Date: 2nd December 2020
Time: from 9 a.m.
Weather: dry, cloudy, light wind, 3°C to 5°C
This morning, I had my first visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve since 9th November 2020.
As I walked over to the reserve, it was sunny but this quickly progressed
to a dull and cloudy morning for the duration of my visit. It was cold but definitely
not as cold as yesterday since the added chill caused by the moderate/strong
wind had fortunately subsided.
I saw and heard very few birds during my visit but nonetheless I did
have some notable sightings.
The definite highlight was a female Kestrel perched in the trees immediately
adjacent to the main track just west of the storage shed. As I approached along
the main track from the “Spanish Steps”, I saw a medium-sized bird and
initially dismissed it as a Woodpigeon. I am glad that I checked further
and looked at it through my binoculars to confirm the identification. I was not
especially surprised to see a Kestrel on the reserve (I thought I had
heard one calling some months ago) but this bird was particularly confiding and
did not fly off as I moved closer to it. I was able to take several
photos although the light was not ideal compared with the soft winter sunshine
when I left home. After taking my photos, it did eventually decide to move on. This
was my first record of Kestrel for the site which brought my site total for bird species to 39.
Other highlights
included 2 fly-over Mallards plus a male and a female on Puckles Pond,
at least 1 Goldcrest in the wooded area east of Puckles Pond and a
calling Great Spotted Woodpecker in the wooded area by the “Spanish Steps”.
Finally, I saw 5 Grey Squirrels (the highest number on
any single visit): 2 separate individuals in the wooded areas adjacent to the
main track between the “Spanish Steps” and the storage shed, 1 in the wooded
area surrounding Puckles Pond,1 in the wooded area surrounding Meadow Pond and
1 in the wooded area surrounding Fox Pond. Having left the reserve and crossed
the bridge over the A127, I saw a further 2 Grey Squirrels in the wooded
area adjoining the path back towards Asda. It is no great surprise that Grey
Squirrels are so evident at present since the autumn and winter period sees
them particularly active as they gather acorns and other nuts plus the breeding
season commences with males pursuing females.
Species recorded
during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Kestrel
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Woodpigeon
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Mallard
Grey Squirrel
Site totals to date:
Birds = 39
Mammals = 2
Butterflies= 18
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
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.