A very special visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 3rd May 2020

Date: 3rd May 2020

Time: 4:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Weather: dry, dark, rising sun, light wind, 8°C 

Today is International Dawn Chorus Day. 

My local site provided me with a mega dose of gökotta this morning.

I had the most amazing hour since I started writing this blog .... the dawn chorus, 3 mammals and a beautiful sunrise .... and all before 5:30 a.m.

As I left home at 4:30 a.m. it was still dark but I could already hear several singing Robins and Blackbirds and I soon heard a singing Song Thrush.

As I walked up Church Hill, I saw a Red Fox cross the road and disappear in to the scrubland.

Just a minute later, I reached the top of Church Hill by St. Nicholas Church where a Badger scampered across the road in to the church car park. It was so close to me that I could hear its toenails clicking on the tarmac! This is a new mammal record for the site for me.

As I walked in to the car park, and again no more than a minute later, I heard a barking Red Fox and then very quickly saw it.

Wildlife Sound Recording · Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

At the bottom of the graveyard and in the adjacent scrubland, I just about made out a Reeves' Muntjac as its white rear end disappeared off in to the darkness. 

The dawn chorus was amazing and reached a peak at around 5 a.m. before very slowly decreasing in volume and intensity. 

The order that the various species joined the symphony of sound was as follows:

Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Great Tit
Woodpigeon
Chiffchaff
Wren
Blackcap
Magpie
Blue Tit

         
A fiery sunrise began to develop in the eastern sky at about 5:15 a.m. …. 

And then that was it. 

The sun was up and the dawn chorus had concluded.

However, on my walk home from St. Nicholas Church, I heard a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker and a singing male Lesser Whitethroat (in his usual location). I also saw 2 more Reeves' Muntjac in the field adjacent to Larkins Tyres. 

I was home by 5:45 a.m. and in plenty of time for the Self-Isolating Bird Club with Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin. The live show started with the dawn chorus from  RSPB Loch Garten in the Scottish Highlands and concluded with the dawn chorus from RSPB Arne in Dorset, both sites that I would have been visiting in mid-June and mid-May respectively had it not been for the current restrictions on travel.

Site totals to date:
Birds = 42
Mammals = 5
Butterflies = 15
Dragonflies and damselflies = 3
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚

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