Your local Patch/Reserve. (1 Viewer)

[Fozzybear]

Went out to the little nature reserve between my workplace and the railway embankment at lunchtime, a Chiffchaff singing at the top of the trees, Wrens, Dunnocks, Robins, Tits and Magpies calling and lots of insects out including various flies, a Bee Fly (first time I've seen one!), bumblebees and a Comma butterfly.

Walking home along the river I saw a number of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies too. With those and the really warm sunshine it felt more like summer! :t:

 

[pstraughan]

I've been looking for Yellowhammers and Linnets all winter but they've been absent from the usual places. Yesterday I walked a part of my patch that I don't often visit. This goes through orchards and farmland and down to a small river.

A Skylark soared up from one field - I had forgotten that they usually nest there. Along the river, there were Grey Herons, Canada Geese and Mallards.

I met a man who was either a student or a lecturer at the local College and he asked me if I had seen the gingery coloured birds on the local reservoir. Well, I've lived in our village for 18 years and that's the first I've heard of a reservoir.

It turned out to be a private reservoir on a farm at the end of a footpath that I have never walked before. The gingery birds turned out to be Greylag Geese but there were Tufted Ducks and Coots which I have not seen on my patch before.

Keeping a local landmark in sight, I walked on a bit further and came to a house with beautiful lawns, sweeping down to a large pond. More ducks, geese and waterfowl. On further and, at last, my first Yellowhammer of the winter, a beautiful male.

Then I recognised where I was - outside a group of houses which we had looked at before we moved to our present house.

Fieldfares completed the day and white violets along the footpath at the bottom of our garden. Is this what they call serendipity?

Pat

 

[Fozzybear]

Sounds like a good day Pat, nice to see the Yellowhammers and Linnets and good to find Coots and Tufties too.

After one of the BF locals went for a walk on my patch yesterday and saw lots of interesting stuff I headed out there this morning myself. Didn't see the Yellowhammers or Bramblings that he saw but did catch up with some Linnets, which are a first for me on the patch (bird species number 86!), a pair of Bullfinches enjoying the sunshine, some Lapwings sky dancing (beautiful sight!) and loads of Fieldfares, maybe 150+ of them! I also heard loads of what I think were Blackcap but didn't see any of them to confirm so had to rely on my rusty remembering of their song from last summer.

In all I saw:

Blue tit
Great tit
Long tailed tit
House sparrow
Dunnock
Pied wagtail
Reed bunting
Bullfinch (pair)
Robin
Wren
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Linnet
Meadow pipit
Chiffchaff
Skylark
Blackcap (possibly...)
Blackbird
Fieldfare (at least 150)
Starling
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Magpie
Collared dove
Woodpigeon
Lapwing
Black-headed gull
Herring gull
Green woodpecker
Mallard
Swan
Pheasant

 

[pstraughan]

I know what you mean about the birdsong Paul. Just when I think I've got a reasonable number of them sorted out, I find I have to relearn again every Spring.

Pat

 

[palval147]

You have both had brilliant days out birding lately. Fozzy & Pat.

 

[Fozzybear]

Yes, pretty good!

I know what you mean about the birdsong Paul. Just when I think I've got a reasonable number of them sorted out, I find I have to relearn again every Spring.

Pat

If I don't hear them for a bit then I quickly forget them. The dedicated way would be to swot up using my birdsong cds... that's a bit too organised for me though!

Had a great surprise walking home along the river this afternoon. I saw the regular pair of Mute Swans on the river but they were unusually close to each other so I stopped to watch them and noticed they were copying each other - a quick preen, dip of the head in the water, stretch of the neck and back to preening. They did this faster and faster and got more and more in sync with each other, eventually plunging their heads alternately neck deep into the same spot of water in great excitement. Then they mated in front of me, the male holding the female's neck with her head under the water and followed that by standing high out of the water with chests and heads pressed together as they quietly called to each other before separating for a very intense bout of preening.

Hadn't even seen them courting before so that was absolutely amazing to see. The old boy that I speak to on my patch was walking up at the time and saw it too and he said he'd never seen that either. Really made my day! :t:

 

[Fozzybear]

Woke pretty early this morning so went out for an early walk across the Baddow Meads and the farmland by the river. The Lapwings were still sky dancing and I think I saw a smash and grab mating on the field by the river. Loads of Skylarks and Reed Buntings around and quite a lot of Meadow Pipits too. A Greylag Goose flew over southwards quite early (maybe 7am), not a common bird to see on my patch and I think this was only the second or third I've seen there.

The Wrens were very abundant this morning and I spent some time watching one singing in an Alder by the small stream, his tail positively vibrating with the force of the song! Also had probably my best ever view of the Red-legged Partridges - usually they're right on the far side of the fields but some were sitting in the middle and although still pretty tiny I could make out all their features clearly.

Chaffinch,
Greenfinch,
Robin,
Wren,
Starling,
Blackbird,
Song Thrush,
Blue Tit,
Great Tit,
Blackcap,
Chiffchaff,
Reed Bunting,
Meadow Pipit,
Skylark,
Green Woodpecker,
Pheasant,
Red-legged Partridge,
Stock Dove,
Feral Pigeon,
Collared Dove,
Woodpigeon,
Lapwing,
Greylag Goose,
Mallard,
Tufted Duck,
Mute Swan,
Moorhen,
Coot,
Black-headed Gull,
Herring Gull,
Carrion Crow,
Magpie.

 

[palval147]

A nice selection of birds seen, Fozzy.
If I hadn't been so busy looking at stalls at the car boot today & had had my bins, I think I might have had a pretty good list too. There were birds singing & flying around everywhere this morning.
Without trying I got some garden birds, plus Buzzard, Gulls, Pied Wagtail, Wood Pigeon, Rook, Crow, Magpie, to name readily identified birds. Heard a couple of Chiffchaff & I think a Tree Pipit.

Forgot Peacock & Peahen, several, but those don't count, they are captive bred.|:d|

 

[Wendy Morris]

I've not been to my patch for ages! In fact I've not done much on the birding front for a while.

I was rather disappointed this morning that there were very few species on the lake at Sutton Bingham. The usual suspects: Mallard, a couple of Mute Swans (no mating!), many Canadas, several hybrid ducks of doubtful parentage, only two GBBs (that's got to be a record low) and four Great Crested Grebes. Unfortunately, the latter were a long way across the water and kept diving, so I missed them much of the time. Amazingly there were no other gulls at all, not one, no Rooks or Jackdaws. Wonder where they all were?

I had piously been hoping that a stray Osprey may have popped in.....

 

[pstraughan]

I had piously been hoping that a stray Osprey may have popped in.....[/QUOTE]

I think this may well be the most prayed-for bird near water Wendy! I was at Mere Sands Woods reserve on Sunday and the locals were saying the same thing. They keep saying it at my local reservoir, but I've only seen them in Canada.

Pat

 

[Fozzybear]

I think my town could be on a migration route as an Osprey was seen flying along the main road through town last year! Like the Red Kite though I didn't see it...

First Cuckoo of the year was reported just west of me at Writtle yesterday and today I saw my first Willow Warbler of the year in the park right in the middle of town (and I've only seen them less than a handful of times before so was exciting to see)! Also saw my first chicks - a female Mallard on the river in town had fourteen (!) ducklings this afternoon... so sweet!

 

[palval147]

It was a Willow Warbler I heard on Sunday, not a Tree Pipit. Silly me! Thanks Fozzy for the hint.:-O
The only place & not so recently I saw an Osprey was Arne in Dorset. We did have one fly passed our house once, but that was years ago.:-C
The sad thing about all those ducklings, Fozzy is, that most, if not all, will never reach adulthood.:-C

 

[Fozzybear]

The sad thing about all those ducklings, Fozzy is, that most, if not all, will never reach adulthood.:-C

Indeed - they were one down this morning. || I tend to be pretty pragmatic about the rigours of nature and the far from pretty aspects but I do have a very soft spot for young ducklings, poor little mites.

 

[Fozzybear]

Went out for a walk along the river yesterday evening but didn't go that far as the mosquitoes were out in force (they really give me the creeps - have done ever since I went for a walk very early one day and found loads of the huge ones all feeding on me!). I accidentally flushed a Snipe as I walked beside the little stream at the south of the meadow, I haven't seen one here for quite a while so that was really cool, although I felt bad that I disturbed it!

