Wednesday 8 April 2020

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas - 8th April 2020

Date: 8th April 2020

Time: from 8:00 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 8°C to 14°C

I used to see Grey Squirrels regularly on my visits to the site but I hadn’t seen any for some time, in fact long before I started this blog. However, on today’s visit I saw 4 at different locations.

Like my visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve yesterday, it was evident that the warm weather and southerly winds over the last weekend had brought in more Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. I saw 2 singing male Chiffchaffs and 1 singing male Blackcap with a further 5 singing males and 4 singing males respectively heard but not seen. This is probably now an under-estimate with singing males seemingly everywhere!

The other highlights were a fleeting glimpse of a Sparrowhawk as it disappeared in to the trees (presumably a male judging by the size) and another Large White.

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

Blackcap

Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Sparrowhawk
Green Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull

Grey Squirrel

Here are some photos from my visit:



Photo: Blue Tit



Photo: Robin

 Photo: Robin



Photo: Robin

 Photo: Woodpigeon



Photo: Magpie



Photo: view from the lofty peak of Church Hill and St. Nicholas Church …. 187 feet above sea level (not quite eligible for Munro status!) and with an almost 360 degree view stretching for over 25 miles on a clear day



Photo: southern boundary to the site close to St. Nicholas Lane …. hopefully there will be Lesser Whitethroats arriving and rattling away in these bushes very soon!



Photo: Daffodils

 Photo: Blackthorn



Photo: Teasel

Site totals to date:

Birds = 41
Mammals = 4
Butterflies = 15
Dragonflies and damselflies = 3
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature





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