Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 25th October 2021

Date: 25th October 2021 

Time: from 8:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 10°C to 12°C

It was a beautiful sunny autumnal morning for my visit and there were 2 main highlights.

Firstly, and somewhat surprisingly, I saw a single Red Admiral nectaring on the few remaining Ox-eye Daisies in the central section of the cemetery. Whilst this species can be seen in October and even later in the year on warm days, it was a relatively cool morning so I was certainly not expecting to see any late flying butterflies.

Secondly, although it continues to be relatively quiet with regard to birds, I did see a flock of c.15 Jackdaws flying over the central section of the cemetery, past the church and continuing away off to the south west. This is my first record of this corvid species bringing my site total for bird species to 54.

I did see a single thrush species flying over very distantly but unfortunately I was unable to confirm if this was the first Redwing of the winter. Certainly in the last 2 weeks or so, there has been a major influx of this species in to the UK as they arrive for the winter from their northern European breeding areas.

The only other bird record of note was Great Spotted Woodpecker with an individual heard calling in the woodland beyond the eastern section of the cemetery and another heard calling distantly from the church.

Robins and Wrens were the most conspicuous species with several singing and calling throughout the site. There also seemed to be an increase in Blackbirds, again likely to be due to the arrival of birds arriving from Europe for the winter.

During my visit, I failed to record any Red Foxes, Grey Squirrels or Reeves’ Muntjacs. It is extremely unusual not to record any mammals at all. However, I did spot the gruesome remains of part of a the head of what I think was a Red Fox judging by the canine teeth and the signs of reddish fur.

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

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Robin

Wren

Dunnock

Blackbird

Starling

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jackdaw

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Red Admiral

Here are some photos from my visit:

Photo: Red Admiral

Photo: Red Admiral

Photo: Blackbird

Photo: Blackbird

Site totals to date (2021 totals in brackets):

Birds = 54  (43)

Mammals = 6  (5)

Butterflies = 21  (14)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 7  (2)

Reptiles = 1  (0)

Amphibians = 0  (0)

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