Date: 27th February 2021
Time: from 8:15 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 2°C
to 8°C
Like the visit to my
other local patch site around St. Nicholas Church yesterday, it was again a
beautiful sunny spring-like morning with hardly any wind although early on
there was still some remnant ground frost.
It was a very
productive morning and I recorded 21 bird species, including 6
additions to my site list for the year, the highest total since last spring and summer.
The 6 additions
to my site list for the year were Bullfinch, Great Spotted
Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Moorhen, Lesser Black-backed
Gull and Canada Goose.
The most notable
was a male and female Bullfinch in the trees at the back of Meadow Pond,
the same location as my 2 records last year in May 2020 and July 2020. I initially
saw the female but Bullfinches have a strongly monogamous pair bond so I
then very quickly saw the male.
I heard a Great
Spotted Woodpecker “drumming” whilst I was sat by Willow Pond and I saw a Moorhen
and heard another at this same location. My records of Collared Dove (1), Lesser
Black-backed Gull (1) and Canada Goose (2) were all of fly-over
birds.
In addition to
these species, there was a male and female Mallard on Puckles Pond.
The reserve was
very noisy this morning. No, not the usual sound of traffic on the adjacent
A127 but the noticeable increase in the abundance of bird song with the
approach of spring. I heard and also saw the following species: Wren, Robin,
Dunnock, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird and Goldfinch
but surprisingly no Song Thrush.
Finally, I saw 3 Grey Squirrels during
my visit: 2 individuals in the wooded area along the track between the storage
shed and the East Meadow and 1 in the wooded area around the Spanish Steps.
Species recorded during this visit
were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Great Tit
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos from my
visit:
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Grey Squirrel
Site totals to date (2021 totals in brackets):
Mammals = 2 (1)
Butterflies = 18 (0)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9 (0)
Reptiles = 1 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)
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