Date: 18th November 2020
Time: from 9:45 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, moderate wind, 11°C
to 14°C
It was a beautiful sunny autumn morning
for my visit today.
With regard to birds, the highlight of
my visit was a Sparrowhawk lazily drifting over the south west corner of
the site in the moderate wind.
I saw both Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted
Woodpecker, the former flying through the central area of the cemetery and the
latter in the wooded area along the track from Larkins Tyres. I also heard
another Great Spotted Woodpecker in the area around the church.
Blue Tits, Great
Tits and Long-tailed Tits were again conspicuous today
and I heard at least one Goldcrest amongst the small foraging flocks. Robins
were also evident throughout the site, many now singing. A small hawthorn bush behind
the church hosted up to 5 but probably more Blackbirds which visited regularly
to gorge on the red berries. Unfortunately they were not joined by either of
the autumn/winter thrushes, namely Redwing and Fieldfare,
although I have already seen the former at the site a few weeks ago.
With regard to mammals, I failed to
see a single Red Fox which is both surprising and disappointing given
the frequency of daytime sightings in recent weeks.
However, Grey Squirrels were very active this morning and I saw 6 at various locations: 2 in the wooded area along the track from Larkins Tyres, 2 in the trees around the eastern section of the cemetery, 1 in the central section of the cemetery and 1 running across the grassy strip between the church and St. Nicholas Lane.
Although I see Grey Squirrels regularly, especially at this time of year when they are foraging for nuts, they can be difficult to photograph. If they are in the trees they are often obscured by twigs and branches or the light is poor and if they are on the ground foraging they quickly run off and return to the trees. However, this morning, the individual that I saw in the central section of the cemetery decided to pose on the top of one of the headstones complete with a nut in its mouth. This enabled me to get one of my best Grey Squirrel photos .... although it does look like he has got a cigar on 😀.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Goldcrest
Wren
Robin
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Sparrowhawk
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos from my visit:
Site totals to
date:
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