SS15 wildlife watching: Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas

Friday 23 April 2021

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 23rd April 2021

Date: 23rd April 2021

Time: from 7:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 3°C to 10°C

It was another lovely sunny morning although again very cold and with some ground frost to begin with.

There seemed to be less bird activity than on recent visits and, whilst I struggled to see much other than some significant Red Fox activity, I still managed to record a reasonable number of species.

Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were again evident around the site although not quite as noticeable as recently. In fact, I failed to see any Blackcaps although I did hear short spells of song or calls from 8 birds. I did manage to see 2 Chiffchaffs, a single male singing continuously in the south west corner of the site and another calling in the woodland on my way back home, plus I heard 3 other singing males.

I heard a Green Woodpecker calling in the south west corner of the site and then much more loudly from just beyond the car park before I saw it fly across the western section of the cemetery.

Having seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker at a nest hole in one of the tall trees in the south west corner of the site on my last visit, I spent around 15 minutes this morning watching to see if there was any further activity. There wasn’t but much later during my visit, I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying from this area and towards me and over the church.

I heard a male Greenfinch calling in the eastern section of the cemetery and then eventually saw it as it emerged in to view from one of the bushes. This is my 7th record of this sadly declined finch at the site this year which represents a significantly better number of sightings already compared with the whole of last year.

With regard to mammals, it was an excellent visit for Red Fox sightings. I saw the first from my watchpoint at the north of the site which I visited after walking along the track from Larkins Tyres. As I arrived, there was a Red Fox sitting out in the open in the field. After a few minutes, it walked back towards the hedge line and disappeared from view.

Later during my visit, I saw a Red Fox slowly walking up Church Hill from St. Nicholas Lane towards the church where I was sat. From zooming in on the photos on the back of my camera, I could see that it was carrying a food item of some sort. However, before reaching the top of the hill, it was disturbed by 2 motor bikes than turned in off St. Nicholas Lane and it disappeared in to the roadside trees and bushes. A few minutes later, when the road was quiet again, presumably the same animal appeared again and crossed the road, only to disappear again. Here are some heavily cropped record photos ....

Not long after that, I saw a Red Fox at the bottom of the grassy strip that runs parallel to Church Hill and down to St. Nicholas Lane which again may have been the same animal. Here is a heavily cropped record photo ....

For the next 30 minutes or so I had 4 sightings of a Red Fox but, judging by their appearance, I think 2 animals were involved, one of which was definitely a lactating vixen. From these sightings, the level of activity and the presence of a lactating vixen, I am even more confident now that there may be a natal den with cubs somewhere in this area. Better quality photos appear below.

I saw a single Reeves’ Muntjac this morning with a brief view from my watchpoint of one at the edge of the field shortly after seeing the first Red Fox. The only photo I managed to get was one of its rear end disappearing!