Your local Patch/Reserve. (1 Viewer)

[Fozzybear]

Very quiet on my patch this weekend but did see a kingfisher near the mill lock this afternoon, a rare sight this year. Yesterday I saw a Kestrel take a vole on the meadow and at the horse paddocks saw a small flock of Pied Wagtails feeding amongst three Mistle Thrushes, one of whom took offence to the Wagtails nicking its food and started chasing them off. Another Kestrel was perched on the fence, a Magpie and two Carrion Crows harassing it until it flew away. A Green Woodpecker flew in across the rough meadow and dropped into the paddock to feed on the ants but then quickly spotted me and flew away to the trees at the far edge of the meadow.

 

[palval147]

You do get good birds, Fozzy, even on a 'quiet' day.
I heard Tawny Owls early this morning, Fozzy & saw a Kestral hunting along the main road.

 

[Fozzybear]

They can take a bit of hunting down but you can usually find 'something' here. On good days you see birds all over the place and there will be lots of gulls and pigeons/doves or maybe even cormorants and birds of prey flying about over the meadows/fields. Cold windy days tend to leave the birds hunkering down so the rather wind-swept meadow can be very bleak and empty but you often can find birds moving through the trees up at the mill or on the more sheltered paddock areas.

Would love to hear Tawny Owls out here Val.

 

[palval147]

I usually hear Tawnies this time of year, Fozzy, as I'm often up before dawn on a Saturday or Sunday, (flea market selling or car booting), we aren't far from woods, but I never get to see them.||

 

[Fozzybear]

Beautiful Tawny on Springwatch last night - they really are gorgeous birds but so was the Golden Eagle they had!!

Got out for a short walk across my patch this morning heading into town, saw these (copied from my post to the local RSPB group sightings webpage):

15-20 Meadow Pipit, 5+ Skylark, 30+ Goldfinch, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Redwing, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Dunnock, 1 Robin. Also seen but uncounted: Magpie, Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Moorhen.

Most of the Pipits were in a willow across on the north bank of the river so I got a great view of them perching there and preening before they flew off. The Skylarks flew up from the grass as I walked along the rough patch running across the meadow where a wire fence had been removed by the owners, lovely to see them especially when two were tussling overhead along the river a little later.

Found the remains of a Carrion Crow amongst the grass, some of the large flight feathers plucked out cleanly so seems to be a bird of prey kill. I think it would be pretty unusual for a Sparrowhawk (the usual bird of prey here along with Kestrels) to take one so not sure what happened to it. I have seen a Peregrine in the past here but also Buzzards a couple of times so it could be it died and was scavenged by something.

 

[palval147]

Seems likely it was a dead bird, Fozzy, for whatever reason & then scavenged, but you don't often see dead birds around & many must die.

Blackcaps are back & I have seen one Reed Bunting on the patio.
We have a lot of Goldfinches, Chaffinches, etc.

 

[Fozzybear]

Most likely Val. Interesting though that it's not the first dead bird I've found in that spot on the meadow.

 

[Fozzybear]

Saw a pair of Goosanders flying downstream and circling around over the meadow on my patch yesterday afternoon! First I've seen here this winter, in previous winters I've seen lots around the town before Christmas but seems to be quite low numbers reported in the county and quite late arriving here this winter.

Also saw a Green Woodpecker, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Kestrel hunting, lots of Meadow Pipits, Moorhens, Little Grebes, Mallards, Swans, Blackbirds, Woodpigeons, Collared Doves, Black-headed Gulls, Starlings, Blackbirds and a Song Thrush.

 

[palval147]

There were 3 female Goosanders on the Tavy river, Saturday before last, Fozzy. In the middle of the town as well. Feeding in the mini rapids. I watched them for a while.

 

[Fozzybear]

Nice one! There was a report of 13 in a park in Colchester (north east of me) yesterday so hopefully the cold snap might bring some more in.

 

[Wendy Morris]

Went to Sutton Bingham reservoir this afternoon after I found out two things from a neighbour:

1. The reservoir is about ¾ empty due to contamination from a farmer's field, according to Wessex Water.

2. There is a gap in the fence by the big, locked black gates which meant that I could get in on foot and have a wander!

The photos show the situation and the gloomy weather. In the last one, if you look very hard, you might just be able to see a Great White Egret (and a Heron) There are two GWEs there, they've been there for a week or more now. I could see them clearly with the bins, but the camera is not up to the distance!

The lack of water does not seem to be stopping the birds visiting. There were dozens of gulls (GBBs and Blackheaded), Canadas, Cormorants, Mallard, several GC Grebes, Pied Wagtails and a couple of Herons. Also, the Rooks were around, making a heck of a noise, in the trees where they usually nest. All last year's nests have gone and they are having to start again.

 

[palval147]

Wow! Wendy. Good place to bird watch. Nice neighbour to tell you you could get in to see the birds. I can see the GWE & the Heron.

 

[Fozzybear]

Very cool that you've got the egrets there.

