Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 11th October 2024

Date: 11th October 2024

Time: from 8:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 3°C to 5°C

It was another lovely sunny autumn for my visit this morning although the coldest since last winter with ground frost still evident in areas where the sun hadn’t reached.

During my last visit to the site on 4th October 2024, I recorded 19 bird species which I commented was untypically high for autumn. This morning’s visit was even better with 25 bird species, 2 mammal species and 1 butterfly species recorded.

This included another species added to my 2024 site list, taking the total to 43 species: Mistle Thrush. I recorded Mistle Thrush for the first time at the site last year and this morning’s very brief sighting of a bird in flight in the northern section was only my second.

On my last visit on 4th October 2024, I heard and saw single fly-over Skylarks, only my second and third records since my first in 2022. Remarkably, I heard another briefly calling bird flying over the northern section of the site this morning but failed to see it.

Blackcaps now appear to have left the site but, after recording 3 on my last visit, I did see a single Chiffchaff still foraging in bushes near the pond in the northern section of the site

Other bird highlights included a Common Buzzard soaring over the northern section of the site which was occasionally mobbed by Carrion Crows (my fourth successive sighting of this species in as many visits) and a Sparrowhawk flying out of the large oak tree in the central section of the cemetery.

Also in the northern section of the site, I saw 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers flying together in to a tree, a single Green Woodpecker flying over the rear of the pond plus a single fly-over Pied Wagtail and a single fly-over Greenfinch.

There were still at least 10 Song Thrushes in the northern section of the site and, in addition to the Mistle Thrush, I also heard my first Redwing of the autumn/winter which unfortunately I did not see.

With regard to mammals, I saw 3 Red Foxes: 1 in the wooded clearing at the end of the Larkins Tyres track, 1 running across the northern section of the site towards the pond and 1 crossing the road at the top of Church Hill before moving down Hilly Road and then re-emerging lower down Church Hill. I saw just a single Grey Squirrel on this visit.

Given the even lower temperatures than on my last visit on 4th October 2024, I was not expecting to see any butterflies but, like that last visit, there was still a single Speckled Wood flying in the cemetery immediately adjacent to the church.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Skylark

Chiffchaff

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Dunnock

Wren

Redwing

Mistle Thrush

Song Thrush

Blackbird

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Starling

Pied Wagtail

Common Buzzard

Sparrowhawk

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Magpie

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Red Fox

Grey Squirrel

Speckled Wood

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Common Buzzard and Carrion Crow

Photo: Common Buzzard and Carrion Crow

Photo: Common Buzzard

Photo: Great Spotted Woodpecker

Photo: Red Fox

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Speckled Wood

Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):

Birds = 43 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)

Butterflies = 17 (23)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (12)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 14

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

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Utterly depressing!

This is not just the imagination or anxiety of a minority of "greens" and environmentalists.

This is a real and present threat to the planet's biodiversity. 

According to the WWF and the ZSL in their biennial "Living Planet" report, global wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

BBC News - Nature decline is now nearing dangerous tipping points

The Guardian - Collapsing wildlife populations near "points of no return"

Love nature .... act now

Restore and rewild our natural world

Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

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Trip away from SS15 - RSPB Rye Meads, Hertfordshire

RSPB Rye Meads in Hertfordshire is a site that is relatively easy for me to visit by public transport: bus to Billericay, train to London Liverpool Street followed by another train to Rye House and then a short walk to the reserve entrance.

My visit today was my first since 9th October 2023, exactly a year ago.

Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located in Rye House near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea to the north east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley RAMSAR site (a group of internationally important wetland sites) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Rye Meads is divided into several areas. North of Rye Road is the Rye Meads nature reserve: the western half of this nature reserve, next to the River Lea in the Lee Valley Regional Park, is managed by the RSPB and the eastern half is managed by the Hertfordshireand Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It also includes a meadow and lagoons owned by Thames Water south of Rye Road which is not open to the public.

I visited the RSPB Rye Meads reserve which includes a visitor centre, trails and a number of hides. The seasonal flooding of a large ancient flood meadow combined with the rich soils has resulted in a mosaic of habitats, consisting of reedbeds, marshy grasslands and fen vegetation plus a number of small lakes and a scrape.

The main target species of my visit today was to very belatedly record my first Kingfisher of the year. Despite RSPB Rye Meads being one of the most reliable sites that I know for this species, I completely failed!

However, whilst this was obviously disappointing, I did have an enjoyable visit with the following highlights (heard only records in italics): Green Sandpiper (1), Common Snipe (2), Lapwing (c.50), Little Egret (1), Grey Heron (2), Gadwall (c.200), Shoveler (c.50), Teal (c.20), Tufted Duck (c.20), Mallard (c.20), Water Rail (1), Coot (c.50), Moorhen (c.30), Little Grebe (4), Mute Swan (c.35), Egyptian Goose (10), Canada Goose (2), Cormorant (2), Chiffchaff (1 singing male plus another seen), Cetti’s Warbler (1 singing male), Grey Wagtail (2), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 heard calling), Stock Dove (3)

Other species recorded: Reeves’ Muntjac (1), Grey Squirrel (1), Emperor Dragonfly (1)

Here are some photos from my visit ....

Photo: Green Sandpiper

Photo: Gadwall

Photo: Gadwall

Photo: Gadwall

Photo: Gadwall

Photo: Moorhen

Photo: Moorhen

Photo: Moorhen

Photo: Moorhen

Photo: Moorhen

Photo: Grey Heron

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Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 7th October 2024

Date: 7th October 2024

Time: from 9:20 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 12°C to 14°C

Following my visit to my other local patch site around St. Nicholas Church on 4th October 2024, it was another lovely sunny autumn morning.

It was a bit slow going in terms of wildlife but there were a few highlights from my visit.

There were still at least 3 Moorhens on Willow Pond and, whilst there, I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly into the trees adjacent to the path. I then quickly heard a briefly calling but unseen Green Woodpecker from the other side of the path.

Compared with my St. Nicholas Church local patch site where I see or hear Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Green Woodpeckers regularly, I rarely record them at Noak Bridge Nature Reserve so this morning’s woodpecker experience was a little surprising.

Grey Squirrels are always very evident at this time of year as they forage for acorns and I saw a single animal in the wooded area between Puckles Pond and the East Meadow, 2 between Prewers Pond and the Spanish Steps and another close to the western pedestrian gate.

Autumn is also a good time for fungi. I am no expert but the Seek app on my phone identified, hopefully correctly, Shaggy Mane and Pleated Inkcap plus another unidentified species, all in the Thorny Wood meadow.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Robin

Wren

Blackbird

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Moorhen

Grey Squirrel

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Grey Squirrel

Photo: Grey Squirrel

Photo: Shaggy Mane

Photo: Pleated Inkcap

Photo: unidentified fungi species

Photo: unidentified fungi species

Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):

Birds = 36 (36)

Mammals = 3 (2)

Butterflies = 12 (15)  

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (11)

Reptiles = 0 (1)

Amphibians = 1 (2)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 49

Mammals = 4

Butterflies = 22

Dragonflies and damselflies = 15

Reptiles = 2

Amphibians = 3

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Never doubt it

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Love nature .... act now

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Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 4th October 2024

Date: 4th October 2024

Time: from 9 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 8°C to 10°C

I had an exceptionally good visit on a lovely sunny autumn morning with 19 bird species (untypically high for autumn), 3 mammal species and 1 butterfly species recorded.

This included 2 bird species added to my 2024 site list, taking the total to 42 species: Skylark and Goldcrest.

I had only ever recorded Skylark once before back in 2022 but this morning I first heard a briefly calling bird over the northern section of the site and later I heard and then saw a single bird flying very high over the church in a southerly direction.

My first record of Goldcrest for the year was long overdue and I heard a briefly singing male in the far corner of the northern section of the site.

Unlike my last visit, I did not hear or see any Blackcaps but I did have 3 records of Chiffchaff: a briefly singing but unseen male in the northern section of the site, a single calling bird seen foraging in a tree in the western section of the cemetery and another calling but unseen bird in bushes near the church.

Other bird highlights included Common Buzzard which I inadvertently disturbed from trees near the pond in the northern section of the site before seeing presumably the same bird later (my third successive sighting of this species in as many visits), a Great Spotted Woodpecker (a single bird heard calling in the northern section of the site and then a single bird seen flying across the western section of the cemetery) and Green Woodpecker (a single bird heard calling in the northern section of the site and then a single bird seen flying across the western section of the cemetery).

There were also at least 10 Blackbirds and 10 Song Thrushes in the northern section of the site, all very flighty and possibly newly arrived autumn immigrants from Europe.

Finally, with regard to birds, I thought I heard a distantly calling Ring-necked Parakeet whilst I was walking around the northern section of the site. This is a species that I recorded at the site in 2022 so it would not be totally out of the question.

I also had a very good visit with regard to mammals with 4 sightings of Red Fox although there may have been some duplication (a single animal seen in the northern section of the site, 2 seen in the wooded clearing at the end of the Larkins Tyres track and another seen in the central section of the cemetery), Reeves’ Muntjac (a single animal seen in the northern section of the site and another or the same later heard “barking”) and Grey Squirrel (7 seen at various locations across the site).

Given the low temperatures and the fact that we are now in October, I was not expecting to see any butterflies but I did see 2 Speckled Woods flying in the cemetery immediately adjacent to the church with both coming back to the same gravestone to bask in what ever warmth the sun was providing.

Autumn is a good time for fungi. I am no expert but the Seek app on my phone identified, hopefully correctly, Hare's Foot Inkcap and Yellow Fieldcap.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Skylark

Chiffchaff

Goldcrest

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Dunnock

Wren

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Common Buzzard

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Red Fox

Reeves’ Muntjac

Grey Squirrel

Speckled Wood

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Red Fox

Photo: Red Fox

Photo: Red Fox

Photo: Red Fox

Photo: Grey Squirrel

Photo: Common Buzzard

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Hare's Foot Inkcap

Photo: Yellow Fieldcap

Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):

Birds = 42 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)

Butterflies = 17 (23)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (12)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 14

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

Love nature .... act now

Restore and rewild our natural world

Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature