A stunning morning ,clear blue skies , no breeze a perfect morning, Willow and I were out at 7am with the sun rising over the mist covered river meadows , a perfect sight ,it felt good to be alive. There must be a early summer migrant , but in the event perhaps I was getting ahead of myself.
A massive flight of Gulls first thing was an amazing thing to see with an estimated 2500 Black Headed Gulls ,500 plus Common Gulls and a smaller number of Lesser Black Backed Gulls all heading upriver and North East.
On the pastures were 12 Skylarks with some in full song and Meadow Pipits had reduced to 29 plus ,some having moved on. A single Red Legged Partridge was heard calling ,but not seen .
The 3 by now regular Linnets were in the usual place and there were 4 Pied Wagtails feeding on the large piles of Cow manure that has been dumped in the fields ready for spreading .
A few tardy winter Thrush s remained with 5 Redwing and 13 plus Fieldfares, maybe these are birds passing through our area.
2 drumming Greater Spotted Woodpeckers were heard a sure sign that spring is really going to happen and a distant Green Woodpecker called.
I usually pass a small belt of conifers and its about this time I may see Britains smallest bird the Goldcrest ,and today species number 56 rolled in with 2 of these little beauties , I just do not see them enough around these parts. I have always admired them as when I was at Spurn point seeing them arrive across the North Sea at dawn was incredible ,smaller than a Wren and weighting less than a 10p piece to fly over the North Sea in October , nothing short of a miracle.
Best of the rest were 6 Stock Dove and a calling unseen Moorhen.
Having heard from a mate on the south coast that the first wave of Wheatears arrived this morning things should start to liven up somewhat.
The species list now stands at 56
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Bird Porn !
Well here we are again with another update on whats been on the patch in the week and Saturday. The only highlight from midweek was an Tawny Owl which called briefly on Wednesday evening.
I managed to get out on Friday afternoon and it was evident that spring is on its way ,however the first birds seen were a flock of 25 Fieldfare, the rest would of appeared to have moved on northwards.
The floods have receded but there are still large areas of water and there were still the usual Gull flock 300/400 birds Black Headed ,Common, and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in that order being present.
On the meadows 8 Skylarks were present with up to 5 singing, there were also 38 plus Meadow Pipits ,a sure sign of spring migration these birds will be as high north as Iceland come the summer months ,awesome really when you think about it.
Overhead a very high flying flock of some 200 plus Starling headed north east ,leaving us for northern climes for the summer.
The best of the rest were 12 Stock Dove 2 female Kestrel and 6 Buzzards
One of the things that happens when you become as the only" birder in the village " is that sometimes neighbours bring you pictures of birds that they cannot id themselves ,this happened yesterday when I was presented with a picture of an unusual Pheasant that visited next doors garden, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realised that it was a male Amherst "s Pheasant ,a bird I have not seen but you cannot count it as I did not see it myself. There is a small feral population in Buckinghamshire so what a bird was doing here is any ones guess .
I did not get out until Saturday lunchtime and the weather was stunning ,a really great spring day. It is sometimes what you do not see as much as what you do and with only 2 Fieldfare and 4 Redwing it appears that they will all be gone soon until next October .
On the meadows at 1500 Gulls were present ,all the usual species although there seemed to be many more Common Gulls than of late ,these birds will also be off north soon. A lone Lapwing flew downriver .
On the pastures 11 Skylark were in good voice and there were 2 flocks of Meadow Pipits which totalled 41 plus birds.
A Mistle Thrush passed over as did a flock of 85 plus Starling . There were 50 plus Woodpigeon in a flock as well and a male Sparrow hawk was patrolling the hedges.
The best of the rest were a Red Legged Partridge ,Buzzard ,Pied Wagtail ( a big drop from the numbers the other day), and 8 Stock Dove.
Lets see what tomorrow brings .
I managed to get out on Friday afternoon and it was evident that spring is on its way ,however the first birds seen were a flock of 25 Fieldfare, the rest would of appeared to have moved on northwards.
The floods have receded but there are still large areas of water and there were still the usual Gull flock 300/400 birds Black Headed ,Common, and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in that order being present.
On the meadows 8 Skylarks were present with up to 5 singing, there were also 38 plus Meadow Pipits ,a sure sign of spring migration these birds will be as high north as Iceland come the summer months ,awesome really when you think about it.
Overhead a very high flying flock of some 200 plus Starling headed north east ,leaving us for northern climes for the summer.
