Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 11th March 2025

Date: 11th March 2025

Time: from 8:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny/cloudy, light wind, 5°C to 7°C

It was much colder this morning than in recent days which may explain why it was relatively quiet.

However, I did have another excellent visit and added 3 species to my site list for 2025 taking it to 33 speciesStock Dove (a single bird in the western section of the cemetery), Lesser Black-backed Gull (a single bird flying over the northern section of the site) and Starling (at least 3 birds flying over the paddock in the northern section of the site).
















Photo: Stock Dove

The other main highlight of my visit was again briefly hearing a calling Hawfinch in the paddock in the northern section of the site (which was also picked up by my Merlin app) as on my last visit on 8th March 2025. It therefore appears that at least one bird is still present after my remarkable first site record on 23rd February 2025.

Having heard 2 singing male Chiffchaffs on my last visit on 8th March 2025 and seeing singing males of both this species and Blackcap at Noak Bridge Nature Reserve on 9th March 2025, I was hoping for the same this morning. However, I had to wait until my walk home through the wooded area in the southern section of the site before I heard a briefly singing male Chiffchaff.

Other highlights during my visit included a single Cormorant and a single Jackdaw flying over the northern section of the site and a Green Woodpecker heard calling in the northern section of the site.

With regard to mammals, I saw 2 Red Foxes in the paddock in the northern section of the site but, although they approached very closely, I failed to get any photos due to the views being obscured by tall grass.

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

Hawfinch

Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Green Woodpecker
Jay
Jackdaw
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Cormorant
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull

Red Fox

Site totals for 2025 to date (2024 totals in brackets):

Birds = 33 (49)

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

Total species list for the site

Birds = 69

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

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