Acres of uncut grass provided ideal breeding habitat for Quail - ornithological notes from The Somme: Part 2

                                                              

Garden Warbler - Major Congreve describes it as a common species 

This is a continuation of the previous blog detailing the individual bird species of The Somme river valley as recorded in 1917 by Major William Maitland Congreve when he was serving as a gunner in the 1914-18 War.

Tree Pipit

First noted on 29 April. Common and breeding in typica] situations. Several nests were found, the average date for fresh eggs being 20 May.

Meadow Pipit

Common, especially near the coast.

Treecreeper

Treecreepers were fairly common among the willows in the river-valley. The remains of an old nest, containing very strongly-marked egg-shells, was found in a pollarded willow. It appeared to date from a previous year. Unfortunately no new nest was found, though a good deal of time was spent trying to do so. 

Nuthatch

Scarce. Two pairs were met with in the orchards at Saigneville and one nesting-hole was located, but no eggs were laid, although the parent birds were in the immediate vicinity on many occasions.

Goldcrest

Some birds of this species lived in some fir-trees near St. Valéry during April, but seemed to disappear later. The district is a bad one for Goldcrests, as fir-trees are very scarce and a yew-tree was never met with.

Great Tit

Common, and breeding in suitable situations in the orchards round Saigneville and other villages in the district.

Marsh Tit

Not uncommon, A nest with eight fresh eggs on 8 May. It was about six inches down from the crown of a rotten pollarded willow and some six feet from the ground. The nest was very substantial and did not resemble that of a Willow Tit.

Blue Tit

Common and breeding in suitable holes in the orchards.

Long-tailed Tit

Fairly common up till the end of April, when they disappeared. One nest was found suspended in broom in the Forét de Crécy on 3 May with one egg. The nest was unfortunately subsequently deserted owing to rough treatment by one of my men.

Red-backed Shrike

First noted on 3 May. A not uncommon breeding species in the hedges bordering railway-lines round Abbeville.

Whitethroat

No note was made of the arrival of this species, but it is fairly common and a few nests were found.

Lesser Whitethroat

First noted on 29 April. A fairly common breeding species.

Garden Warbler

First noted on 29 April. Common.

Blackcap

First noted on 14 April. Common.

Reed Warbler

A very common breeding species in both districts. First noted on 14 May.

Marsh Warbler

Common in both districts. The first pair was noted on

20 May. With regard to their song, I noticed that those that lived

in the ryegrass mimicked Partridge and Quail, which were

common in the immediate neighbourhood. This was, of

course, in addition to many other successful efforts at

mimicry.

Great Reed Warbler

First noted on 14 May in a reed-bed near St. Valéry. A nest containing five fresh eggs found on 11 June. This is a very common species in the reed-beds at Peronne.

Sedge Warbler

First noted on 29 April. Not a very common breeding species, and only one nest met with.

Icterine Warbler

Although most carefully songht for, this species was not identified on the Somme, but is common in river valleys north of Abbeville.

Willow Warbler

First heard on 14 April. A fairly common breeding species.

Chiffchaff

First heard on 8 April. A fairly common breeding species.

Mistle Thrush

Not common. A pair here and there nesting in village

orchards.

Song Thrush

Not common, and extremely shy and retiring. They appear to breed much later than those at home. 

Redwing

Last seen on 3 May.

Fieldfare

Last seen on 29 April.

Blackbird

Common, but not nearly so much so as at home.

Ring Ouzel

Two observed on migration on 29 April.

Redstart

First noted on 8 April. A common breeding species, and a pair in nearly every orchard.

Robin

Fairly common.

Nightingale

First heard on 6 May. Common in suitable woods and spinneys.

Stonechat

A pair here and there, but not common. A nest with five considerably incubated eggs found on 8 May in a tuft of grass by the roadside at Neuville near St. Valery.

Whinchat

First noted on 9 May. A pair here and there, and commonest on the low-lying cultivated ground near the river mouth where they probably nested in the lucerne.

Wheatear

Common near the sea, where they were probably breeding in the shingle-banks.

Hedge Sparrow

Not uncommon round the villages.

Wren

A common nesting species.

Spotted Flycatcher

First noted on 4 May. A common nesting species.

                                      

                                            

Spotted Flycatcher - another common nesting species

Swallow

Common. The sites selected for nesting in the Peronne district were often quite remarkable owing to the absence of buildings. The birds often used the circular Nissen huts put up for the troops, and were extraordinarily tame and confiding. A wooden porch put up outside the ruined single room I occupied  at Roisel was used directly it was put up. Another pair made valiant efforts to build their nest under the hood of one of the Battery lorries. The lorry went out regularly, but the  birds carried on building operations on its return and only gave up after two or three days. Again, there was the curious case of a pair that managed to stick their nest against a vertical wall of a windowless room used by the officers of a Brigade HQ as a mess.

The nest had no sort of underneath support.

Housemartin

Moderately common

Sand Martin

Moderately common.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Fairly common. The only breeding-hole which I thought was a certainty was appropriated by a pair of large tree-mice or perhaps rats. 

Green Woodpecker

Common. Their breeding-holes were usually in most inaccessible positions well up the bare trunks of large beech trees.

Wryneck

Not observed till late in July

Cuckoo

Fairly common. A pinkish type of egg found in a Reed Warbler’s nest near Saigneville on 9 June. The Cuckoo had completely broken and practically destroyed one of the ReedWarbler’s eggs, and, of the remaining three, one was badly holed.

Swift

Common.

Kingfisher

Occasionally seen.

Barn Owl

Common, and constantly flushed from old willows.

Little Owl

Very common. Nests with five and three fresh eggs respectively found near St. Valéry on 19 May. In one case, a bird sat so closely that it allowed me to place my hand underneath it without making the least attempt to move away or retaliate. The nests found were

in old apple trees.

Godwit sp

A flock of about 20 near the mouth of the river in summer plumage and last seen on 9 May.

Lapwing

Large flocks in the early spring, but none remained to breed.

Little Grebe

Met with near Peronne, and a nest containing four fresh

eggs was found in the river swamp on 15 June.

Moorhen

Not very common. Breeds.

Coot

Common in the early spring, but did not appear to remain

for breeding purposes.

Woodpigeon

A fairly common breeding species.

Turtle Dove

A common breeding species. First noted on 6 May.

Partridge

Very common

Quail

Extremely common in both the river-mouth and Peronne districts, especially the latter. The thousands of acres of uncut grass must have meant a most successful undisturbed breeding season.

In conclusion, the writer wishes to state that he fully realises how incomplete this list is. 

Species such as Hobby, Bittern, the Rails, Goshawk and Honey Buzzard were carefully watched for with no success, and the gulls and waders which were common near the sea during the early spring

were not sought for and identified owing to lack of time and inclination. 

                                  

Beneficiary of uncut grass - quail (photo: Duncan Wright via Wikimedia)