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

Date: 4th November 2020

Time: from 8:30 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 2°C to 6°C

I had 2 good reasons which motivated me to visit the site this morning.

Firstly, as forecast, it was a wonderful cold and sunny early winter morning following several days of dull and cloudy and sometimes very wet weather.

Secondly, another visit was long overdue given that personal commitments and other reasons had kept me away since 26th October 2020.

Oh, I almost forgot, there was a third reason: to find a complete distraction from the antics of the tin-pot dictator currently occupying the White House in Washington DC in the US.

I think most people may be aware that there has been an election going on in the US …. today is a momentous day.

Being a political “geek”, I was awake for most of the night watching the unfolding developments with a mixture of anticipation and hope and dread and fear.

I have listened, in confusion at best and utter dismay at worst, to many of the rambling and incoherent Trump press conferences over the last 4 years. At around 7 a.m. UK time today, we were exposed to undoubtedly the worst ever Trump press conference although I suppose we should not be surprised about anything from this obnoxious individual anymore.

Basically, Trump claimed “this is a fraud on the American nation”. He said “we have won" and "we will be going to the US Supreme Court, we want all voting to stop". He pushed an utterly baseless accusation of “fraud” as he declared victory without the results (currently too close to call) in many battleground states to back up that claim. Democracy in Trumpland: I won because I say so.

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious: there are still a huge number of legitimate votes left to count in key battleground states and it is voters in those states who will and must determine the winner of the US presidential election. Trump does not have the ability or the authority to unilaterally declare himself the winner. In a democracy, voters and fully counted votes determine an election outcome.

Trump's claim and proposed action are an orchestrated attempt to subvert US democracy. It is a full-on indefensible assault. It is a disgrace and an outrage! The UK Prime Minister and all UK politicians should clearly call it out for what it is but inevitably we will get the usual pussy-footing and tip-toeing around the issue.

Anyway, on to the report on my site visit this morning which did indeed provide at least a temporary distraction for 2.5 hours.

Although it was a beautiful morning with some stunning autumn colours glowing in the sunshine, it was relatively quite from a wildlife perspective.

With regard to birds, there were a number of highlights during my visit.

I heard a calling Goldcrest in the central area of the cemetery which I failed to see and I also heard what I think was a single call from a fly-over Redwing.

As on my last visit, a flock of at least 100 Woodpigeons flew over. Autumn is a period when large numbers arrive in the UK for the winter months from Europe.

I saw a Green Woodpecker fly through the central area of the cemetery and heard another loudly calling from somewhere in the trees at the top of Church Hill plus another calling in the vicinity of the track exiting the site near Larkins Tyres. I also heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker, calling distantly and briefly from somewhere in the cemetery.

With regard to mammals, what I think was a single Red Fox gave me the round around this morning. I first saw it in the area immediately behind the church (where I have had sightings on each of my last 3 visits) before quickly seeing it close by in the central area of the cemetery and then again in the area immediately behind the church. All sightings were extremely brief with the Red Fox spotting me as I spotted it before it ran off. I only managed a single very blurry photo!

However, I was far more successful in being able to watch and photograph a Red Fox in the field at the northern edge of the site approached along the track from Larkins Tyres. I think it spotted me even though access to the watching point is via a wooded area. When I reached the watching point, the Red Fox was sitting out in the open enjoying the sunshine. After about 10 minutes, it slowly got up, stretched, walked to the hedge line, cocked its leg (to confirm its ID as a dog/male!) and then disappeared in to the hedge. It very quickly re-appeared and walked slowly across the field before disappearing again in to a hedge. This encounter provided me with some much better photography opportunities.

I saw 3 Grey Squirrels this morning: 1 in the wooded area approached along the track from Larkins Tyres and 2 together in and around the trees bordering the field where I was watching the Red Fox.

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

Blue Tit
Great Tit
Robin
Goldcrest
Redwing
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull

Red Fox
Grey Squirrel

Here are some photos from my visit: