Date: 12th September 2021
Time: from
7:30 a.m.
Weather: dry,
hazy sunshine, light wind, 12°C to 14°C
This was my first
visit to the site in over 2 weeks.
Immediately on
leaving the communal exit to the flats where I live, I heard a distant “barking”
male Reeves’ Muntjac. During the last week or so, I thought I heard this
deer “barking” briefly on 2 other occasions late at night although I could not
be certain.
I accessed the site
via the track from Larkins Tyres and, as I did so, a Reeves’ Muntjac sprang
out from the scrub to the side of me and ran off down the track, holding its
wide tail erect and displaying its white underside, a characteristic sign when
this species is disturbed or alarmed.
During my visit, I
saw another Reeves’ Muntjac when I was sat at St. Nicholas Church. It
slowly crossed the grassy area immediately beyond the car park to disappear in
to the wooded area but several minutes later presumably the same
individual emerged on the other side to cross Church Hill and again disappear.
After seeing the
first Reeves’ Muntjac, I saw a Grey Squirrel in the same area and
then another in the western section of the cemetery.
Photo: Grey Squirrel
Whilst sat at St. Nicholas Church, I saw 2 Red Foxes cross Church Hill in quick succession.
It continues to be relatively
quiet with regard to birds although there were several highlights
during my visit.
The most notable
sighting was from my usual watchpoint overlooking the field, scrub and wooded
area in the north of the site. A Common Buzzard flew in pursued by
several Magpies and landed and perched at the top of one of the hedges.
It was continually harassed by Magpies for around 10 minutes before it
flew off in a westerly direction only to return almost immediately, still
pursued by Magpies, and then head in a south easterly direction towards my
flat.
Photo: heavily cropped record shot of distant Common Buzzard
From this viewpoint,
I also heard an almost continually but distantly calling Chiffchaff and,
on a few brief occasions, this bird or another, broke in to song although by no
means as loud and robust as in spring. In addition, I heard the brief alarm
calling of a Blackcap in the same area. I failed to see either species but evidently both of the common summer visiting and breeding warblers are still present.
The only other
notable records were 2 calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers (1 around
St. Nicholas Church and 1 in the wooded area adjacent to the viewpoint) and 2 fly-over
Canada Geese heading in an easterly direction and also seen from the
watchpoint.
In another sign that
autumn is here, Robins are singing again regularly around the
site and Jays have become far more conspicuous and noisy as they go
about their acorn foraging trips.
Species
recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Site totals to date
(2021 totals in brackets):
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.