The last week brought our species total for the patch to 52 with a cracking pair of Peregrine Falcons that were stooping at the resident flock of feral doves that inhabit one of the local barns ,fantastic to watch and a great bird to see at any time of the year.
There have been a few signs of early spring with the first Linnet seen on Tuesday for quite awhile and a number of singing Skylark over the fields. The other feature has been the number of winter Thrush that have passed through the patch ,its usual as birds filter back North and Eastwards . Its the same with Starlings and numbers have been on the rise as a result.
So Sunday was the only day we could get out and Willow and I were out by 7.30am .There had been a frost ahead of the forecasted wet weather and it felt bone chilling whilst walking about.
The first bird seen was a Jay that has been visiting the garden of late and whilst out another one was heard , perhaps they have been there all along but just gone a bit quiet of late.
The whole patch was covered in Thrush this morning with at least 150 plus Redwing and 250 plus Fieldfares , they were bouncing all over the fields and hedges .The birds are looking really dapper as they prepare to leave for the north lands. The other bird that is keeping them company is the Starling with at least 800 plus on the patch this morning.
We still appear to have our winter Blackbirds in residence with 26 plus on the patch this morning.
Overhead a few bids passed over with a decent showing of Lapwings with 137 plus seen and a/some Golden Plover were heard but I could not manage to pick them up out of the big blue. A Cormorant passed heading due East , may be a departing winter visitor ?
On the pastures themselves a few Meadow Pipits are about ,but there were only 10 birds this morning, more will pass through as the spring proceeds. Skylarks numbered 10 plus today with at least 3 singing. Stock Dove are displaying and singing with 10 seen around their usual breeding areas.
The Wagtail passage still trickles through with at least 15 pus today, but I have yet to find a White in amongst them yet. The Woodpecker family got into the act with a Greater Spotted flying over and 1 plus Green calling from around the patch.
The other two species of note that passed over ,were a Raven carrying what looked like his breakfast and a Grey Heron which was heading north .
So the species list for this year stands at 52 .
Sunday 22 February 2015
Sunday 15 February 2015
Back on the patch
Getting back on the patch was on the agenda having been in Holland for the last week with work. I was so busy so no time for any birding but just driving I saw Great White Egret, White Stork ,thousands of Duck , Lapwing , Shelducks and loads more great birds.
So I was hopeful of finding the bird that would get us into the fifties and Willow and I were out by 8.30 ish. The first thing I noted was that it was a lot milder and there was plenty of bird song from the resident species in particular Song Thrush with up to 8 singing around the patch .
Winter Thrush were still on the patch with 43 plus Redwing and a healthy 56 plus Fieldfare ,some birds looked as if they were heading a north easterly direction and we can expect an upsurge in numbers as birds pass through as they head north to their breeding grounds . The other Thrush species were 2 high flying Mistle thrush heading north east and we are still we are covered in a blanket of Blackbirds with 31 plus seen on Saturday.
A sure sign of early spring was a flock of 16 Pied Wagtail which fed in a recently harvested fodder beet field, around 12 Meadow Pipits kept them company .In the top fields a recently arrived flock of 50 plus Meadow Pipits fed. So in the end a good count of 63 plus birds were seen . A scattering of 17 Skylarks were on various fields and a couple are now singing. Starlings seem to be building up in numbers as they prepare to leave for the summer months, I counted around 150 plus today.
As I turned for home a flock of birds caught my eye and there was number 51 for the year on the patch , a fantastic flock of 61 plus Golden Plover moved over in a North Easterly direction. A good bird to see on the patch and a real special bird for me as they represent the wild north lands.
Overhead a flock of 8 Greylag Geese headed for the river meadows and a male Kestrel flew over calling as it went.
On the pastures Stock Doves were represented with 6 birds seen around their breeding areas. In the hedges apart from the usual resident birds 3 superb Bullfinch were seen .
Woodpeckers were represented with 3 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers ,the first 2 been seen in the cottage garden and 2 Green Woodpeckers called from around the area.
The other bird of note were 3 Buzzards .
