|
Marsh Lane News - November 09
30th November 2009 - After heavy overnight rain, it was sunny all day, but the wind changed to a cold north-westerly.
Whether due to the change in wind or not is not clear, but the finches and buntings in the crop field seemed lower in numbers than at the weekend. Linnets reached only about 70, Reed Buntings 30 and Yellowhammers 40. A female Brambling did put in a brief appearance in the early afternoon, but was otherwise elusive and there was no sign of the Corn Bunting or House Sparrows.
Five Tree Sparrows visited the Oak Hide feeders and, on the Old Road, approximately 50 each of Fieldfare and Redwing are well on with the stripping of the hedgerow Hawthorn berries.
28th and 29th November 2009 - Mostly overcast, showers, cool, light south-westerly with the occasional sunny periods.
The crop field provided most of the action over the weekend. The Corn Bunting appeared infrequently, as did three Bramblings (two on the crop field and one on the Old Road game cover), and a female House Sparrow. Linnet numbers rose to over 110 and there was a good supporting cast of over 100 mixed Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers, the former increasing substantially between the Saturday (20) and the Sunday (over 50). Chaffinches and Greenfinches seem to have dropped off, however, with no more than 20 of the former and 30 of the latter spread between the two game covers. Up to 11 Goldfinches enjoyed the teasels on the field edge and a couple of Redpolls put in a brief appearance along with a dozen Pheasants, 25 each of Wood Pigeon and Jackdaws and a single Song Thrush.
The elusiveness of the Corn Bunting, Bramblings and House Sparrow is probably as good a piece of evidence of the substantial turnover of birds in the crops and counts can only ever be a best effort at birds at any one time.
On the pools, Wigeon numbers increased by over 50 to 241 but diving duck numbers “sunk” to only 11 Pochard (55 last week), and eight Tufted (13 last week). Other counts included 28 Cormorants, nine Mutes, 39 Canadas, 70 Greylags, two Shelduck, 17 Gadwall, 40 Teal, 78 Mallard, 51 Shoveler, 22 Moorhens, 67 Coot, 399 Lapwings and a welcome rise in Snipe to 38 (on Saturday) and 50 (on Sunday), after mostly single figure counts the previous week.
On Sunday, at 1.30 p.m, a small crowd of four had just been admiring the Corn Bunting, Linnet flock and Yellowhammers (the latter looking particularly good standing out from the Old Road hedges in the occasional sunny intervals), when a call of “what’s that raptor” resulted in views of an over flying Red Kite. It appeared from the south, circled Siden Hill Wood and then flew off purposefully to the west.
Other birds of note included up to four Tree Sparrows at the Oak Hide feeder, the usual late November / December increase in Herring Gull sightings (at least eight different birds on Sunday) and the continued presence of c.80 mixed thrushes (including two Mistle Thrushes) on the Old Road, together with two pairs of Bullfinches.
27th November 2009 - Mostly fine, south-westerly breeze.
The best bird for some time was a Corn Bunting in the crop field, which was joined by at least 75Yellowhammers and about 20 Linnets. The Corn Bunting is the first record since November 2003 and again indicates just how much turnover of birds there is through both of the game crops. A female Brambling and a female House Sparrow were also in the crop field, and the Yellowhammer count represented an absolute minimum with other birds coming and going all the time. Reed Buntings totalled about 20, and Chaffinches and Greenfinches were each of a smilar number.
There were also two Shelduck, and a slight movement of gulls, which included one Herring Gull and over 30 Lesser Black-backs.
26th November 2009 - Mostly fine, south-westerly breeze.
Again plenty of birds but I am not aware of anything out of the ordinary.
I made a site visit with the Planning Officer to look at the positions for the new hides and, hopefully, planning permission should be forthcoming before Christmas.
The new scrapes look reasonably good, with some holding water, but no birds.
25th November 2009 - Noticeably colder, bright sunny start but still breezy from the south-west, clouding over later.
In the early morning, the sky was a mass of black and white as a very jittery Lapwing flock were unable to settle. A male Sparrowhawk was on the prowl and may have been the cause of their nervousness. At 8.30 a.m. the said Sparrowhawk caught a Blackbird in the Blackthorn by the car park, emerging in a cloud of feathers.
