Sunday, 17 January 2021

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 17th January 2021

Date: 17th January 2021

Time: from 9:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 3°C to 5°C

It was a beautiful sunny morning for my visit but for some reason it was initially slow going in respect of wildlife sightings. Fortunately it got better as my visit progressed.

accessed the site as usual via the track from Larkins Tyres which is even wetter and even muddier after the recent rain! Result: extremely muddy boots and trousers!

I added 3 more species to my year site list this morning: Dunnock (heard singing but not seen), a single Starling and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull associating with a fly-over group of c.10 Herring Gulls.

After carefully negotiating the track from Larkins Tyres to the wooded clearing, I then took the short track to the edge of the woodland to the fence overlooking the field and scrub at the northern edge of the site in the hope of seeing Red Fox given that this has been the most reliable location in recent weeks. Yet again, my visit failed to produce a Red Fox sighting and I have yet to see a single animal in 2021 to date.

However, this watchpoint did produce the remarkable sighting of a large female Sparrowhawk rapidly pursuing a Woodpigeon and causing general panic amongst the other Woodpigeons in the area. From this location, I also saw a Green Woodpecker and 2 roving groups each of c.10 Long-tailed Tits.

My recent visits to the site have produced up to c.30 Redwings in the western section of the cemetery where they have been very active flying to and fro between the trees and a berry-bearing Holly bush. As I reached this area this morning, there was no sight or sound of any Redwings and the reason quickly became apparent: they have stripped the Holly bush almost bare and have consequently moved on to another location to feed. However, I did see 2 Redwings during my visit, both flying across the scrub and hedge area behind Larkins Tyres.

The only other notable record was a distantly calling Great Spotted Woodpecker as I walked back down Church Hill towards Laindon Park school.

With regard to mammals, Grey Squirrels were again very evident this morning with 6 animals seen: 4 along the track from Larkins Tyres with 3 engaging in a lot of chasing and vocalisation (possibly 2 males pursuing a female given that pre-breeding activity is well underway), 1 in the trees bordering the field/scrubland area to the north of the site and 1 in the trees opposite Laindon Park school.

Although it is still January and very cold, there was a sign of spring this morning: a single daffodil around one of the graves in front of the church.

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

Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin 
Redwing
Blackbird
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Starling
Goldfinch
Sparrowhawk
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull

Grey Squirrel

Here are some photos from my visit:













Photo: Long-tailed Tit













Photo: Long-tailed Tit














Photo: Long-tailed Tit













Photo: Blue Tit













Photo: Great Tit














Photo: Robin














Photo: Robin














Photo: Robin














Photo: Grey Squirrel














Photo: Grey Squirrel
















Site totals to date (2021 totals in brackets):

Birds = 51  (21)
Mammals = 6  (1)
Butterflies = 21  (0)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 7  (0)
Reptiles = 1  (0)
Amphibians = 0  (0)

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature


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