Saturday 31 May 2014

Insomniac Owl

I had a quick walk on Friday and managed to hear a Little Owl calling from an Oak tree at 2.20pm which was a nice record as was a garden Spotted Flycatcher which was feeding from on top one of the silver birch trees in the garden .A distant Grey Heron was the only other bird of interest in amongst the usual suspects.
 Saturday dawned grey but dry and very mild .Willow and I made our way up to the patch and found in the hedges 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Whitethroat, and 4 Blackcap but apart from that very little else.
A distant Cuckoo called from the river meadows and 9 plus Swallow and 6 House Martin hawked overhead. As I walked in the vicinity of where I had seen the Yellow Wagtails ( no luck) my attention was drawn to a fence post and I was surprised to see a Little Owl sitting out in the open ,it was right next to the oak tree where  I had heard one from yesterday afternoon so I guess he or she is having trouble sleeping . Nice to see though .
On the pastures 3 Pied Wagtails fed or passed over and just 3 Stock Dove were seen today. It was great to see a Fox trot across the fields , it looked in really good condition .
Overhead a patch tick and a year tick for the patch itself was seen when a Little Egret flew north at 8.50am, these birds are seen all the time locally but it is the first time on the patch itself one has been seen in the 12 years I have lived here.
A flock of 8 Greylag Geese (feral ) passed over  then low and behold 2 Barnacle Geese (feral ) followed on ,another patch tick for the year ,although I have a few reservations on including plastic geese on the year list .
In the garden somehow the Blue Tits would of appeared to have managed to have fledged at least 3 young birds ,a miracle considering the nest box was on the ground at least 3 times .I have put a open fronted nest box up and although very late you never know ,it would be great if I could tempt the Flycatchers
In conversation with one of the local farmers  tells me that Tawny Owls have young in one of the oaks on the on the patch, a nice confirmation of breeding on the patch
The patch list ticks on to 77

Thursday 29 May 2014

Drizzlekicks

Yes I ma down with the kids ,but that was the weather that greeted Willow and I as we ventured out this morning .It was a holiday in Holland today so it was a perfect time to visit the patch on a week day .As I stepped out the door I heard  a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling , a good start but it was about to get a lot better when a Spotted Flycatcher alighted on a wire above my head. So the stars of the patch are here ,after weeks of worrying and wondering they are back, the stars of the patch for me ,they must be nesting elsewhere this year so I will try to track them down .
In the hedges despite the drizzle I managed to find 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Blackcap, 7 Whitethroat ( its been a great year for them so far ,it just seems to keep getting better ), and a calling Cuckoo.
On the pastures a Red Legged Partridge called hidden somewhere , 8 plus Skylarks did their best that it was actually spring time and 3 Pied Wagtails fed or passed over .
Overhead in front of the advancing drizzle a nice flock of  37 plus Swift passed over ,but only 4 Swallow were seen today. A Raven mugged one of the passing Buzzards ( there were 2 today), and a Stock Dove whizzed by .
The patch list moves to 75

Sunday 25 May 2014

Mellow Yellow

After Saturdays incessant rain, Sunday dawned bright and breezy .So Willow and I hit the patch at around 8.30am , a bit later than the norm.
As it was windy it was never going to be easy going but we still managed to find the usual 6 Blackcap , lesser numbers of Chiffchaff but a healthy 7 singing Whitethroats .
It was nice to see a Greater Spotted Woodpecker the first for a few days , they seem to be a bit down in numbers this year.
In the windy conditions attention was given to what was going on overhead. 2 or 3 Buzzards were floating overhead , good conditions for them I feel.  There was a nice selection of 12 plus Swallow along with 8 plus House Martins and 5 plus Swift feeding over and around the hedges .
An unusual sighting was a Lapwing that headed north , was it a late migrant or a local breeding bird from the local reserves. 2 Greylags also passed over heading towards Worcestershire.
As I was on the return leg the sound of 2 Bullfinches alerted me to their presence within the hedgerow. We are having a good run on them at the moment.
Over the pastures 6 plus Skylark were in good voice and 7 Stock Dove were seen . As Willow and I  made our way across a field with fairly long grass in it a bird darted up in front of us and landed on a large dung heap, the sight of a fine male Yellow Wagtail greeted my eyes , but it got better when a female landed along side her boyfriend .They are in the vicinity of where they bred last year so fingers crossed.
In the garden the nest box has almost fallen to bits so I decided to take it down but I was taken aback to find 4 Blue Tit chicks almost fledged inside if they survive it will a miracle , also seen was a juvenile Robin in the garden.
 So if I can just find some Spotted Flycatchers things will feel a whole lot better .

Thursday 22 May 2014

Spot or no Spot ?

First a confession, I sinned and left the patch for some easy birds down at  Ashleworth  , Redstart , Little Egrets , and species that are hard to get on the patch such as Willow Warbler were all easy picking s.
So since Sunday there have been variations of the usual birds on a daily basis , highlites being a very vocal Cuckoo which has called for the last 4 days and a flyover Red Kite which headed north east , maybe a late migrant .
A Curlew has been calling again from the river meadows again and most migrants are now busy raising their young . House Martins seem to be here in about the same numbers as last year, although we seem to have lost our Yellow Wagtails ,but I may have seen a Spotted Flycatcher earlier from the car as I drove into the driveway , it was a brief view so no definite id as yet ,but here "s hoping .