Birds were otherwise similar to yesterday, with the Linnet flock very mobile in the crop field and a scattering of Yellowhammers between the crop field and the Oak Hide feeder, where at least one Tree Sparrow was also present. A Kingfisher showed well on the Reedbed Pool and 50 Redwing and 25 Fieldfares fed along the Old Road in the hedgerows.
24th November 2009 - Very windy, heavy squally showers.
Not a great deal of change. Two Tree Sparrows visited the Oak Hide feeder, the Water Rail showed in the Marsh, a maximum of 15 Common Gulls were on site, the Linnet flock of at least 60 strong remained in the crop field, and 60 mixed thrushes fed along the Old Road.
42 Yellowhammers, in the crop field, which represented a substantial increase on the 10 to 15 in the proceeding few days.
23rd November 2009 - Strong westerly gusts and squally showers, with occasional sunny intervals.
No records.
22nd November 2009 - Heavy showers, sunny intervals, variable south-westerly, noticeably cooler.
The highlight today was three Bramblings in the Old Road game crop. Found in the early morning, they had disappeared by mid-day and provided ample illustration of the comings and goings of the finches and buntings. 20 to 30 each of Chaffinch and Greenfinch and the Linnet flock were spread between the two game covers. Three Tree Sparrows at the Oak Hide feeder were joined by a Nuthatch. Lastly, 70 Jackdaws fed amongst the cattle on the fields opposite the car park gates.
21st November 2009 - Heavy rain for much of the day, blustery south-westerly wind.
The Saturday waterfowl and wader count included the following totals:
22 Cormorants, eight Mute Swans, c.300 Greylags, two Canadas, 131 Wigeon, 46 Teal, 23 Gadwall, 70 Mallard, 52 Shoveler, 55 Pochard, 13 Tufted Duck, 11 Moorhen, 57 Coot, 18 Common Gulls, 473 Lapwing, 15 Snipe and 25 Golden Plovers.
The heavy rain of the last few days pushed the Blythe over its banks and the water-logged ground on the margins proved to the liking of c.100 Fieldfares and 50 Redwings.
The crop and Old Road game covers held small double figure counts of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, 30 Greenfinches and 40 Linnets. Two Tree Sparrows visited the Oak Hide feeder.
20th November 2009 - Sunny intervals showery, westerly wind, but mild.
Since the Song Thrushes went largely quiet in late summer, you realise how much you have missed them when they start up again. Two slightly half-hearted ones in Lavender Hall Park on Tuesday preceded a much more full bodied one today on the Old Road. 20 Redwings and two Fieldfares had presumably roosted in the Blackthorn, or nearby, as they fed in the early morning half light. Mistle Thrushes were perched in the Oaks in the crop field.
A flock of 50 Goldfinches in the Alders behind Oak Hide was one of the best of the year, whilst the Linnet flock in the crop field had fallen slightly to only 40. The usual mix of Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings were commuting on and off site and up the Old Road, but not in extraordinary numbers. Also on the Old Road were two pairs of Bullfinches and a Tree Creeper.
19th November 2009 - Sunny and mild, blustery winds from the west.
No records.
18th November 2009 - Remaining mild, but windy (westerly), showery all day.
A particularly good count of Shoveler (79) was the main feature of the day. Gadwall totalled 24, there were eight Snipe on Car Park Pool but yesterday’s large mixed finch and bunting flock dropped to only 30. There were still 50 Linnets present in the crop field whilst the pesky Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws have also found the field, and hopefully were kept on the move!
17th November 2009 - Sunny all day, increasing westerly wind, with early evening showers.
There seemed to be an increase in finch and bunting numbers today, with an estimated 150 mixed species, together with 50 Linnets, mostly in the crop field. Thrush numbers included 28 Fieldfares, 50 Redwings and at least 20 Blackbirds, mostly on the Old Road, whilst two Tree Sparrows visited the Oak Hide feeder and a late Red Admiral was on the wing.
Golden Plover numbers only staggered to five and after last week’s excellent Snipe counts, only two were recorded in the log today.
16th November 2009 - Squally showers, sunny intervals, variable south-easterly wind.
Counts today included 162 Wigeon, 68 Pochard, 81 Teal, 32 Shoveler.