The best of the rest were 12 Stock Dove 2 female Kestrel and 6 Buzzards
One of the things that happens when you become as the only" birder in the village " is that sometimes neighbours bring you pictures of birds that they cannot id themselves ,this happened yesterday when I was presented with a picture of an unusual Pheasant that visited next doors garden, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realised that it was a male Amherst "s Pheasant ,a bird I have not seen but you cannot count it as I did not see it myself. There is a small feral population in Buckinghamshire so what a bird was doing here is any ones guess .
I did not get out until Saturday lunchtime and the weather was stunning ,a really great spring day. It is sometimes what you do not see as much as what you do and with only 2 Fieldfare and 4 Redwing it appears that they will all be gone soon until next October .
On the meadows at 1500 Gulls were present ,all the usual species although there seemed to be many more Common Gulls than of late ,these birds will also be off north soon. A lone Lapwing flew downriver .
On the pastures 11 Skylark were in good voice and there were 2 flocks of Meadow Pipits which totalled 41 plus birds.
A Mistle Thrush passed over as did a flock of 85 plus Starling . There were 50 plus Woodpigeon in a flock as well and a male Sparrow hawk was patrolling the hedges.
The best of the rest were a Red Legged Partridge ,Buzzard ,Pied Wagtail ( a big drop from the numbers the other day), and 8 Stock Dove.
Lets see what tomorrow brings .
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Northern Song
Saturday the 1st of March ,the first day of spring so it made sense that it would be a freezing cold morning with a frost and clear blue skies , the wacky weather continues.
The birds were getting into the swing of things ,it had a real spring feel about things this morning with plenty of birdsong.
The sun was rising over the mist covered meadows and one of the first things that greeted me were
4 Mute Swans that passed over the front of the red sun and into the mist, just stunning.
It was obvious the gull flock was still there with at least 2500 birds present with Black Headed, Common, Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls all present.
On the pasture Skylarks were singing with 13 birds present, some will try to breed here but others will soon move north . Meadow Pipits were evident in larger numbers than of late with a flock of 10 north over the cottage and another flock of 40 plus on the top fields ,with them were a flock of spring migrant Pied Wagtails with up to 45 plus birds present.
Linnets put a good show on as well with a flock of 27 buzzing around.
Species number 55 appeared in the form of 2 flyover Greylag Geese ,although they are feral it is sometimes a question of whether to include them or not on the species count.
Winter thrushes have decreased of late as birds move to the far north to breed in the Taiga and Boreal forests of the north so it was nice to see a flock of 25 plus Fieldfare and 15 plus Redwing .It was then that the highlight of the walk occurred ,on hearing a bird song that was not instantly recognisable ,it took me a couple of seconds to remember that I had heard this song in Northern Finland and it was confirmed when I spotted a Redwing in full song , just beautiful ,a clear haunting call of the Northern Forests right here in little old Tirley.
A male Sparrowhawk passed northwards at a low height ,a migrant perhaps ? we will never know but my feeling is that it was a local bird as a migrant would of passed over a great height .
The spring like feel carried on with a calling Green Woodpecker and a drumming Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a calling flyover Mistle Thrush.
Just up from the cottage a fine pair of Bullfinch were seen .
The best of the rest Buzzard, 4 Stock Dove.
The species patch list now stands at 55
The birds were getting into the swing of things ,it had a real spring feel about things this morning with plenty of birdsong.
The sun was rising over the mist covered meadows and one of the first things that greeted me were
4 Mute Swans that passed over the front of the red sun and into the mist, just stunning.
It was obvious the gull flock was still there with at least 2500 birds present with Black Headed, Common, Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls all present.
On the pasture Skylarks were singing with 13 birds present, some will try to breed here but others will soon move north . Meadow Pipits were evident in larger numbers than of late with a flock of 10 north over the cottage and another flock of 40 plus on the top fields ,with them were a flock of spring migrant Pied Wagtails with up to 45 plus birds present.
Linnets put a good show on as well with a flock of 27 buzzing around.
Species number 55 appeared in the form of 2 flyover Greylag Geese ,although they are feral it is sometimes a question of whether to include them or not on the species count.
Winter thrushes have decreased of late as birds move to the far north to breed in the Taiga and Boreal forests of the north so it was nice to see a flock of 25 plus Fieldfare and 15 plus Redwing .It was then that the highlight of the walk occurred ,on hearing a bird song that was not instantly recognisable ,it took me a couple of seconds to remember that I had heard this song in Northern Finland and it was confirmed when I spotted a Redwing in full song , just beautiful ,a clear haunting call of the Northern Forests right here in little old Tirley.
A male Sparrowhawk passed northwards at a low height ,a migrant perhaps ? we will never know but my feeling is that it was a local bird as a migrant would of passed over a great height .
