Along the river into town... great stretch for wildlife! (1 Viewer)

[palval147]

When you've had a nasty experience with field mushrooms you tend to go for the relative safety of the shop ones.:C

Were they magic mushrooms, Wendy?:eek!:|;|

 

[Fozzybear]

Like, wow-man!

Haven't really had much time to visit the patch recently and when I've managed to get over there when walking home from work it's been very quiet with only a few crows, woodpigeons, the odd magpie, rabbit and green woodpecker (always lovely to see those). Although pretty tired I had a good look around the river, meadow and hedgerows this afternoon coming home though, I spent about an hour and a half walking around the patch making a note of every bird I found and there were a lot more than I've been seeing:


10 Moorhen,
5 Robin,
1 Cormorant,
2 Dunnock,
2 Mute Swan,
10 Black-headed Gull,
1 Kestrel,
37 Woodpigeon,
1 Feral Pigeon,
3 Collared Dove,
1 Greater Spotted Woodpecker,
13 Carrion Crow,
7 Magpie,
4 Little Grebe (maybe more, I lost track of them with all their diving and moving about),
20 Long-tailed Tit (two parties of them on both the north and south ends of the meadow),
2 Blue Tit,
1 Great Tit,
1 Blackbird,
1 House Martin (quite late for these isn't it?)
1 Greenfinch.

I also saw a few small brown birds perching on the tips of the weeds across the river on the north meadow but without my binoculars I couldn't tell what they were. I 'suspect' they're either the Whinchats still around or the Stonechats have returned but I'll have to go back with my bins to be sure. I thought I heard a stonechat-like chinking call but I'm not very good at those calls...

 

[palval147]

Very good list, Fozzy. A lot of Wood Pigeons there.

 

[Fozzybear]

We have a great number around the local area - in some parts you can see enormous flocks of woodies so the farmers around here tend to have guns out shooting them. First time I've counted them on my patch, when I've been out counting birds before it's difficult to get an accurate count of them given how they move about while keeping an eye on the other birds.

 

[palval147]

We don't have many Wood Pigeons, just a pair around usually. They try to nest in a tree three doors up, but each time they do & it's always in the same place, the Magpies watch, then when either the eggs are laid or the chicks hatch, they move in & get them. Those Wood Pigeons haven't raised a brood for at least two years now. Stupid birds won't go elsewhere.

 

[BazR]

Hi Paul.
That must be a lovely way to wind down your working day: great for de-stressing, if you've had that kind of a shift. I wonder if the H. Martin was isolated, and didn't get away with the others. I don't see it going on its own, so I fear the worst for it.

VAL. I've had a pair of Woodies around all summer, but they became one the other day. I'd only been out for half-an-hour, and returned to find a ring of pigeon feathers on the garden. One well fed Sparrowhawk.

Baz.

 

[palval147]

Baz, that is sad. I hope it doesn't happen to ours here, we do get a Sparrowhawk, regularly. I saw it this morning, it went away empty.

 

[Fozzybear]

Sad to hear Baz but at least the Sparrowhawk is now well-fed! I'll try to persuade some of my local woodies to head your way. Sometimes get four or five hanging around the garden here so have some to spare!

It certainly is a good way to end the working day and much nicer than the straight route home along the main road choked with traffic and surrounded by concrete, graffiti and rubbish! The House Martin looked like a lone bird but it headed off eastwards towards the sewage works. Last time I was there some weeks back I saw a LOT of Swallows and Martins there so fingers-crossed there are some still there for this lone one to meet up with.

I walked along the river with my binoculars after work today but didn't see the little birds I'd wanted to identify but heard the stonechat-like call again. There were a LOT of Moorhens around though!

23 Moorhen
14 Carrion Crow
8 Black-headed Gull
5 Magpie
1 Jay
21 Woodpigeon
2 Collared Dove
1 Green Woodpecker
2 Robin
1 Pheasant (male)
4 Little Grebe
2 Herring Gull
Blue Tits
Great Tits

Met a guy walking there too who turns out to live just around the corner from me and is an old hand at birding and twitching. He said that the other day a Red Kite flew over his house, which is pretty amazing (they're not common in mid-Essex!).

 

[BazR]

I hope the Martin does meet up with others, and manages to get away ok. Sparrowhawk struck again today, but just a snack: it caught a Goldfinch. It plucked it on the raised bed just outside my computer room, but unfortunately I wasn't there at the time.

Baz.

 

[Wendy Morris]

The Woodies have disappeared from my garden recently, just the odd one or perhaps two. During the winter though, I usually have a dozen or so every day. Guess they are out feeding in the fields at the moment.

 

[Fozzybear]

Could well be - I haven't really noticed a change in woodies here but the number of Carrion Crows on my patch is down from over 50 to maybe a quarter of that and the local farmer has been ploughing his fields.

Picture attached is of a small part of a large flock I saw out at Writtle about three miles to the west of here. Was mostly Woodpigeons but included some Stock Doves as well. I've seen a lot of large flocks around here but that was one of the larger ones I'd seen, there were a LOT of birds there! Not good for the farmer but it made quite a spectacle! :t:

 

[palval147]

Good heavens, there are lots of them there. Maybe we just have a pair of garden Wood Pigeons & the rest do prefer the fields.

