Time: from 6:15 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 15°C to 21°C
I again visited St. Nicholas Church, its graveyard and the surrounding areas early this morning.
Unlike on my last few visits when Red Fox sightings (including some or all of the 4 cubs), have been excellent, this morning was relatively disappointing. I only saw what I think (from the head shape) was a single dog Red Fox in the green area adjacent to Church Hill. There was no sign at all of the vixen or cubs around the den area.
On previous occasions, I have written a separate dedicated blog post on my experience with the Red Foxes but since they couldn’t be bothered to put on a good show they are not getting that special celebrity treatment today 😊.
I again saw Swifts around St. Nicholas Church on this visit and this is now a regular occurrence. Initially, I saw a single bird around the church tower but later on there were 2 flying together much higher and in close proximity to a soaring male Sparrowhawk. In addition, I saw 2 separate individual fly-over Swallows.
With regard to other birds, I heard 4 singing Blackcaps without seeing any of them and I saw 1 singing Chiffchaff and heard 5 others.
I also heard 2 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Goldcrest.
A pair of Jays was particularly active today flying to and from a tree in the graveyard where I often see them. In addition to the normal and frequently heard raucous squawk that these birds make, they also made a flight call which I don’t recall hearing before. There was also another call which I have definitely not heard before. It was a repeated mechanical sound, a bit like a child’s toy of some kind, which caused several minutes of confusion before a Jay emerged from the hedgerow where the sound had been coming from. Listening to just a few of the 1100+ sound files on xeno-canto it is evident that the Jay has a huge range of different calls plus it also includes mimicry in its repertoire just to cause even more confusion.
Finally, I saw 1 Grey Squirrel in the wooded area adjacent to the graveyard.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Swift
Swallow
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Starling
Goldcrest
Sparrowhawk
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Red Fox
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: Red Fox …. the one that did bother to turn up 😊
Photo: Dunnock
Photo: record shot of male Sparrowhawk
Site totals to date:
Birds = 46
Mammals = 4
Butterflies = 16
Dragonflies and damselflies = 3
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚
💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.