Sunday was a tad colder but as far as the birds were concerned it was more of the same but with exception that winter Thrush were blanketing the patch with good counts of 177 plus Fieldfare and 202 Redwings , its usual that we see good counts at this time of year as birds pass through . Other Thrush were 26 plus Blackbird , 2 Mistle Thrush and a good count of 9 Song Thrush .
Around the fields 10 Stock Dove were seen and a small count of just 5 Meadow Pipits were about the rest having moved through . Skylarks were also down in numbers with 9 over the fields .
The small flock of 12 Pied wagtails still fed in the same area .
Overhead a soaring Grey Heron put in an appearance and 150 plus Starling passed over in a general Northerly direction .
Raptors were represented by 2 Buzzards and a female Kestrel .
So we now have a total of 51 species for the patch for the year so far.
So I was hopeful of finding the bird that would get us into the fifties and Willow and I were out by 8.30 ish. The first thing I noted was that it was a lot milder and there was plenty of bird song from the resident species in particular Song Thrush with up to 8 singing around the patch .
Winter Thrush were still on the patch with 43 plus Redwing and a healthy 56 plus Fieldfare ,some birds looked as if they were heading a north easterly direction and we can expect an upsurge in numbers as birds pass through as they head north to their breeding grounds . The other Thrush species were 2 high flying Mistle thrush heading north east and we are still we are covered in a blanket of Blackbirds with 31 plus seen on Saturday.
A sure sign of early spring was a flock of 16 Pied Wagtail which fed in a recently harvested fodder beet field, around 12 Meadow Pipits kept them company .In the top fields a recently arrived flock of 50 plus Meadow Pipits fed. So in the end a good count of 63 plus birds were seen . A scattering of 17 Skylarks were on various fields and a couple are now singing. Starlings seem to be building up in numbers as they prepare to leave for the summer months, I counted around 150 plus today.
As I turned for home a flock of birds caught my eye and there was number 51 for the year on the patch , a fantastic flock of 61 plus Golden Plover moved over in a North Easterly direction. A good bird to see on the patch and a real special bird for me as they represent the wild north lands.
Overhead a flock of 8 Greylag Geese headed for the river meadows and a male Kestrel flew over calling as it went.
On the pastures Stock Doves were represented with 6 birds seen around their breeding areas. In the hedges apart from the usual resident birds 3 superb Bullfinch were seen .
Woodpeckers were represented with 3 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers ,the first 2 been seen in the cottage garden and 2 Green Woodpeckers called from around the area.
The other bird of note were 3 Buzzards .
Sunday was a tad colder but as far as the birds were concerned it was more of the same but with exception that winter Thrush were blanketing the patch with good counts of 177 plus Fieldfare and 202 Redwings , its usual that we see good counts at this time of year as birds pass through . Other Thrush were 26 plus Blackbird , 2 Mistle Thrush and a good count of 9 Song Thrush .
Around the fields 10 Stock Dove were seen and a small count of just 5 Meadow Pipits were about the rest having moved through . Skylarks were also down in numbers with 9 over the fields .
The small flock of 12 Pied wagtails still fed in the same area .
Overhead a soaring Grey Heron put in an appearance and 150 plus Starling passed over in a general Northerly direction .
Raptors were represented by 2 Buzzards and a female Kestrel .
So we now have a total of 51 species for the patch for the year so far.
Monday 2 February 2015
50 UP !
Well the weekend past was a really cold affair with a rapier like north wind ,sleet showers ,hard frost and a general cold feel to proceedings. I was hoping the colder weather would bring something a little less usual to the feeders but no such luck. although the feeders have been heaving with all the usual suspects, its costing me a small fortune on bird food .
Saturday started with a sleet shower and then became sunny but very cold. Winter Thrush were scattered over the patch with still good numbers of Blackbirds about I counted 27 plus today along with 11 Fieldfare and 53 plus Redwing .The other Thrush species chipped in with 5 Song and just 1 Mistle Thrush today.
On the pastures themselves bird numbers were down with just 6 Meadow Pipits and a fair number of Skylark with 21 plus , perhaps the odd upturn in numbers are birds just moving around their winter territories or are they birds filtering back north ? .The odd Pied Wagtail put in an appearance and it was fair to say there were a good few Gulls passing over, especially Black Headed with over 100 plus passing north towards feeding grounds on the Cotswold etc, part of me likes to think that they maybe the first spring migrants. Other Gull species were Lesser Black Backed ,Common and Herring.
