished their second successful broods so next year may see another increase in their breeding pairs.
Wildfowl, namely ducks, geese and swans, have moulted and these birds take these changes to extremes. Whilst most birds gradually change their feathers, in the wildfowl most of them shed all their flight feathers simultaneously. This means that for several days they cannot fly. This period is crucial for them with so many predators around. The moult is also the reason why many drakes , such as mallard, are like the females with their drab plumage. Most of the feather moult takes place early enough for the drakes to go into their breeding plumage and ready for the spring courtship rivalry.