Haven't posted much on the forums for a while. The cold did bring in Goosanders here in the end, around 20 were on the river on my patch along with lots of Black-headed Gulls and a fair number of Common Gulls, but they've mostly moved on with the melt. I did see four or five Goosanders flying around over the meadow this morning though so I think some at least are still about.

Lots of Reed Buntings and Skylarks around at the moment, the Skylarks are singing and starting to fight for territories. Had two Canada Geese fly over and saw a pair of unrecognised birds of prey this morning too, I really don't know what they were but they were similar to Sparrowhawks in shape but bulkier and darker on the underside. Closest fit for colour and shape I can find in the Collins to the poor view I had is Hen Harrier but I am very doubtful given how rare those are... but that said we do have a number in the county at the moment - I saw some at Wallasea Island a while back.

Species seen today (that I can remember): Blue Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Cormorant, Moorhen, Goosander, Mallard, Canada Goose, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan.

Really seems like more activity than when I've been out over the last few months, though I've not really been out much at all recently.

 

[palval147]

Could the birds of prey you saw be Marsh Harriers, Fozzy? As you weren't sure if the were Hen Harriers?

 

[Fozzybear]

I do really doubt they were hen harriers, though they're the closest in look to what I saw, albeit poorly! I thought about Marsh Harriers (along with all the other birds of prey) but I know those pretty well having seen them a lot in Norfolk and they really didn't fit the shape or flight style. I'd be more inclined to think buzzard than marsh harrier but the shape I saw didn't really fit those either. Really don't know at all - wish I was better at identifying birds of prey. They might have been just poorly seen sparrowhawks but if so they didn't look like any of the large number I've seen, they were bulkier and a lot darker on the breast and belly than any I've seen and would have had to be two very large females flying together. I'm leaving them as poorly seen unknowns but I did put up a hazy description, pointing out how poor a view I had, and flight direction on my local RSPB group sightings page in case anyone else saw them and got a better view than I did.

Took another, though less controversial, walk this morning and the place was absolutely ALIVE with birds. Saw a large flock of Redwings, Fieldfares and Meadow Pipits feeding in a paddock, there were really superb numbers of Reed Buntings along the river and ditches (hopefully we'll have a good breeding season to make up for last year as there seemed to be very few Reed Buntings compared to previous years!), lots of Meadow Pipits in the field edges, some Linnets, lots of Skylarks fighting for territory and a pair of Great Crested Grebes engaging in some light courtship display. Also saw a few Grey Wagtails, some Goosanders, Tufted Ducks and more. I posted this to the local sightings page:

1 Yellowhammer, 2 Grey Wagtail (and possibly a third), 2 Great Crested Grebe (engaging in light courtship), 1 Cormorant, 3 Tufted Duck, 5 Goosander, 1 Kestrel. Also seen but numbers not noted: Blue Tit, Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Coot, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit (lots in horse paddocks and field margins/ditches), Moorhen, Pheasant, Redwing (feeding with Fieldfares in horse paddocks), Reed Bunting (many seen along river and various watery ditches), Robin, Skylark, Song Thrush (at least 3 singing in various places), Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.

 

[Wendy Morris]

You do get a wonderful selection, Paul. I must get over that way before too long and catch up with them all!

 

[Fozzybear]

It had been really very quiet here through the winter Wendy but the change of weather has really kicked things into gear! Am looking forward to seeing the spring migrants. :t:

This is the area:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=che...lmsford,+Essex,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&z=15

it's the stretch along the river between Great Baddow on the south and Chelmer Village to the north. It's a good place as it is large enough that you can take a number of different walks around it, so it doesn't get too boring like it might if you had a very small patch and you can choose to do a short walk or a much longer one. It has a pretty good variety of habitats too, there are rough meadows and grassland, scrub and small wooded areas, arable fields, a slow water river, fast water at a sluice, reed-filled water ditches, lakes and a sewage works. :t:

 

[Wendy Morris]

Thanks for that, Paul. I love looking at maps! I wish there was an area around here that gave me that sort of option. My reservoir would be really good if only one could walk all round it or parts of it. Unfortunately, there's only about a mile that is accessible and it's "there and back" if you get my meaning! No extra paths or diversions.

 

[Fozzybear]

That really does suck Wendy. I'm really lucky as there are a variety of birding and 'birding and going shopping' routes here so if the weather is bad I can just do a quick look or take an extended, slow walk for a few hours. There's one short route across the meadow if I want to go to town, another to go to the retail park, a loop around the meadow, a loop around the meadow, across the river and around the rough meadow (though the horses there don't seem to like me for some reason so I don't tend to do that much!), a longer route to go to Asda past the paddocks, a loop along the river up past the sewage works to asda with a shortcut back to the river , a loop around the farm, a loop along the river and then through the farm... and some variations. I don't include it in my patch but I sometimes head along the river under the A12 bypass (which I think of as the edge of my patch) and along the Grace's Walk track towards Little Baddow, which can be a good place for Yellowhammers, Cuckoos, Nightingales and Yellow Wagtails.

 

[Wendy Morris]

You're making me REALLY jealous, Paul!