There are 2 pairs of Moorhens breeding on the patch this year ,a first for all the years I have lived here. There was also a male Yellowhammer present ,a good summer record. For my Bullfinch fan , I have managed to see at least three including a rather  buff female .
 There are plenty of Whitethroats this year and I am hoping it will be a bumper year for them .Blackcaps are faring well as are Chiffchaffs.
A proper update will follow on Saturday morning

Saturday 17 May 2014

Missing friends

Its a case of wall to wall sunshine at the moment , so there fore no birds that are passing over are liable to stop off. The last week as has been fairly quiet with only a Cuckoo of note .
 It is fair to say that overall the spring has been very poor with birds only been seen in small numbers or even not at all. We seem to have lost our breeding Willow Warblers ,Yellow Wagtails and as yet our Spotted Flycatchers have not arrived .As far as  House Martins concerned they  are only present in very small numbers and Swallows are in low numbers as well. I wonder if this a local thing or have other people seen this ?
This morning was a stunning morning with the patch looking resplendent with Hawthorn in full flower and the fields covered in Buttercups .
 In the hedges were 6 Blackcap ,along with 7 Whitethroat, 5 Chiffchaff and 1 Lesser Whitethroat.
The pastureland held 8 plus Skylark which were in fine voice , 3 Red Legged Partridge and a pair of Linnet which look as if they are breeding .
A Green Woodpecker and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker both called but were unseen.
Overhead 10 Swallow and just 3 House Martin were seen and 2 Buzzards soared overhead.
Just as I got home a fine pair of Bullfinch flew in front of me ,male and female were seen and I heard another when passing a hedgerow so 3 were in the vicinity .
 All  in all very quiet but who knows what may turn up .

Monday 12 May 2014

High Drama

Sunday was a morning of high winds, heavy rain showers and a very cold feel , sort of October in May if you get my feeling. With that in mind I was not expecting to see much and I right I did"nt see much at all.
In the hedges were 5 Blackcap which  sang despite the wind etc , meagre support were in the form of 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Whitethroat , and a Lesser Whitethroat .
 Overhead 5 Swallow fed over the fields and the first 3 House Matins were around their nest sites at Town Street farm.
Around the fields itself were 5 Skylark ,1 Red Legged Partridge and a healthy 9 Stock Dove . In the field that has the Wheatears in there were 2Pied Wagtails feeding.
 Bird of the day came in the form of a female Sparrow Hawk that zipped out a hedgerow and into a large oak tree.
As the title suggests the big news of the day was the sad event of one of the older nest boxes being dislodged by the wind and falling onto the lawn .Inside were 3 very recently hatched chicks and 4 eggs ,I managed to put the chicks and eggs back into the box and reattach the box to the tree although the box now has a large gap at the back and it is impossible to fix with the chicks in there , the adults were still trying to feed the young last night, but I have checked this afternoon and it looks as if they have given up ,very sad .

Saturday 10 May 2014

Rant time

The last week has seen the return of wind and some heavy showers and during my brief visits to the patch it was nice to see a steady through put of Wheatears passing through and the addition of species number 73 with the appearance of 2 Sand Martin in amongst a flock of 10 Swallows that were grounded in the high winds .Although there are two small colonies nearby on the river it is a bird that does not show up too often.
I was out at 7am in an effort to correct the lousy coverage over the last weeks and although it was windy some birds are still passing through and some of the summer migrants and resident birds are busy with job of breeding and setting up territory .
 In the hedges this morning were 6 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff , 6 Whitethroat , and still 2 Lesser Whitethroat.
A distant Cuckoo called briefly as did a Green Woodpecker. On the pasture a fine male Wheatear rested on his long journey and 7 Skylark were in fine voice. 2 Red legged Partridge ran over the field margin and disappeared from view . A  Pied Wagtail was feeding on a recently rolled field.
Overhead 9 Swallow , just a single House Martin put in an appearance. It was then that species number 74 appeared with the first 5 Swift of the year heading north ,great birds , I love them .
A nice count of 8 Stock Dove were in breeding areas ,and a Moorhen called hidden from a small pond .
 For my Bullfinch fan I managed to hear one but could not find it as it was hidden in the vegetation. 4 Buzzards were taking advantage of the conditions overhead . Willow and I also flushed 2 fine Brown Hares.
In the garden the pair of Blue Tits have failed as the nest box was damaged with the roof being half broken off, I will have to replace that for next year. It is good to see that Blackbirds and Starlings seem to be having a good breeding season locally. Some of our summer migrants are still missing to a larger extent with hardly any local House Martins ,Willow Warblers ,only one passing Yellow Wagtail and still no Spotted Flycatchers.
So the rant , People you must watch and support Chris Packham and his quest to stop the spring hunting in Malta , if you see what is going on it is a disgrace, with everything and I mean everything being blown out of the sky. Write to your MEP ,call the embassy ,boycott the island, I urge you to watch this, its on  U Tube, it will make your blood boil . A similar thing is occurring in the Lebanon ,you can see this on Facebook with a group called Stop the Slaughter in Lebanon ,you will stare in disbelief at what these people are doing to OUR  birds. We have to stop it  now.
The patch list now stands at 74 .
A further update tomorrow    

Sunday 4 May 2014

Two more for the patch.

Its been awhile since I updated the blog , circumstances have dictated otherwise, so in truth I may have missed some stuff that may have passed through .But that been said I got out on Thursday and found 2 more species for the year list .The first been 2 singing Lesser Whitethroats which were kept company by just 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat. It was mid afternoon so bird song was not at a premium .
A Cuckoo called from the river meadows and 5 Buzzards were up enjoying the conditions.
It was nice to see a Raven the first for awhile and Skylarks were in fine voice although there were only 4 .
 Overhead 11 Swallows passed over , the best bird of the day was a fine male Yellow Wagtail which called as it passed due north .
In the pasture were the usual 2 Red Legged Partridge kept company by 2 Pied Wagtail.
The patch list goes to 72 for the year.