Monday 26 October 2015

Walks on the patch now consist of mostly popping in on the way home from work but one on the 22nd was interesting for the large mixed flock of finches that are now congregating in the old orchard.This was made up of Linnets,Goldfinches,Chaffinches,Bramblings(3) plus Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits.
There was a flock of Siskins and Lesser Redpolls were feeding on the Greater Willowherb at the southern end.
                                              Lesser Redpoll on willowherb,
That evening there were also six Swallows feeding over the small sheepfield.
On saturday 24th four Bramblings were present and the lake held 2 Kingfishers,4 Mandarins and a
Water rail of note. A Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk were also seen.
On Sunday 25th the highlite was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which flew into the alders at the southern end and the finch flock had been joined by some Yellowhammers and a Reed bunting.
This afternoon a Chiffchaff was in the hedge at the edge of the horse paddock in Furnace Lane with a flock of Long tailed tits and also with them was a cracking Firecrest (102).Brilliant!!

Sunday 18 October 2015

Sunday 18th Update.

It's been an interesting week on the patch which started on the  14th with a gull fest in Kirkins where the field had been turned over attracting six species:- Black Headed(120),Herring(52),Lesser black backed(2),Common(2),Great black backed(1) and an adult Mediterranean.
The following day a Swallow went through heading north.
Yesterday(Saturday 17th) the first winter thrushes arrived with 249 Redwings seen,mostly in one flock of 200 birds.In contrast just 15 Fieldfares were seen.
Another Swallow was seen going north and a male Blackcap was found in the hedge by the pumping station in Furnace Lane.Goldcrests were numerous with at least a dozen seen.
Down at the lake the field where the large orchard has been grubbed out recently there was a great mixture of birds with Chaffinch,Linnet,Meadow Pipit and a couple of Bramblings feeding on the ground plus a large flock of Goldfinches.
40 Siskins were in the lakeside alders and 5 Lesser Redpolls flew overhead.Three Chiffchaffs were around with one bird feeding on the ground among the mixed flock.
Kirkins held 31 Stock doves and a Mistle thrushes.
Today there were more Redwings arriving with 65 seen and 17 Fieldfares overhead. Small numbers of Skylarks were going over in all directions as were small flocks of Chaffinches and one Brambling called as it went overhead.
Down at the lake a Water Rail called and 4 Egyptian Geese went north.
Most intriguing of all was a movement? of Magpies which consisted of a flock of 8 then a flock of 18 going south, something I have never witnessed before.
Swallows were seen again with 2 south,2 north and 3 west.I imaging theses will be the last I will see this year although I do have two November records so you never know!
 

Thursday 15 October 2015

I was away at the end of September so didn't get to walk the patch until a short walk after work on the 6th October which produced the first Lesser Redpolls of the Autumn plus a few House Martins and Chiffchaffs were still around.
On Saturday 12th I managed a full walk of the patch which gave the first Water Rail and a decent flock of Siskins plus a few L/Redpolls. Skylarks were passing over head in small numbers and there was a total of 9 Chiffchaffs.A flock of 30 Meadow Pipits were on Kirkins field and in total 42 species were seen.
On Sunday the the undoubted highlight was a skein of 320 Brent Geese(101) which went over at 08.15am.
On the insect front I found a Hornets nest in the oak tree which usually plays host to the local Little Owl pair.
Hornets nest.
I've attached a photo of the Osprey which stayed around the lake for three days in September.
Unfortunately the light was poor and the Osprey was always distant.