Thursday, 22 April 2021

Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 22nd April 2021

Date: 22nd April 2021

Time: from 6:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 2°C to 7°C

This was my earliest visit to the site this year and one of the reasons was to arrive before too many people were around in the hope of seeing the Red Fox vixen and cubs which have recently been reported on the Facebook page for Noak Bridge Nature Reserve.

It was another beautiful sunny morning but it continues to be cold which is evidently restricting some of the bird activity and definitely preventing the emergence of butterflies and other insects.

There were 2 main highlights during my visit this morning.

Firstly, I finally managed to see Smooth Newts on the reserve after many attempts both this year and last year. The early morning sunshine ensured that there was reasonably good visibility to the bottom of at least part of Meadow Pond and here I saw both a male and female Smooth Newt together. This is my first confirmed amphibian species for the site.

I did endeavour to get some photos. However, the autofocus on my camera focused on the surface of the pond rather than what lay below it. I therefore switched to manual focus but this, together with my eyesight rarely (never!) results in even a reasonable quality outcome 😀.

But here, just for the record, are allegedly some photos of a male and female Smooth Newt ….


















Secondly, I saw a Grey Heron flying over the reserve between the Spanish Steps and the storage shed in a south easterly direction. This sighting was my first record for the site and brought my site total for bird species to 41. Fortunately, a Grey Heron is somewhat larger than a Smooth Newt and doesn’t live underwater for the breeding cycle of its life so I did manage to get a photo of this bird 😀.

The presence of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs right across the whole site continues to be very evident. I saw 4 male Blackcaps plus a red-headed female and heard a further 5 birds (either singing males or alarm calling males/females). I also saw just a single Chiffchaff and heard a further 3 singing males.

However, I have still to hear or see Lesser Whitethroat this year but I am assuming that it will not be long since I saw my first last year on 24th April 2020.

The other bird highlights during my visit were a briefly calling Green Woodpecker, a Moorhen on Meadow Pond plus another calling from vegetation in the centre of the pond, a fly-over Lesser Black-backed Gull and an unusually approachable Jay which allowed me to photograph this normally shy and flighty species.

I saw just a single Grey Squirrel this morning in the bushes surrounding the small pond between the Spanish Steps and the storage shed.

Oh, and I failed to see the Red Foxes so my only record for the site to date remains the brief sighting of the end of a tail on a visit last year!

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

Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
Woodpigeon
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Grey Heron
Moorhen
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull

Grey Squirrel

Smooth Newt

Here are some photos from my visit:















Photo: Grey Heron















Photo: Jay















Photo: Jay















Photo: Blue Tit















Photo: male Blackbird















Photo: male Blackbird
















Photo: male Blackbird















Photo: Woodpigeon

Site totals to date (2021 totals in brackets):

Birds = 42  (33)    
Mammals = 2  (1)
Butterflies = 18  (1)  
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9  (0)
Reptiles = 1  (0)
Amphibians = 1  (1)

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


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