15th November 2009 - Sunny, light south, south-westerly wind.
The presence of the Linnet flock in the crop field is tempting in other birds; numbers totalled at least 80 today. There were 15 each of Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting as well. At least 50 mixed finches frequented the Old Road game crop, almost entirely Chaffinches and Greenfinches.
On the pools, again plenty of birds including at least 60 Pochard, whilst 12 Common Gulls roosted with a number of Black-headed Gulls. 35 to 40 Fieldfares flew low, south, along the central streamline.
14th November 2009 - Sunny start, followed by squally showers, mostly overcast conditions, remaining windy (west). The meadows north of the Reserve were extensively flooded this morning.
The Linnet flock had increased to about 50 birds this morning, whilst 60 mixed finches were on the Old Road game crop.
Excellent duck numbers again included a record count of 69 Pochard, whilst Teal had increased to 110. Other wildfowl counts included 369 Greylags, 79 Mallard, 39 Gadwall, 173 Wigeon, 12 Tufted, 15 Coot, 18 Moorhen, 372 Lapwing and 49 Snipe. There are a few Redwings and Fieldfares around, with at least 40 of the former and four four of the latter along the Old Road, but the small birds were kept on the move by up to three Sparrowhawks. At the end of the day, about 20 Redwing appeared to be going to roost in the Blackthorn clumps on the Old Road.
A Coal Tit at the Oak Hide feeder was also of note.
13th November 2009 - Squally showers and sunny spells and increasingly strong westerly wind.
No records.
12th November 2009 - Sunny start, but progressively clouding over, light south south-westerly wind.
The lack of Linnets this autumn has been a surprise, considering that the wild radish crop in the field south of the car park is supposed to be to their liking.
It was therefore somewhat of a relief to find a flock of about 30 birds there this morning, in amongst 50 to 60 Greenfinches, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.
A few thrushes were on the move with 26 Fieldfares and 11 Redwings through by 10 a.m., together with four Siskins and two Skylarks.
There was 30 Snipe on Car Park Pool in the morning, and later in the day 39 Common and two Jack Snipe were recorded on Railway Pool.
11th November 2009 - Misty and generally overcast, periodic rain showers and rain overnight 11th to 12th November.
No records.
10th November 2009 - Cold and wet, all day.
Whilst again there were plenty of birds, the most noteworthy one was the first returning Shelduck of the autumn.
9th November 2009 - Foggy and still start, clearing slowly throughout the morning to sunny intervals.
Information helpfully texted through to me this morning, is of both drake Pintail and Mandarin on Railway Pool.
In the early afternoon there was no sign of either the Pintail of the Mandarin but other birds of note included 150 Golden Plover, 16 Common Gulls, a Willow Tit (between Oak Hide and the back gate), and Kingfisher. A trickle of birds overhead included five Skylark, four Meadow Pipits, two Siskin and a Redpoll, whilst 30 to 40 mixed thrushes, mostly Redwings, fed along the Old Road. A Tree Sparrow visited the Oak Hide feeder.
In the evening, approximately 500 Starlings came into roost, but it was not clear whether they actually did or disappeared.
8th November 2009 - Wet start on a light north-easterly, clearing to sunnier but cooler conditions by late morning.
Persistent observation of the finch and bunting flock was finally rewarded with the first Brambling of the autumn (a female), which joined at least 70 finches in the game crop along the Old Road. An approximate split of the others included 40 Greenfinches, 20 Chaffinches, 10 Goldfinches and a female Bullfinch.
30 Yellowhammers formed part of a 60 strong flock, which showed well in the hedges and crop field along the south part of the road in the morning, and as the weather cools, the two flocks should pay further detailed observation.
There was a further increase in Golden Plover, to an estimated 400, Snipe totalled 53 and 15 Siskin was one of the highest counts of the autumn so far.
7th November 2009 - Sunny, fresh, cold westerly wind.
Further Wood Pigeon passage first thing saw 400 - 500 pass over before 9 a.m. In the same period, approximately 100 thrushes, mostly Redwings, were feeding on the haws in the Old Road hedges, 15-20 Yellowhammers foraged amongst the cattle in the Tip field and 30-40 Greenfinches continued the sunflower seeds depredation in the crop field.
The most noticeable feature of the waterfowl count was the hike in Pochard numbers to 60 (the best count this autumn being 38). It also appears to be the highest ever count on the pools. Other numbers included 19 Cormorant, 13 Mutes, 121 Greylags, 64 Mallard, 37 Shoveler, 184 Wigeon, 21 Teal, 15 Gadwall, 13 Tufted, 39 Coot, 21 Moorhen, 607 Lapwing, 102 Golden Plover, 21 Snipe and five Water Rail.
A good attendance at the work party certainly helped get some jobs done. The car park feeder was moved and re-built, slightly higher up the bank and the reeds were cut back to improve the view from the car park. (Thanks to the person who supplied the bench in the car park, which is now in a prime spot!).
Willows were trimmed around the small, mostly dry pond, in the field and along the causeway and others were dug out from the scrub compounds by the back gate. Thanks to all those who attended, including the two new attendees.
6th November 2009 - Heavy cloud, some rain, west north-westerly.
Two significant counts today, both best of the autumn so far, 310 Golden Plover and 26 Common Gulls. With no more than single figure Common Gull counts so far, this represented quite a jump, perhaps of birds on passage. There is a south-westerly autumn movement of the British population but also substantial immigration from Scandinavia and the Baltic States and ringing evidence in the BTO Migration Atlas would suggest the latter are more likely to be the source.
60 Snipe also represented a continuing respectable total.
5th November 2009 - Showers, with occasional breaks of sunshine in the morning, with a north-westerly wind.
It was noticeably cooler this morning following the change in the wind direction. The crop field was lively, particularly at the southern end where there were a mixture of finches and buntings totalling at least 60 birds, split approximately as follows: 30 Greenfinches, ten each of Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Chaffinch, together with two Goldfinches.
Snipe numbers remain high with an initial count of 55 split between the pools but, later in the morning, two members totalled 110 by some way a record for the Reserve. As in previous significant counts, birds seem to come out into the open in response to rain, perhaps to feed on the grassier islands. Also of interest, there were none around the Dragonfly Pond.
129 Golden Plovers were present for most of the morning. AGrey Wagtail dropped into Railway Pool briefly at 8 a.m., but there appeared to be little on the move overhead.
4th November 2009 - Sunshine and showers, cool westerly wind.
The Golden Plover flock has dwindled to 29, whilst Snipe remain at 39. Seven Common Gulls was the best count of the autumn so far, and two Kingfishers showed particularly well around the pools during the early afternoon.
3rd November 2009 - Mostly sunny, cool westerly wind.
The proportions of finches and buntings on or adjacent to the Reserve continue to change daily and after yesterday’s jump in Yellowhammer numbers, only four could be found in the crop field. There were, however, 32 Reed Buntings and 35 Greenfinches. In contrast, the game crop further north along the Old Road held only five Greenfinches but 24 Chaffinches.
23 Golden Plover roosted on Railway Pool in the middle of the day. 10 Redwings, two Fieldfares and five Siskins flew over. A Migrant Hawker (causeway), two Common Darters (railway embankment and game crop) and a Painted Lady (game crop) all indicate that, although cooler, it is still sufficiently mild for insects to be on the wing.
2nd November 2009 - Fine but breezy morning (w), clouding over slowly and late afternoon and evening rain.
The cooler weather has led to a marked increase in Yellowhammers, from single figure counts to 25 today.
Both Jack Snipe and Water Rail showed in the Marsh, Golden Plover totalled 127 and a Coal Tit, a scarce bird with us, joined a mixed Tit flock by Packhorse Bridge. Lastly, the sunny weather was sufficiently warm enough to encourage two Painted Ladies to be on the wing.
1st November 2009 - A deep Atlantic depression crossed the country overnight, bringing heavy wind and rain which persisted during the morning. By lunchtime, the rain, but not the wind, had largely abated and there were sunny intervals, during the afternoon.
Over 50 Snipe remained on site and the daily Golden Plover flock totalled 75. 40 Greenfinches fed in the game cover by the horse paddock (Old Road) and four Mistle Thrushes fed on the newly sown field east of the underpass but, otherwise, most small birds proved largely elusive in the blustery conditions.
|