A small flock of 20 Chaffinch passed west perhaps moving because of the hard weather. Woodpeckers were represented with 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker ,one of which was drumming and a vocal Green Woodpecker that went unseen .
On the raptor front were 4 Buzzards that seemed to like the conditions and a pair of very vocal Kestrel . So the patch continues in the mid to late winter vain at the moment and although quiet sometimes the odd surprise can occur.
Sunday was brighter although the wind was even more bone numbing !
On the bird front it was much the same as the day before although a good number of Redwing with 98 and 5 Fieldfare were on pasture next to the cottage. Having seen that I thought the patch was going to be in good form but in fact it was very quiet although the blanket of Blackbirds were still in evidence with 34 plus today ,a high count for the winter so far ! .Other winter Thrush today were 54 plus redwing, 19 plus Fieldfare and 3 Mistle Thrush. I am going to miss all these Thrush when they disappear northwards.
Again the pastures were quiet with 8 Meadow Pipits and 14 plus Skylark, maybe the birds were hunkered down against the wind . 8 Stock Dove were around breeding area with some display flying. A few Pied Wagtails passed south west in search of warmer climes perhaps. It was then the highlight of the walk took place when the 50th species popped out of a small pond when a pair of Mallard lept out in front of me , not a rare bird but the first of the year for the patch.
The best of the rest were a flock of 45 Black Headed Gulls which paused to feed amongst a flock of sheep before moving north and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
So with January passed we stand at 50 species and with 48 weeks to go I have to find 40 species if I am to reach my goal of 90 species for the year for the patch .Its going to be a tall order so bring on the spring or even better a few cold weather birds.
Saturday started with a sleet shower and then became sunny but very cold. Winter Thrush were scattered over the patch with still good numbers of Blackbirds about I counted 27 plus today along with 11 Fieldfare and 53 plus Redwing .The other Thrush species chipped in with 5 Song and just 1 Mistle Thrush today.
On the pastures themselves bird numbers were down with just 6 Meadow Pipits and a fair number of Skylark with 21 plus , perhaps the odd upturn in numbers are birds just moving around their winter territories or are they birds filtering back north ? .The odd Pied Wagtail put in an appearance and it was fair to say there were a good few Gulls passing over, especially Black Headed with over 100 plus passing north towards feeding grounds on the Cotswold etc, part of me likes to think that they maybe the first spring migrants. Other Gull species were Lesser Black Backed ,Common and Herring.
A small flock of 20 Chaffinch passed west perhaps moving because of the hard weather. Woodpeckers were represented with 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker ,one of which was drumming and a vocal Green Woodpecker that went unseen .
On the raptor front were 4 Buzzards that seemed to like the conditions and a pair of very vocal Kestrel . So the patch continues in the mid to late winter vain at the moment and although quiet sometimes the odd surprise can occur.
Sunday was brighter although the wind was even more bone numbing !
On the bird front it was much the same as the day before although a good number of Redwing with 98 and 5 Fieldfare were on pasture next to the cottage. Having seen that I thought the patch was going to be in good form but in fact it was very quiet although the blanket of Blackbirds were still in evidence with 34 plus today ,a high count for the winter so far ! .Other winter Thrush today were 54 plus redwing, 19 plus Fieldfare and 3 Mistle Thrush. I am going to miss all these Thrush when they disappear northwards.
Again the pastures were quiet with 8 Meadow Pipits and 14 plus Skylark, maybe the birds were hunkered down against the wind . 8 Stock Dove were around breeding area with some display flying. A few Pied Wagtails passed south west in search of warmer climes perhaps. It was then the highlight of the walk took place when the 50th species popped out of a small pond when a pair of Mallard lept out in front of me , not a rare bird but the first of the year for the patch.
The best of the rest were a flock of 45 Black Headed Gulls which paused to feed amongst a flock of sheep before moving north and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
So with January passed we stand at 50 species and with 48 weeks to go I have to find 40 species if I am to reach my goal of 90 species for the year for the patch .Its going to be a tall order so bring on the spring or even better a few cold weather birds.
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