Thursday, 7 April 2022

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 7th April 2022

Date: 7th April 2022

Time: from 7 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny/cloudy, moderate/strong wind, 6°C to 8°C

My plan to visit the site this morning seemed to be in jeopardy when I was woken up at around 4 a.m. by the strong wind and heavy rain. Fortunately by 6 a.m. the rain had stopped but it was still very windy as it continued to be during my visit.

The main purpose of my visit this morning was to photograph Red Foxes which I have posted about separately here.

I accessed the site via the track from Larkins Tyres and immediately saw a distant Red Fox in the scrub area. I carried on down the track and then took the short track through the trees to my usual watchpoint overlooking the rough grass field bordered by scrub, hedges and trees. 

From this location, I added Little Egret to my 2022 list for the site bringing the total to date to 36. This is only my second record for the site and, similar to my 2021 record, it was of a single bird flying over in an easterly direction.

Other notable records this morning from my watchpoint included Common Buzzard (a single bird seen flying away as soon as I arrived, possibly from the large oak tree where I have seen this species perched up before), Chiffchaff (2 singing males seen and at least 2 others heard), Blackcap (at least 2 singing males heard but unseen), Greenfinch (1 seen flying over and possibly the same bird heard calling from the scrub to the north of the track from Larkins Tyres), Green Woodpecker (1 heard distantly calling) and Mallard (2 flying over the north of the site in an easterly direction).

In addition, I had a brief sighting of a single Reeves’ Muntjac in the wooded area behind the main oak tree.

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

Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Blackbird
Greenfinch
Green Woodpecker
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull

Red Fox
Reeves’ Muntjac

Site totals to date (2022 totals in brackets):

Birds = 56  (36)
Mammals = 6  (3)
Butterflies = 21  (2)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 7  (0)
Reptiles = 1  (0)
Amphibians = 0  (0)

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

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.