Rudyard Lake - near Leek, Staffordshire

Spring is on its way, have you noticed how the daffodil bulbs are shooting through and birds are beginning to sing in full voice. Get down to Rudyard Lake early and there is an amazing chorus to be heard. We have a song thrush that gives us a welcome every morning in the trees at the back of the toilet block. The Rooks have returned in the tall Beech trees by the car park gates, they are presumably checking the old nests and finding mates for the forthcoming breeding season.

Song Thrush

Featured Bird for March
The Nuthatch
The Nuthatch is a surprisingly small bird with a big voice. It often mixes with flocks of tits in winter though its persistent loud calls soon give its presence away. The most common of its calls is an explosive qui qui-qui sound. Once you get to hear this, it’s very distinctive and one you’ll easily recognise again!

The Nuthatch hugs the branches of and trunks of trees and its ability to run down a tree separates it from all other British birds including Woodpeckers. The plumage on its back is slate-grey contrasting with a distinctive black stripe through the eye. Its cheeks are a clean white whilst the breast and under belly are a delightful rusty orange colour. Males have a deeper rusty appearance than females especially round the rump. Nuthatches are regular visitors to bird tables and feeders, so look out at our feeding stations at the top of the slipway and also up in the woodlands by the picnic tables and you won’t be disappointed!

The Nuthatch lives mainly in older deciduous woodland with mature trees. It is in these older trees that it finds holes to build its nest. They have been known to use nest boxes but not so often as the tit family. If the hole is to large or small the Nuthatch will chip out the wood to make it bigger or fetch an amazing amount of mud and plaster it around the hole to keep it safe from intruders! The nest is just a pile of soft bark chippings to cushion the eggs and young. These little birds are surprisingly active and quite bossy towards other small birds that are using the bird table or feeders.

Mind you after looking at that sharp pointed beak I don’t blame them for getting out of the way quickly! The picture above is one I managed to photograph recently, on one of the feeders.

Bird Report February/March 2008
The Mandarin Drake made a short appearance at the dam end again, but no sign of the Duck. The pair of Swans that flew in before Christmas have stayed around and show lots of affection to each other. The Cob is becoming quite aggressive and sees off all and sundry. He has taken a gross dislike to “Khrushcev” our resident Muskovi duck. Let’s hope the Swans do a bit more courting and nest building. The Goldeneye drakes were around until the end of February but have now departed. I have spotted a number of Goosanders, and a flock of Tufted duck have shown around the wide part of the lake for a while.

Most of the over wintering birds are getting into their breeding plumage. The many Great Crested Grebes have their beautiful crest back and are displaying to their mates. The Mallard drakes bottle green heads are now at there best and our flock of Black Headed Gulls again have their black heads back once more. A Tree Creeper has often been seen on the large Scots Pines by the Activity Centre; I have obtained a Tree Creeper nest box and will install this on one of these trees.

Chiff chaff

In the next few weeks listen out for the arrival of the early summer visitors. Normally the first will be the Chiffchaff, listen carefully and they will tell you their name with the distinctive high pitched “Chiff Chaff Chiff Chaff” call. Don’t get confused with one of the many voices of the Great tit as they can sound remarkably similar look for the bird. The Chiffchaff is a tiny olive brown bird which flits through the trees. It has a distinctive black eye line. They nest on the ground in well hidden places.

Sponsored Nest Boxes
We have put up over twenty new nest boxes all of them are numbered. Some of them have been supplied by Graham Green of the Staffs Wildlife Group. The others have been purchased by the Rudyard Lake League of Friends! To encourage children to take an interest in birds we are asking friends and families to sponsor a bird box. This costs just £5 per year and the sponsor will receive a laminated certificate and information as to where the box is situated and hopefully we will let you know if any birds take up residence in your box. These have proved to be very popular, I have about ten boxes left at present These are mainly located in the dam and feeder areas, which are quieter spots away from the crowds, excellent locations to watch bird activities. If you would like to sponsor a box see Ray, John or myself (Peter) in the Rangers office or contact us on We will continue to feed the birds for a few weeks yet. The bird table has proved very popular, but for the best bird watching, the two new Squirrel proof feeders that I have put in the trees in the picnic area are a magnet for small birds. If you sit quietly at the picnic tables you will get excellent viewing. Don’t forget your binoculars for close up identification. Many thanks to the people who have donated seed and fat etc; we get through it at an amazing rate.

Other Wildlife
Frogs have been quite active around the dam and bay areas. John had to evict a number from the toilet block where they had taken up temporary residence. Look out for frog spawn especially around the feeder outlets and in the bay north of the activity centre.

Next month I will hopefully report on lots of activity as the migrants arrive and the breeding season gets underway.

Peter J Durnall