Short blast

A quick dash between the ever present rain , I managed a short survey of the patch and felt quite happy until a friend of mine Rob Large told what he had at Coombe Hill Meadows 170 plus ARTIC TERN etc but a full mouth watering account will appear on the Holy Bible of bird sights , THE GLOSTER BIRDER So in a 30 minute paddle a singing YELLOW WATAIL was nice, 11 SWALLOW, 1 HOUSE MARTIN , 3 SWIFT over to the north. A BUZZARD low over in the rain . The hedgerows had 2 CHIFFCHAFF, 3 BLACKCAP, LINNET, YELLOWHAMMER,1 COMMON WHITETHROAT ( I think different individual to yesterdays as in another breeding territory , or as least I am hoping so)A drumming GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER outside the front door was a nice start to the walk. 1 STOCK DOVE over.

Sunshine

Yes, we finally saw some sunshine after days of heavy rain and wind , the sun came out and although it was still very windy it felt much better.It was a bank holiday in Holland so it was a bonus day and Willow and I were out early. The very welcome sight of a COMMON WHITETHROAT in its usual place from last year was the first bird I saw. In the hedgerows alot of birds were keeping their heads down in the strong gusts , so only 2 BLACKCAP, 2 YELLOWHAMMER, 3 LINNET , 1 WILLOW WARBLER, 1 CHIFFCHAFF was all I could find this morning. Around the fields were 4 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, 6 SKYLARK, 3 STOCK DOVE, 3 BUZZARD and a GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. In the top field many of the WAGTAILS seem to have moved on so a count of only 7 PIED WAGTAILS was possible, however a bonus was 2 migrant MEADOW PIPITS AND 2 cracking male WHEATEARS , one of which looks very like a Greenland bird, so he still has a long way to go to his breeding grounds. There were 22 plus SWALLOW over to the north, also 1 HOUSE MARTIN likewise, the years first 2 SWIFT also headed north. So all in all not a bad day. Tommorrow is another day.

Destruction.

I suppose I am entitled to rant sometimes, so here goes, my little patch of England in which I live is a very beautiful place but I have always harboured the feeling that the major landowner in these parts was about as enviromentally friendly as Agent Orange. Most of his hedgerows make Bilbo Baggins look like a friggin giant and there some almost prairie size fields which were obviously at one time much smaller with hedgerows etc . This was confirmed today when in conversation with another landowner who told me this guy had bulldozed hedgerows and filled in at least 5 ponds /pools. We all want to eat but surely farming comes with some sort of responsibilty to the land etc. It would also stop half the flooding in the village. The guy is a twat. Anyway the weather was terrible more like December rather than late April, driving rain , and a raw near gale force wind. So after an abortive attempt this morning in which the only hightlight was the brief sound of a singing WHITETHROAT And my contraction of trenchfoot due to my welligton splitting Willow and I made a second round of the patch late this afternoon. This proved a good idea as even in these conditions we still found some nice birds , well I found the birds ,Wilow just ran about The hedgerows were quite with just a single BLACKCAP, WILLOW WARBLER, 2 CHIFFCHAFF ,7 LINNET ,2 YELLOWHAMMER. Around the fields were a BUZZARD,2 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE , 1 singing SKYLARK braved the conditions, 1 RAVEN was argueing with a local CROW. It was the top fields which again provided the best birds with 1 WHITE WAGTAIL, 5 YELLOW WAGTAIL (all males), along with 19 PIED WAGTAILS providing evidence of the continued passage of WAGTAILS this spring. There was also 3 male WHEATEAR one of which was a definite/probable Greenland type bird! .There was also 4 STOCK DOVE and a GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER with 3 SWALLOW OVER.At the end of the walk was a flock of 25 WOODPIGEONS ,maybe they are migrants ?

Autumn

Cold and pouring rain was the order of the day, so the birding was equally as dissapointing . Any one who knows the area will tell you that most of the fields are bounded by ditches , these now all have water in them for the first time in months so the drought is coming to an end or at least it feels like it anyway. It was a contrast to yesterday but although it was hard work a few birds seem to be moving , but overall it really is dissapointing.A influx of BLACKCAP was evident with 7 being present. 5 CHIFFCHAFF, 1 WILLOW WARBLER, a male REDSTART was singing. Only 3 SKYLARK braved the conditions, a male YELLOWHAMMER was singing ,and 6 Linnet were about. A good number of 9 STOCK DOVE appear to be breeding around here, and the GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER was at the usual place. 1 BUZZARD flew over being chased by a local CROW.Just 2 SWALLOW were seen and 1 MEADOW PIPIT was flushed from the long grass. A flock of 15 GOLDFINCH were perhaps migrant birds on the move. On the another front a BROWN HARE was a nice suprise.

Whisper It

Yes , just maybe we had a bit of migration today, after work I managed a curtailed 90 minute walk around the patch and managed to find a few birds on the move , so who knows what I missed this morning and I had to curtail my walk due to the Friday school run. A t least 7 SWALLOW over north along with a single SAND MARTIN likewise. 3 BUZZARD and 7 STOCK DOVE were around the place. The pair of GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKERS were near to their presumed nesting area. In the hedgerows today were 4 BLACKCAP, 2 CHIFFCHAFF, 2 WILLOW WARBLER, which is still a poor showing.At least6 SKYLARK were over the fields today. The highlight this afternoon was the return of our " local " male YELLOW WAGTAIL singing from the same wire as last year , now I was quite chuffed with this, but this was then eclisped by the discovery of a further 3 but quite possibly 4 other YELLOW WAGTAILS ( all males) in the top fields . They were part of a flock of migrant WAGTAILS which included 5 WHITE WAGTAILS, 15 plus PIED WAGTAILS along with WAGTAILS were at least 3 MEADOW PIPITS. So a much better showing so lets be ready for a big showing tommorrow.

Drought

Since the annoucement of the above it has poured down, this has turned Tirley Sandpits into a avian desert, many birds absent or in very low numbers. So dodging the rain a walk round the patch produced much of the same birds as previous days. On the log today were 3 BLACKCAP, 3 SKYLARK 8 BUZZARD, 36 LESSER BLCK BACKED GULLS in ploughed fields. 4 SWALLOW OVER and 6 STOCK DOVE around varios nesting areas. 7 LINNET is in a increase on last years total, a rather soggy male KESTREL on wires. Just 5 PIED WAGTAIL today in the top fields, a YELLOWHAMMER in the usual spot, other migrants were thin on the ground with 1 WILLOW WARBLER, 2 CHIFFCHAFF,and a male REDSTART in the hedgerows. At least the RAF put on a show with a Hercules , Sea King and a Merlin anti submarine helecopter over low. Anyhow lets be more hopeful that things will get better over the next week.

Slow Day

As the above says , it was a slow day on the patch, in fact to be honest its been a slow spring with some very noticable absentees or if not absent only present in low numbers. I saw that on the Portland website Whitethroats appear very scarce , the same could be said of our local House Martins. On the log today were 3 CHIFFCHAFF, 4 BLACKCAP, 4 LINNET,just 1 WHEATEAR in the sheep fields, 5 BUZZARDS, 4 Skylark, the GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER at it"s nest tree. Fantastic views of a male CUCKOO on telephone wires , I have yet to hear him call yet.6 Swallow over, a male Sparrowhawk soaring overhead.In the top fields 3 PIED WAGTAILS were kept company by a rather smart WHITE WAGTAIL. Lets hope that the late arrivals are just that and not a sign of a greater problem.