Thursday, 12 September 2024

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas –12th September 2024

Date: 12th September 2024

Time: from 8:20 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light/moderate wind, 8°C to 11°C

Whilst very sunny, there was definitely an autumnal feel to my visit this morning with the lowest temperatures for many months. In fact, my fleece and winter-lined trousers had their first outing of the autumn/winter!

Given the low temperatures, I was not expecting to see any butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies which have been my main focus for the last few months. However, remarkably, I saw 2 Red Admirals on the wing, the first in the cemetery immediately adjacent to the church and the second in the northern section of the site.

Birds finally appeared to be more active following the summer lull with roving groups of Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits being especially conspicuous, particularly in the bushes around the pond in the northern section of the site.

Spring and summer visitors are still present. I initially heard the contact call of a Chiffchaff in the bushes along the track from Larkins Tyres. I then saw a single Chiffchaff plus 2 male Blackcaps and a single female Blackcap foraging in bushes around the pond in the northern section of the site.

Other highlights included 2 separate sightings of a fly-over Common Buzzard in the northern section of the site (possibly the same individual), a single Great Spotted Woodpecker also in the northern section of the site and a Green Woodpecker heard distantly calling from the top of Church Hill.

Finally, with regard to mammals, I had a brief sighting of a single Red Fox running through the northern section of the site and a single Grey Squirrel in the same area.

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
Goldfinch
Common Buzzard
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull

Red Fox

Grey Squirrel

Red Admiral

Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):

Birds = 40 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 17 (23)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (12)
Reptiles = 0 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7
Butterflies = 25
Dragonflies and damselflies = 14
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
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.