The spring like feel carried on with a calling Green Woodpecker and a drumming Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a calling flyover Mistle Thrush.
Just up from the cottage a fine pair of Bullfinch were seen .
The best of the rest Buzzard, 4 Stock Dove.
The species patch list now stands at 55
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Merlin Magic
If you have add a species to the patch list then the fantastic male Merlin that hurtled through the patch on Thursday is a good one to do it with ! .It was heading due north so perhaps it was the first noticeable spring migrant, its the third patch record for this bird and I love them .
So the other midweek highlight was a Tawny Owl that was calling early afternoon , a larger flock of 250 plus Fieldfare heading north east and the wintering flock of Starlings which is at a steady 500 to 700 birds , they soon will be heading to the north for the summer .
Saturday dawned like a spring day, sunshine, light winds ,snowdrops in almost every available space and the first Lambs on the pasture.
It was therefore a little disappointing to find that it was a quiet walk .The local Buzzards are much more in evidence with 3 around the patch today and the other raptor was a male Kestrel which passed over.
Winter Thrushes were 10 plus Redwing and 117 plus Fieldfare and 250 plus Starling keeping them company on the wet pasture.
Linnets are back with a singing bird and 2 others floating about ,but I also discovered a flock 32 on the top fields ,wintering or passage birds are my guess . 7 Skylarks (4 singers ) are still trying to kick start spring but there were only 6 Meadow Pipits today ,the rest of them must have started heading northwards to their breeding grounds.
The best of the rest were a Green Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, 3 Red Legged Partridge, 3 Stock Dove ,Bullfinch ,Pied Wagtail over and still 2 Moorhen.
Sunday and it was back to wind and heavy showers and again it was quiet ,that been said there was a large flock of 200 plus Fieldfare, 300 plus Redwing and 200 plus Starling all feeding on the pasture near the cottage this morning.
Skylarks numbered 12 with again a fair few singers. Meadow Pipits just 4 today. The rest of a rather paltry list (highlights only), were Pied Wagtail ,calling Bullfinch, Buzzard, 2 Stock Dove .Lets hope things start picking up soon .
The patch list advances to 54
So the other midweek highlight was a Tawny Owl that was calling early afternoon , a larger flock of 250 plus Fieldfare heading north east and the wintering flock of Starlings which is at a steady 500 to 700 birds , they soon will be heading to the north for the summer .
Saturday dawned like a spring day, sunshine, light winds ,snowdrops in almost every available space and the first Lambs on the pasture.
It was therefore a little disappointing to find that it was a quiet walk .The local Buzzards are much more in evidence with 3 around the patch today and the other raptor was a male Kestrel which passed over.
Winter Thrushes were 10 plus Redwing and 117 plus Fieldfare and 250 plus Starling keeping them company on the wet pasture.
Linnets are back with a singing bird and 2 others floating about ,but I also discovered a flock 32 on the top fields ,wintering or passage birds are my guess . 7 Skylarks (4 singers ) are still trying to kick start spring but there were only 6 Meadow Pipits today ,the rest of them must have started heading northwards to their breeding grounds.
The best of the rest were a Green Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, 3 Red Legged Partridge, 3 Stock Dove ,Bullfinch ,Pied Wagtail over and still 2 Moorhen.
Sunday and it was back to wind and heavy showers and again it was quiet ,that been said there was a large flock of 200 plus Fieldfare, 300 plus Redwing and 200 plus Starling all feeding on the pasture near the cottage this morning.
Skylarks numbered 12 with again a fair few singers. Meadow Pipits just 4 today. The rest of a rather paltry list (highlights only), were Pied Wagtail ,calling Bullfinch, Buzzard, 2 Stock Dove .Lets hope things start picking up soon .
The patch list advances to 54
Monday, 17 February 2014
Sunshine !
Sunday was like waking up in a different world , bright sunny skies, no wind ,a slight frost. Willow and I were out by 7.30am and we were rewarded with a really great walk on the patch .
Winter Thrushes were still in evidence but in reduced numbers this morning with 120 plus Fieldfare and 50 plus Redwing around . The Starling flock likewise was lesser in numbers with 260 plus present.
On the pasture were 6 Red Legged Partridge, 8 Stock Dove , one flyover Pied Wagtail and a good count of 25 plus Skylark . There was a single bird and two pairs and a flock of 20 plus winter visitors on the usual pasture, it is more difficult to see them at the moment because there are sheep on the grass at the moment.
A Green Woodpecker was calling at the same time as a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was drumming , spring is just round the corner as there was plenty of bird song this morning and the woodpeckers were joining in on the first decent morning in weeks.
