Stonechats - A continuing success.

by Pete Woodruff.

Male Stonechat - Bowland, Lancs, June 2006 - Bill Aspin.

The sedentary part of the Stonechat population staying in the UK during the winter period has the advantage over the migratory population in that it can start breeding earlier and make multiple attempts. However, during prolonged spells of severe winters considerable mortality is caused bringing about the advantage of the migratory population and their offspring which will maintain and increase numbers until the sedentary population can regain the advantage which can usually be achieved in three to four years. For some time now we have had mild winters and the sedentary population is therefore in control of a very healthy number of birds.

At the risk of repeating myself (see article re Stonechats at Langden Brook) we have recently seen some excellent Stonechat records - including two in August on the East Lancs Birding website - which cannot go unnoticed, they are proof of the continuing success of this smart little passerine which is benefiting from a succession of mild winters.

Since 2000 I have been able to record the Stonechat in every month of the year at more than one location but according to my records prior to 2000 this most certainly was not the case and the bird could often be seen referred to as ‘uncommon’ in annual reports.

The records recently seen on the East Lancs Birding website that have brought about this short article have been from Clowbridge Reservoir, and Croasdale. In the case of the Clowbridge records Bob Ives saw 10 Stonechats on 21 August, his observations increased to 14 on 1 Sept. I would claim Bob would not have seen this number of Stonechats at this location five years ago and probably less. In the case of the Croasdale records, Mike Watson and Mark Varley found 30 plus Stonechats on 27 August, again I don’t think Mike and Mark would have seen anything like this number here five years ago.

There are some very comprehensive and easily accessible records to be seen on the Rossendale Ornithologists Club website with some very interesting reading in their Annual Reports regarding the Stonechat. If we go back just ten years to the 1996 report we see that not a solitary Stonechat gets a mention in the summer period and just five birds are recorded in winter at just three locations. Come a little closer to the present day to 2000 and it is interesting to note, quote….The last local nesting was that recorded by J.B.Sykes from 1976/8 in the Holcombe area….unquote. Almost 30 years later in 2000 saw the first nesting Stonechats since then with a pair in the Naden Valley. There is an interesting note of an E.Ward who found a pair holding territory in Naden as long ago as 1949 when the Stonechat was more likely to be found nesting at coastal as opposed to upland sites, a complete reversal in this birds breeding habitat.

Add to these current excellent records at Clowbridge and Croasdale, an amazing 43 birds which I found in September 2005 in an area close to Lancaster, which until 2000 had no breeding records that I have been able to trace to date, and we have all the evidence we need of the continuing success of the Stonechat in the recording areas of East and North Lancs.

Dare I suggest….global warming cannot therefore be ALL bad news and certainly isn’t - at least in the short term - to the Stonechat. A continuing success. 

Pete Woodruff ( 2nd Sept 2006).