SS15 wildlife watching: Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas

Friday 15 May 2020

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 15th May 2020

Date: 15th May 2020

Time: from 6:30 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 2°C to 14°C

I visited St. Nicholas Church and its graveyard again today.

It was a lovely sunny morning which started very cold at 2°C with some remaining ground frost but by the time I ended my visit at around 10:00 a.m. it was already 14°C.

I had another excellent time with the Red Foxes this morning, although mostly 2 adults, and I have again written a separate dedicated blog post about it here.

This morning I heard a Chaffinch calling and then eventually saw it as it flew. Only a few years ago, this would not have been particularly notable but I can not recall when I last saw this previously common species in the area. Like the Greenfinch whose population has substantially decreased since 2006, the Chaffinch is also affected by trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly, and its population has also decreased.

I again saw Swifts around St. Nicholas Church on this visit, a single at 8:45 a.m. followed by 2 at 9:30 a.m. In many years of wildlife photography, I have taken many photos of Swifts but every single one has been deleted. It is a very difficult species to track and photograph! However, today, I finally managed it albeit only record shots.

With regard to other birds, I heard a singing male Lesser Whitethroat, saw 2 singing Blackcaps and heard 5 others and heard 4 singing Chiffchaffs without seeing any of them.

In addition to Red Fox, I also saw and photographed a Reeves' Muntjac.

Finally, the warming temperatures persuaded a Small White to take to the wing.

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

Swift
Lesser Whitethroat
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Chaffinch
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Herring Gull

Red Fox
Reeves' Muntjac
Small White

Here are some photos from my visit: