Wednesday 5 April 2023

Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 5th April 2023

Date: 5th April 2023

Time: from 7:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, bright/cloudy, light wind, 2°C to 8°C

My main targets on this early spring morning were the first Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps of the year having already recorded both species at my St. Nicholas Church local patch site.

I saw a singing male Chiffchaff as I walked between Asda and the A127 footbridge so my hopes were high of also connecting with this species at the reserve.

I was not disappointed: I saw 5 singing male Chiffchaffs, heard another singing male and saw 2 other calling birds.

Unfortunately, I did not hear or see any Blackcaps during my visit.

The other main highlights of my visit were a calling and “drumming” but unseen Great Spotted Woodpecker in the wooded area to the north of the track between the Spanish Steps and the storage shed and a pair of Mallards which had a chosen a small flooded area in the Thorny Wood area rather than their usual location on one of the ponds.

Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker were both new site records for the year taking my total to 24 species.

I also saw 4 Grey Squirrels, 2 in the wooded area around Puckles Pond and another 2 in the wooded area around Fox Pond.

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


Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Mallard
Herring Gull

Grey Squirrel

Here are some photos from my visit:















Photo: male Chiffchaff















Photo: male Chiffchaff

Photo: male and female Mallard

Site totals for 2023 to date (2022 totals in brackets):

Birds = 24  (30)

Mammals = 1 (2)
Butterflies = 0  (15)  
Dragonflies and damselflies = 0  (5)
Reptiles = 0  (2)
Amphibians = 0  (2)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 45
Mammals = 3
Butterflies = 21
Dragonflies and damselflies = 13
Reptiles = 2
Amphibians = 3

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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

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