On the floodwaters the most notable birds were the flock of Black Headed Gulls which today numbered 90 plus and 2 separate Moorhens bobbing about. A Raven passed eastwards towards Cleeve Hill ,the first I have seen for a few days.
As we ambled over the fields a Brown Hare exploded from its scrape, Willow just smiled and did not bother to give chase. On reaching the old orchard my attention was drawn to a small flock of birds that were calling and acting in an agitated manner (Chaffinch ,Blue Tit ,Great Tit , Robin) ,a sure sign that a bird of prey is present or an Owl is roosting within one of the old Apple trees, sure enough as I stared at the tree I found myself in a staring contest with a Little Owl ! number 53 in the bag.
This was turning out to be a cracking walk and it was to get better as we rounded a hedgerow we found ourselves face to face with a large dog Fox, it was in superb condition .
We moved to the edge of our patch over some stubble fields and my eye was drawn to a flock of birds that flew into a hedgerow from the stubble, it was great to see a flock of 10 Yellowhammers the largest number seen on the patch ever . The final birds of note were the small flock of wintering Chaffinch that is present at the moment ,although only 15 plus birds it is the only flock we have had this winter, last year we had flocks of 200 plus on occasions. One final thought where have the Meadow Pipits gone ?
The patch list now stands at 53
Winter Thrushes were still in evidence but in reduced numbers this morning with 120 plus Fieldfare and 50 plus Redwing around . The Starling flock likewise was lesser in numbers with 260 plus present.
On the pasture were 6 Red Legged Partridge, 8 Stock Dove , one flyover Pied Wagtail and a good count of 25 plus Skylark . There was a single bird and two pairs and a flock of 20 plus winter visitors on the usual pasture, it is more difficult to see them at the moment because there are sheep on the grass at the moment.
A Green Woodpecker was calling at the same time as a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was drumming , spring is just round the corner as there was plenty of bird song this morning and the woodpeckers were joining in on the first decent morning in weeks.
On the floodwaters the most notable birds were the flock of Black Headed Gulls which today numbered 90 plus and 2 separate Moorhens bobbing about. A Raven passed eastwards towards Cleeve Hill ,the first I have seen for a few days.
As we ambled over the fields a Brown Hare exploded from its scrape, Willow just smiled and did not bother to give chase. On reaching the old orchard my attention was drawn to a small flock of birds that were calling and acting in an agitated manner (Chaffinch ,Blue Tit ,Great Tit , Robin) ,a sure sign that a bird of prey is present or an Owl is roosting within one of the old Apple trees, sure enough as I stared at the tree I found myself in a staring contest with a Little Owl ! number 53 in the bag.
This was turning out to be a cracking walk and it was to get better as we rounded a hedgerow we found ourselves face to face with a large dog Fox, it was in superb condition .
We moved to the edge of our patch over some stubble fields and my eye was drawn to a flock of birds that flew into a hedgerow from the stubble, it was great to see a flock of 10 Yellowhammers the largest number seen on the patch ever . The final birds of note were the small flock of wintering Chaffinch that is present at the moment ,although only 15 plus birds it is the only flock we have had this winter, last year we had flocks of 200 plus on occasions. One final thought where have the Meadow Pipits gone ?
The patch list now stands at 53
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Breaking the half century
Hello, and welcome to this weeks update from an increasingly wet and flooded patch .The last week has been another week of driving rain and gale force winds, the ground is a sodden muddy swamp and a number of trees have fallen foul of the winds .
After helping build a sandbag wall to help keep the village from flooding the 51st species for this year on the patch came in the form of 2 Tawny Owls calling to each other ,a nice way to get over the 50 barrier.
After the storm on Friday ,I was out on the patch fairly early and out it was fairly obvious the winter thrush numbers are still high on the patch with a average number of 56 plus Redwing around but this was dwarfed by the large numbers of Fieldfare present with 550 plus seen. They were supported by 850 plus Starling .A solitary Mistle Thrush was also seen.
Species 52 for the year came in the form of 2 Shelduck which were on the floodwater ,a good bird for the patch and only the second record here. A couple of Moorhen were nice again a product of the floods . The Black Headed Gull flock has reduced in number with 65 plus today.
Apart from that it was hard going with the weather although 6 plus Skylarks were about ,a number even daring to sing . 5 plus Stock Dove and a Pied Wagtail made up the best of the rest.
The patch total now stands at 52.
After helping build a sandbag wall to help keep the village from flooding the 51st species for this year on the patch came in the form of 2 Tawny Owls calling to each other ,a nice way to get over the 50 barrier.
After the storm on Friday ,I was out on the patch fairly early and out it was fairly obvious the winter thrush numbers are still high on the patch with a average number of 56 plus Redwing around but this was dwarfed by the large numbers of Fieldfare present with 550 plus seen. They were supported by 850 plus Starling .A solitary Mistle Thrush was also seen.
Species 52 for the year came in the form of 2 Shelduck which were on the floodwater ,a good bird for the patch and only the second record here. A couple of Moorhen were nice again a product of the floods . The Black Headed Gull flock has reduced in number with 65 plus today.
Apart from that it was hard going with the weather although 6 plus Skylarks were about ,a number even daring to sing . 5 plus Stock Dove and a Pied Wagtail made up the best of the rest.
The patch total now stands at 52.
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Come in number 50 your time is up !
Well the last week has been hard going on the patch with the weather being crap and really crap with heavy rain and high winds , the whole area is heavily flooded and the higher ground were we are is just a muddy morass .
The main highlight of midweek was a large flock of 1700 plus Starlings which were feeding on a partially flooded field ,the rest of the usual birds being present in small numbers.
So Saturday dawned bright but windy and the first bird seen was number 50 for the patch ,a Grey Heron passed over then dropped onto the flood edge and began feeding, keeping it company were 350 plus Black Headed Gulls with Common and Lesser Black Backed Gulls sprinkled in for good measure.
On the pastureland 4 Linnet passed over ,and just 7 Meadow Pipits were about . The star sighting was a superb Brown Hare which sprung from its scrape as Willow and I got near. Willow just looked at me and did not even bother to take up the chase. Skylarks were at 12 birds with one daring to sing for a brief moment.
In an old orchard a fine mixed flock of 250 plus Starling, 50 plus Redwing and 40 Fieldfare were feeding on the ground underneath the old apple trees.
The best of the rest were 7 Stock Dove, 3 Red Legged Partridge, Buzzard and a flock of 25 plus Woodpigeon .
Sunday early morning was windy but apart from the odd shower dry .
Winter Thrushes were back in number with 350 plus Fieldfare, 100 plus Redwing and tagging along 100 plus Starling ,many of these birds will head in the same direction in a few short weeks ,back up to Scandanavia for the summer months .
The flood waters have risen and a large flock of 400 plus Black Headed Gulls were feeding and a small flock of 10 Lapwing flapped lazily towards the flooded river meadows .
On the pastures were 9 Meadow Pipits and 22 plus Skylarks with up to 3 singers ,spring is on its way or so the Skylarks would have us believe .
The first winter flock of Chaffinch were found with 20 plus feeding in a sheltered spot, we would of expected to have seen larger flocks at this time of year ,but not this year so far .
The best of the rest were a Green Woodpecker, Buzzard, Stock Dove Pied Wagtail .
The patch list now stands at . 50
The main highlight of midweek was a large flock of 1700 plus Starlings which were feeding on a partially flooded field ,the rest of the usual birds being present in small numbers.
So Saturday dawned bright but windy and the first bird seen was number 50 for the patch ,a Grey Heron passed over then dropped onto the flood edge and began feeding, keeping it company were 350 plus Black Headed Gulls with Common and Lesser Black Backed Gulls sprinkled in for good measure.
On the pastureland 4 Linnet passed over ,and just 7 Meadow Pipits were about . The star sighting was a superb Brown Hare which sprung from its scrape as Willow and I got near. Willow just looked at me and did not even bother to take up the chase. Skylarks were at 12 birds with one daring to sing for a brief moment.
In an old orchard a fine mixed flock of 250 plus Starling, 50 plus Redwing and 40 Fieldfare were feeding on the ground underneath the old apple trees.
The best of the rest were 7 Stock Dove, 3 Red Legged Partridge, Buzzard and a flock of 25 plus Woodpigeon .
Sunday early morning was windy but apart from the odd shower dry .
Winter Thrushes were back in number with 350 plus Fieldfare, 100 plus Redwing and tagging along 100 plus Starling ,many of these birds will head in the same direction in a few short weeks ,back up to Scandanavia for the summer months .
The flood waters have risen and a large flock of 400 plus Black Headed Gulls were feeding and a small flock of 10 Lapwing flapped lazily towards the flooded river meadows .
On the pastures were 9 Meadow Pipits and 22 plus Skylarks with up to 3 singers ,spring is on its way or so the Skylarks would have us believe .
The first winter flock of Chaffinch were found with 20 plus feeding in a sheltered spot, we would of expected to have seen larger flocks at this time of year ,but not this year so far .
The best of the rest were a Green Woodpecker, Buzzard, Stock Dove Pied Wagtail .
The patch list now stands at . 50
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