Your local Patch/Reserve. (1 Viewer)

[Fozzybear]

Sorry Wendy. || Still, you live in Dorset which I can't imagine is a place lacking in wildlife areas and if you drive (I don't so am rather limited in where I can get to) then you're within reach of Exmoor, Slimbridge, the Somerset Levels, New Forest, Portland and all that lovely coastline.

 

[palval147]

Jealous, me too. We do have some good birding areas near me, Fozzy, but I can't drive so am rather stuck as to what I get to see.
You have some very close by & get exercise as well.:t:

 

[Wendy Morris]

I do drive, but most of those places you mention are at 'day out' distance, not somewhere that I can pop to in fifteen minutes like the reservoir! Parking the car in some places is also not easy/safe and so a bit off putting. The coast between West Bay and Abbotsbury is very good, but is still 40-45 minute drive. Then there is OH to consider....stop moaning and get out there, I know!!!!

 

[palval147]

I just wish I could get my OH to take me to birding places.:-O

 

[Fozzybear]

Very true Wendy, none of those places could really be 'patches' unless you were very lucky to live right by them. :-C Are there really there no other wild places/farms or the like near you? I spent a few years before I got into wildlife exploring many of the footpaths around here using the local OS maps so built up a picture of the local area and that's really been useful. I guess you've probably already done something similar but if not then it's certainly worth doing some exploring.

Risking being cast out here , but compared to even many other places around Essex I think Chelmsford is a superb town to be interested in wildlife. You can look east, south, north and west and find good places for wildlife within walking distance (albeit a long walk!) or a short bus ride and even right in the middle of the built-up town centre there are a couple of nature reserves and some good parks for wildlife - we've had Red-throated Diver in the main town centre park before now and often get Goosander, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Bullfinch and once even a Nightingale!

The coast of Essex does get REALLY amazing birdlife and there a lot of people watching birds around the Thames estuary, but I'm always surprised how much wildlife there is where I live considering it's a large town (around 160,000 people) in the middle of the county and away from the coast with a lot of industrial farming around it (though still having a large number of small to mid-sized woods). I must admit that I do tend to bang on about it a bit though, I know I have here before! It's because I don't think Essex is really thought of that much as a good place for wildlife ("it's all chavs, concrete and souped up Escorts isn't it?") and get a little bit evangelical about the place . :t:

 

[Fozzybear]

Jealous, me too. We do have some good birding areas near me, Fozzy, but I can't drive so am rather stuck as to what I get to see.
You have some very close by & get exercise as well.:t:

Yup, very good for exercise - going out to Little Baddow to look for Yellowhammers and Nightingale is a something like an 8 mile round trip on foot... it can be a bit demoralising sometimes if not much is around up there as you walk back the same way you walked there rather than coming back a different way, which always is much more enjoyable.

 

[Wendy Morris]

Getting towards the time for my spring visit to Portland. I've not been down there for over a year now, mostly because of the hassle with the road improvements ahead of the Olympics. It was taking half an hour to travel less than half a mile at one stage, so I rather gave up. Should be able to get a couple of days down there before the mayhem starts and afterwards, the new road scheme will be to my advantage and I shall go to Lodmoor and Radipole too. Roll on spring!

 

[Fozzybear]

Hope the roads are better when you go then Wendy, sounds awful! Going to be murder on the trains here in the olympics too as we're on the main line into Stratford.

 

[palval147]

Getting towards the time for my spring visit to Portland. I've not been down there for over a year now, mostly because of the hassle with the road improvements ahead of the Olympics. It was taking half an hour to travel less than half a mile at one stage, so I rather gave up. Should be able to get a couple of days down there before the mayhem starts and afterwards, the new road scheme will be to my advantage and I shall go to Lodmoor and Radipole too. Roll on spring!

Us as well I hope Wendy, just got to pin OH down on a date to book hotel.:t:

 

[Wendy Morris]

The reservoir is beginning to refill now. I've put the pics that I took on the 14th February next to the ones that I took this afternoon. According to a report in the local paper last week, it's going to take until late April before it's back to regular depth.

 

[Wendy Morris]

There was no lack of birds today, all the usual suspects, Mallard, Rook, Crow, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, GC Grebe, GBB, Black Headed, Cormorant, Heron and Egyptian Goose.

I guess that the Mallards in the photo had been fed and were resting!

 

[palval147]

I do like Ducks, Wendy.

 

[Fozzybear]

Those mallards certainly seem to be having a good old siesta there Wendy! I like them too, Val. :t:

I was surprised this afternoon walking home across my patch to see a pair of Goosanders still here, they've usually moved on well before now.

 

[palval147]

They seem to have gone from the river Tavy, Fozzy. Not seen them for a couple of weeks.

 

[Fozzybear]

Still here today Val, saw between five and nine flying around along the river this morning. :t: Also saw a pair of Gadwall, Mallards, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, at least 7 Tufted Ducks, a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, lots of Green Woodpeckers, some Long-Tailed Tits, a Goldcrest feeding in a pine tree, a fair number of Skylarks, lots of Reed Buntings (including two males in a spectacular fight over territory), a Mistle Thush feeding in a meadow and Song Thrushes singing here and there, a Little Egret disturbed by a dogwalker flying up to perch in a small tree, quite a number of Linnets, a pair of Mute Swans courting, a pair of Pied Wagtails, a Grey Wagtail, a Common Gull, a Herring Gull, lots of Black-headed Gulls, some Coots, Moorhens, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Carrion Crows, Magpies, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Dunnocks, Wrens, Robins, Starlings, Pheasants, Collared Doves and Woodpigeons.


Phew! ||

 

[Wendy Morris]

Wow, Paul! Some list there!

 

[Fozzybear]

Yes, very good variety for the time of year! That was during about a two hour slow walk, across the meadow, along the river to the mill, around through the farm past the fishing lakes and along the brook through the fields back to the south end of the meadow. Looking forward to seeing what the spring migration brings in, would be superb to see some Wheatears here again.

No Meadow Pipits today but I did see some on the meadow during the week. They're likely to be starting to move on now the weather is improving, I mainly see them here in number over the winter months - often in flocks of a hundred or more.

 

[palval147]

I agree with, Wendy, Fozzy. Amazing list.

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Val - after a fairly quiet time here last year I'm hoping it might suggest that we might get more activity here through the breeding season. I didn't hear the cuckoo on my patch last year and Reed Buntings and Sedge/Reed Warblers appeared pretty thin on the ground too.

Shouldn't be that long before we get the first arrivals, looking forward to seeing hopefully some Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Common Terns, Cuckoos, House Martins ('maybe' some Sand Martins over the fishing lake!), Swifts, Swallows, Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, hopefully more of the Kingfishers, maybe a Wheatear or Spotted Flycatcher... or even a Hobby or Peregrine if I'm REALLY lucky. :t:

 

[palval147]

Good luck with seeing all those, Fozzy.:t: