Date: 23rd February 2022
Time: from
8:30 a.m.
Weather: dry,
sunny, moderate wind, 4°C to 8°C
I had
an excellent visit this morning which proved to be the best of the year to date
with 20 species of birds recorded, including a new record for the site and 5
additions to my 2022 list for the site, plus 2 mammal species.
My
last visit on 9th February 2022 provided
some early signs of spring including the emergence of Snowdrops and Daffodils
in St. Nicholas Church cemetery and increased bird song.
That
theme continued this morning with the first emergence of white Blackthorn blossom visible plus the songs of Wrens, Dunnocks, Robins, Blue
Tits and Great Tits heard across the site. However, unlike my previous visits this year, there were no Song Thrushes singing.
The most notable sighting during my visit was 4 Linnets flying over the field in the north of the site. This was my first record for the site bringing the total number of bird species to 56.
In addition, I added a further 5 species to my 2022 list for the site
bringing the total to date to 27: Sparrowhawk (a single bird seen flying high over the south west corner of the site),
Jackdaw (5 seen flying over the field in the north of the site),
Greenfinch (a male seen in the top of the oak tree bordering the field
in the north of the site) and Goldfinch (several heard calling at
several locations but none seen).
Woodpeckers were conspicuous
around the site including 3 Green Woodpeckers (1 heard calling near
the church, 1 heard calling in the eastern section of the cemetery and 1 seen
flying across the field in the north of the site) and 2 Great Spotted
Woodpeckers (1 heard calling from the track from Larkins Tyres and 1 seen
flying across the field in the north of the site).
During my visit, I
had an excellent view of a single Red Fox. When I arrived on site
via the track from Larkins Tyres, I spent around 30 minutes at my usual
watchpoint overlooking the rough grass field bordered by scrub, hedges and
trees. Within 10 minutes of arriving, a Red Fox appeared from the left.
It stopped to have a
scratch ….
…. and then a yawn ….
.... and another scratch ....
.... and then another yawn ....
…. before walking
towards the scrub to the left of the large oak tree ….
…. when it sat down
and tried to stare me out ….
In addition to the Red Fox, I saw 2 Grey Squirrels, both of which were foraging on the ground along the track from Larkins Tyres.
Species
recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
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