A Seldom-Spotted Visitor to Rhug Estate
It was reported back at the end of May that a pair of Spotted Flycatchers had been seen in the grounds of Rhug. They travel from sub-Saharan Africa, reaching the UK in late April/early May and are among the last summer visitors to arrive, compared to other migrant species.
Spotted Flycatchers spend the winter months in Africa and BTO research has shown that some reach as far south as Namibia, around 7,000 km from their breeding location. A host of summer migrants are experiencing declines in their breeding populations and the Spotted Flycatcher is one of these. It has been on the UK Red List since 1996.
Their close cousins, Pied Flycatchers have, in recent years, increased in numbers in the woodlands around the estate, thanks to a very successful nest box scheme. Whilst Pied Flycatchers take readily to hole-fronted nest boxes, Spotted Flycatchers prefer ‘a room with a view’. Many attempts were made to provide open-fronted nest boxes in the hope of attracting Spotted Flycatchers but they failed to entice the birds.
Fortunately, Spotted Flycatchers are perfectly happy to utilise man-made structures and very pleasingly the pair found an ideal nest site on a wall-plate of an old building.
Observing Natural Behaviour
It was a good opportunity to photograph them and a plan was put in place to do this with minimal disturbance. Spotted Flycatchers like to hawk for insects from favoured perches so the first step was to create one in the right place, with the right background. A photogenically pleasing stick was found and put in place. Once this was done a hide was introduced – initially further away but then brought closer to the perch. At each stage, great care was taken to see that the birds continued to behave normally. This was confirmed not only by observation but also from a camera trap which was set on the stick.
The birds took immediate advantage of their new convenient landing point and used it to launch for passing insects. Spotted Flycatchers are remarkably observant, thanks to their large eyes and extremely agile, as a result of long primary feathers – a feature which also helps them on their long migratory journey.
Raising Young and Hopes of Return
The female does all the nest building and incubation but comes off the eggs for short periods to feed. Once the young hatch, both adults feed them. The pair was observed periodically over the days and weeks to follow and were very busy bringing in a variety of invertebrates. The growth rate of young Spotted Flycatchers, typical of all insectivorous species, is astonishingly fast and in no time the young had fledged, coinciding with the unseasonal winds, so hopefully survived.
It is of course hoped that they will return next year but unlike Pied Flycatchers, they exhibit low natal philopatry – which means there is a very low rate of return to their birth place. However, they have very high site fidelity which means there is a very high chance of the adults returning to the same site to breed again next year.
This was a very pleasing event for the Rhug Estate, once again illustrating the wealth of wildlife it supports.
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