A rare bird has hatched out in a
hanging basket next to a front door near Exeter.
Claire Willacy noticed a pair of
spotted flycatchers nesting among the fuschias and surfinias outside her
four-bedroom semi in Broadclyst.
And the bird family is now
involved in a pioneering project using the latest technology which is trying to
solve the mystery of why the numbers of the summer visitors have dramatically
fallen in recent years.
A week ago two of the three
original eggs hatched. One of the babies died but the survivor, which started
life the size of a thumbnail, is growing fast.
Yesterday researchers from the
bird charity the RSPB fitted one of the adults bird with a data logger, so they
will be able to gather information about where it ends up.
This is the first year of the
Spotted Flycatcher Tracking Project, jointly funded by the RSPB, the British
Trust for Ornithology and Devon Birds.
Spotted flycatchers are on a red
list of endangered species, with figures showing a huge decline in numbers in
recent years, with numbers dropping by half in the last 25 years.
The birds are summer visitors to
the UK where they breed, then start heading south from August to spend the
winter in Africa, some flying as far as the south of the continent.
They eat flying insects, mainly
flies, wasps and bees.
Mrs Willacy, who has named the
baby bird Hope, said it was the first time she had noticed the species in the
area.