 

[Fozzybear]

You do find here that it's tilted towards them being more numerous in the 'country' areas but they're very widely distributed right across the area so it's rare to go out here and not see one.


Went out for a couple of walks across the Meads and around the surrounding area the last couple of days, posted some short reports to the Essex Birding section but thought I'd copy them here:

Walked back across the Baddow Meads and along the river on my way home from work on Monday and saw a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard! Plus there was a falconry guy there with, I think, a Harris Hawk. The Little Grebes are gathering too, when I walked back after from Asda after sunset there were at least 11 gathered near Barnes Mill.

Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Moorhen
Starling
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Blackbird
Little Grebe
Mute Swan
Robin
Green Woodpecker
Blue Tit
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Goldfinch
Wren
Dunnock
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove

Had another walk around the Baddow Meads and the surroundings here in Chelmsford after work today. The Grey Wagtail was briefly seen (flying away!) at Springfield Lock and I spotted a Sparrowhawk again as it flew over the gasometers in town. The Stonechats were heard but not seen yet again on the Meads and I finally managed to get a decent view of the flocking small birds there after seeing them here for the last week... the Meadow Pipits are returning! Last two winters I've seen flocks of them in excess of a hundred birds and this hopefully is the start of their return - I saw at least 33 this evening. :t:

Sparrowhawk
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Moorhen
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Woodpigeon
Feral Pigeon
Collared Dove
Robin
Dunnock
Blackbird
Greenfinch
Chaffinch
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Grey Wagtail
Starling
Stonechat
House Sparrow
Mallard
Little Grebe
Mute Swan
Meadow Pipit

 

[palval147]

You are getting good sightings of lots of different species, Fozzy. It's a good time of year for migrants. Fingers crossed you get a rare one too.

 

[Fozzybear]

Not sure about rarities but so far I've seen Wheatears, Whinchats, Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and the other day I'm told a Red Kite flew over the estate. Since I've not seen a Kite yet I'd have loved to have seen that over my garden! Have been seeing the Starlings increasing in number and beginning to form their evening flocks and the Little Grebes are back after being absent since the big freeze last winter.

Now I'm working again it does rather limit when I can go though unlike last winter when I could go out every morning for an hour or two so I miss the time of day when it's more likely I'll see the birds (probably why I've only heard and not seen the Stonechats yet - last winter I only really saw them here in the mornings). I'll have to try to get out there in the morning at the weekend if I can.

 

[Kits]

You certainly know where to look, Paul. An excellent "haul".

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Kits - the Buzzard was a real find as I see them only very infrequently here. Pretty quiet this afternoon but there were a couple of Little Grebes and a few Meadow Pipits to see as well as the usual Rabbits, Crows, Magpies and Woodpigeons.

 

[Fozzybear]

What I thought would initially be a rather depressing walk thanks to noisy canoeists and some very loud and aggressive dogs turned into a superb morning when I diverted across the local farm to avoid them.

I saw two Kestrels, an adult and a juvenile, the adult perching on the Whinchat bush in the north meadow and the youngster on the farmland being very violently harrassed by a flock of Magpies and later a Skylark (a lot of pluck for a small bird!)! There were quite a number of Skylarks on the fields, chasing each other around and one or two engaging in songflights. There were lots of Woodpigeons, Pheasants, Lapwings and some Stock Doves on the fields too, good to see the Lapwings again.

The fishing lakes only held Coots and Moorhens as far as I could see but a Cormorant flew down and was fishing in the smaller lake as I passed. There were Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, Blackbirds in the trees around the lake and I thought I saw a party of winter thrushes (possibly Redwings) out of the corner of my eye for just a moment but I may have been mistaken.

As I crossed the river and walked past Sandford Mill I saw some Blue Tits and a pair of Goldcrests in the bushes, really good to see the Goldcrests there as until recently it was quite a hotspot for them. After a brief but heavy shower I headed up past the sewage works where there were lots of gulls, Meadow Pipits, Magpies, a Jay and even some late Swallows. From there it was off for my usual supermarket visit and then back along the river home, around a hundred and fifty Starlings on the power lines and flying around as I walked along the path to the supermarket.

Species seen:

Goldcrest,
Kestrel,
Jay,
Green Woodpecker,
Lapwing,
Cormorant,
Starling,
Skylark,
Collared Dove,
Carrion Crow,
Magpie,
Woodpigeon,
Stock Dove,
Pheasant,
Robin,
Dunnock,
Wren,
Blue Tit,
House Sparrow,
Long-tailed Tit,
Goldfinch,
Blackbird,
Moorhen,
Coot,
Meadow Pipit,
Swallow,
Lesser Black-backed Gull,
Black-headed Gull,
Herring Gull.

 

[Kits]

I am always staggered by the wide variety you manage to see on an almost daily basis, Paul!

 

[Fozzybear]

I was surprised when I started keeping a note of what I saw when I went out as it's easy to lose track of what you've seen and I remember coming back from a walk one day last year and mentioning to my brother I didn't think there'd been much about but when I tallied them up I realised it was actually about 35 species! It's a rather anally-retentive thing to do though!

I've started using the notes program on my new iPod touch to keep a log... although I forgot to take it with me today and had to rely on memory!