Lots of Cuckooflowers blooming in the boggy patches of the meadow, two quite large separate groups of them at each end of the meadow despite the spraying that's been going on there. I spotted a pair of Bullfinches near the horse paddocks, the male sitting on top of a mass of brambles and the female hunkered down nearby. Lots of Linnets flying about the same area, a few Skylarks making late songflights in the evening light and Lapwings flapping low over the fields where Jackdaws, Carrion Crows, Pheasants, Woodpigeons and a few Stock Doves were feeding. I heard a snatch of Blackcap song near the mill and Green Woodpeckers laughing from the trees while a Song Thrush sang nearby, a Blackbird joining the chorus.

There were Collared Doves along the meadow edge, Long-tailed Tits in the willows on the riverbank, the odd Moorhen here and there, Magpies flying south overhead while Mallards flew in noisily to land on the millpool. The air was full of the song of Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Robins, Blackbirds, Wrens and Blue Tits. A very nice evening... apart from the mozzies!

Pics:

1. one of the patches of Cuckooflowers, to the east end of the meadow
2. Stock Doves feeding on the neighbouring field (difficult to get close to!)
3. offshoot of the stream at the meadow, the path splashes through it but you can divert a few metres to the north where it's dry. This is a channel to help drain the watermeadow after flooding
4. male Bullfinch on the brambles
5. the river at sunset

 

[pstraughan]

Indeed - they were one down this morning. || I tend to be pretty pragmatic about the rigours of nature and the far from pretty aspects but I do have a very soft spot for young ducklings, poor little mites.

I was out with my birdwatching group yesterday at a local reservoir. There was female Mallard with 10 ducklings. Our leader had been there the day before and there were 13. I wonder how many today?

It was good to see the Swallows and Blackcaps back. The Swallows were picking up mud.

Lovely photos Paul.

Pat

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Pat. I saw a Mallard in the same area in town with just two ducklings a couple of days ago... hoping it wasn't the same one!

The St. Mark's Flies (long-legged flies) were out in force on Friday afternoon - a little early this year but it really was gorgeous so not surprised.

 

[Fozzybear]

I headed out over the Baddow Meads again this evening but took my Aldi scope and walked along the footpath through the fields rather than along the river. Saw at least 27 Linnets feeding in the fields amongst the Lapwings (who were peewitting and sky dancing like mad), a Snipe flew from the stream ditch into the crop field, 2 Cormorants were flying along the river, at least 5 Reed Bunting were in the stream vegetation and the bushes on the banks, 2 Pied Wagtails were feeding on the field edge, 6 Mallard flew overhead, 4 Magpies here and there, at least 5 Skylarks singing and chasing each other around. I also saw 2 Feral Pigeon, 2 Collared Doves, a Stock Dove, 2 Jackdaws, a Moorhen, 2 Pheasants, 5 Red Legged Partridges in two small groups running around the field, Wrens, Woodpigeons, Robins, Blackbirds, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Carrion Crows and Starlings.

I think I will be taking a scope out more often there as I saw a lot that I would otherwise have missed, although I think I'll be looking for something better than my Aldi £20 special as it was 'ok' but really struggled with the distant birds.


Picture of some of the Linnets here.

 

[pstraughan]

I have quite an old fashioned scope Paul, one where you look straight into it, rather than down. I hardly ever use it. There are a few what I call static locations, i.e. the local reservoir, where I sometimes do use it. Being a weak and feeble woman, I find that lugging equipment about the countryside is too heavy and I tend to give preference to my camera.

However, I gave my son a good laugh recently. We "inherited" a shopping trolley from my late mother-in-law. It's great for toting all the stuff about where I'm on level paths, i.e. the local wildfowl reserve but no good for crossing fields. My son's comment was that he thought he would never see the day when I had a shopping trolley!

Pat

 

[Fozzybear]

Unbelievably my parents actually bought me a pull-along shopping trolley for Christmas a few years ago... they couldn't understand why a bloke in his thirties might not want one! :h?:

 

[palval147]

I had to laugh at the shopping trolley remarks. :-O My daughter says I should have one, she thinks it would be a good thing to put our car boot purchases in, several people do use them, we noted. Of course daughter would not be seen pulling it along, that would be my job. So far I have stopped her from getting me one.:-O