Monday 21 April 2014

Come in number 70 your time is up

A perfect morning , clear blue skies , a slight breeze , just perfect. Willow woke me up at 6.30am so I was out early. By the looks of it there had been a shower  overnight  ,had there been a few migrants brought down ? .
There were a few more Blackcaps around today with 9 been seen or heard and Chiffchaffs were slightly down with 5 . The Willow Warbler was singing again near the cottage but I think it will move on soon. Whitethroats remain at a static 5 , all singing from the hedges .
The good weather brought the sound of a Cuckoo calling from the direction of the river meadows . It was then things started hotting up when I discovered a superb male Whinchat on a patch of rough ground , number 70 for the patch for this year.
I had already passed  some fields looking for Wheatears without success but on passing the same field there 2 fine males present , showing that birds were on the move, a little further on and another 3 males were found in another field .
Other birds moving north overhead  were a trickle of 6 Swallow  and a single House Martin , also a rather late Meadow Pipit , the first for quite a while .
On the pastures were at least 9 Skylarks were in fine voice ,and 3 Red Legged Partridge were dotted about . I managed to see a Yellowhammer as it disappeared over the hedges and I heard a Bullfinch calling from a hedge somewhere .I am always looking for Bullfinches now ,as there is a fan who reads this rubbish !
The best of the rest were 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Pied Wagtail , Stock Dove , Moorhen , Greater Spotted Woodpecker .
The morning finished with 3 Buzzards over the cottage calling to each other .
The patch count stands at 70 .

Sunday 20 April 2014

Prolonged 69er !

The weekend dawned clear, bright ,with some sunshine on offer. So I was ready to clock up the 70th species for the patch as it appeared the conditions would be perfect for doing just that , but as you can see it was not to be.  That being said however it was still a productive walk.
First bird heard was a singing Willow Warbler near the cottage,  they are moving through at the moment ,although they do breed very close by at Ashleworth . Their close relative the Chiffchaff seemed to have arrived in numbers with 8 been seen or heard ,however Blackcap only numbered 2 , some having moved on .
 In the hedges Whitethroats were up in number with 4 singing from a number of locations , but no sign of any Lesser Whitethroats as yet .
From the river meadows came the call of a Curlew , I hope they succeed in breeding this year .
On the pasture there were at least 8 Skylark in fine voice and a good count of 6 of Red Legged Partridge around .
The ever present Green Woodpecker called and 2 Stock Dove put in a appearance . A distant drumming Greater Spotted Woodpecker was also heard .
 It is pleasing to report that a pair of Mistle Thrush appear to have bred on the patch , I saw birds carrying food to the nest , a good sign.
On the raptor front 2 Buzzards were overhead and a female Kestrel was given a good shoeing by the local crows as she made her way over the patch .
There were a few Swallows noted with small flock noted in the top fields ,some birds resting on a wire fence, perhaps taking a quick rest during their journey north, numbers are still low with only 6 seen today.
What a difference a day makes as Sunday has dawned cold ,grey with a biting wind. I have a feeling that it will have put the brakes on migration . I went on the usual circuit not very optimistic and it was confirmed as it was a very quiet walk.
There was a trickle of northward bound Swallows with 12 zipping past .
In the hedges were 5 Blackcap and 9 Chiffchaff this morning , but just 2 Whitethroat  were seen , one giving a good view of its display flight this morning.
The male Yellowhammer is still singing which is a good sign , so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
On the pastures were just 2 Skylarks and a single Red Legged Partridge , perhaps it was just too cold for singing today.
 For my Bullfinch fan ,success !   when I found 2 stonking males and 1 female near one of their usual feeding places , so they are around .
 The best of the rest of a rather short list were a Greater Spotted Woodpecker and 3 Stock Dove.
 In the garden the pair of Blue Tits are in residence in the nest box and the Robins have set up home in the adjoining hedgerow of the our nearest neighbours .
I have already seen a juvenile Blackbird in the garden which seems very early

Sunday 13 April 2014

69er

Well it got your attention , the 69th patch tick appeared today on quick jaunt around the patch , the bird in question was House Martin 3 of which headed north this morning along with 9 Swallow which were doing the same .I was only out for around an hour but it looked as if Swallows were passing through in a constant passage.
I did the usual scan on the ploughed fields for Wheatears ,and did not expect to see any but hey presto  there were 4 of them feeding on the dirt.
In the hedges (or the few I covered ) I found just one each of Chiffchaff and Blackcap ,there were also 2 singing Whitethroats this morning.
On the same field as the Wheatears 2 Pied Wagtails and a Mistle Thrush were feeding .
The best of the rest were Buzzard, 6 Skylark, Greater Spotted Woodpecker,  Stock Dove, 2 Red Legged Partridge.
The patch tick list goes to 69

Saturday 12 April 2014

Here they come

With a pair of Jackdaws having a disco on my roof near the chimney pots at 5am it was obvious that I was meant to get up and get out on the patch ,so it was 6am when Willow and I stepped out. First bird a female Sparrowhawk that zipped over the neighbours roof , a good start. We were only just a short distance up the lane when a Grey Heron passed over heading towards the river .

With the weather having been so great yesterday I was hoping that migrants would of started to arrive and that they would be passing through .
Chiffchaffs were still at 6/7 mark and Blackcaps were in fine voice with 5 been heard. So it looked as if there had not been any influx of these two species.
As I walked over the pasture in a vain search for Wheatears they were 6 Skylarks singing and 3 Red Legged Partridge exploded from the field edges. I then heard the unmistakable rattle of the first Common Whitethroat of the year, great to have them back ,I love them . 2 pairs of Linnets were on breeding territory and Stock Doves were displaying (5 birds seen ).
 Things were starting to hot up at this point and I was very surprised to hear the sound of the summer when a Cuckoo called briefly , we struggle to to hear them before May usually, (although one was seen and heard at Ashleworth yesterday), so this was an early bird for the patch .
 A male Yellowhammer was singing near where I saw him last week so I have high hopes for breeding on the patch ( not me ,the Yellowhammer you understand ), it would be great to see them on a more regular basis .
As I walked on a female Kestrel hunted the field margins and 2 Buzzards flapped by ,one being chased by a gang of crows .
Willow then put up a Brown Hare but did not bother to chase it as she knows its no contest !
From a nearby wooded area a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was drumming , and in the distance the Green Woodpecker called(I did see it yesterday when it made a pit stop in the garden for some Ants off the lawn), .
We turned for home and I was greeted by the sound of a Willow Warbler singing from near the cottage, he will just be passing through ,although last year a pair were on the patch all summer, ( this will not be the case this year as the landowner has tidied up that area a great shame ).
We were near the cottage when I heard a soft call telling me that a Bullfinch was in the hedgerow , so for my Bullfinch fan they are still here !
The best of the rest were 4 Pied Wagtails (2 pairs on farm yards ).
So the patch tick list (thank you patch groupies ), now jumps to 68

Thursday 10 April 2014

Boooooooooooom !

I have a right to be pumped this afternoon , I went out at around 3.45pm for a quick jaunt up the road, I scanned fields for Wheatears without any luck , a couple of Swallows were seen ,one seems to be a local bird perching on wires near a breeding sight ,but in truth not a lot else ,Chiffchaffs  and Blackcaps were singing but that was about it, I made a quick scan up and down the river valley as I usually do and boooom there was an OSPREY  drifting upriver one hell of a way to bring the 64 th species of the year to the patch ,it is also a patch tick .You just never know what will turn up here .

Sunday 6 April 2014

Just Ticking

I had high hopes for the weekend but in the end both walks on Saturday and Sunday seemed to be a bit of a let down given the time of year .
Spring migrants are arriving but very slowly , with Chiffchaffs slowly building up numbers with 5 on Saturday and then 7 on Sunday , a similar story been seen with Blackcaps with 3 on Saturday ,then 5 on Sunday .I could not find any other warblers yet ,but they cannot be far behind.
 On the pastureland Skylarks were in good voice with 8 plus singing on Sunday, but on Saturday only 2 been seen . Our flock of Meadow Pipits have departed so it was nice to see a flyover bird heading north ,then a small  party of 3 on a ploughed field on Sunday, spring migrants passing through no doubt.
The ever present and ever calling but invisible Green Woodpecker was present , calling from the distance .
There was a influx of Stock Dove on Sunday with 11 ,but birds seem to be local with most of them being near suitable breeding areas.
On the raptor front ,a female Kestrel drifted across the patch on Saturday ,and the local pair of Buzzards were near their usual nesting area.
On Sunday 2 Raven passed over low calling heading north , great birds and a joy to them on such a regular basis over the local area nowadays.
A pair of Yellowhammer on the northern edge of the patch gives me hope they may try to breed nearby, its really sad that once such a common bird is in so much trouble thanks to our farming practices nowadays.
The best of the rest were 2 Pied Wagtails and 2 flyover Greylag Geese.
 The local birds are getting on with the job of setting up home and or breeding .One of the first birds I saw this morning was a female Blackbird carrying food , you would find it hard to believe that they may have young already. I also saw a Jackdaw taking fur off the back of rather unconcerned cow and Great and Blue Tits taking nesting material from some bulrushes from around a small pond  so despite the lack of migrants this weekend for some Spring time has arrived .
In the garden our Blue Tits are still looking like they will use the nest box  ,and we are still getting visits from the local Robins. For my Bullfinch fan ,sorry I came up with a big blank again today.
  

Friday 4 April 2014

Red Friday

Yes , a very quick update on a weekday ,whatever next ? . Normally I would wait till the weekend to fill in the midweek gaps but the bird we all wait for  started to show itself for the summer with the first sighting of a Swallow on Wednesday ,that is the earliest record for the patch by a number of days and lo and behold it was followed by another one on Thursday .Both birds passed through heading north ,and both  did not linger for long.
Chiffchaff numbers continue to build although still in low numbers and Blackcaps are dotted about but are yet to arrive in force.
Friday was a good day with numbers of Common Gulls heading high north east , in excitable flocks calling to each other as they passed over ,that in itself was a great sight, sometimes it is good to revel in the ordinary .
I then received a phone call and whilst leaning against an iron gate chatting away as you do my attention was drawn to a bird that appeared over the tree line , it was obvious that the bird was a Red Kite ,it passed low over heading north .We usually get April /May records of these birds ,perhaps they are migrants that have wintered else where and are on their way back to breeding areas .
 The species number for the patch jumps to 63 for the year so far .I looked for some signs of Bullfinches on the way back to the cottage for my Bullfinch fan but again I lucked out .
I am going to get out really early tomorrow as I have a full day ahead and want to cover the patch early before my day starts .Lets see what turns up tomorrow .