Sunday 24 October 2010

A late record from yesterday evening, but a good one, was hearing a TAWNY OWL (77) hooting, it called from the Wet Woods at 19:30.

Below are a couple of Garden pics taken this afternoon. The first is of the Red Admiral, the second is of the GOLDFINCH'S at the Garden Feeders

The feeder is further away from my window now. Ive had to move it into cover to make it more difficult for the Sparrowhawk :-)

Back to this morning, and conditions couldn't have been more different from yesterday, it was calm and clear with a touch of frost.
The first bird on the list today was a GOLDCREST, its high pitch calls easily pierced to crisp air, just one of 6 seen today. I walked the Tree Nursery, Pub Field, Migrant Alley, the College Grounds and back home for a halfway drink, recording all that was expected, 37 species in all. Notable ones were again hearing the call of a REED BUNTING as it flew over the Tree Nursery, a LESSER REDPOLL that flew over the College Grounds, and a SISKIN that dropped down into an Alder tree, also at the College Grounds. For the 2 hours it took to complete the first half of my patch, a continuous stream of WOODPIGEONS went high over heading south, involving many hundreds of birds.
The sunny conditions continued on into the second half of my visit, through the Small Holding, Wet Woods, Lakes and scrub area. Just 5 more species were added to the day list here, NUTHATCH, and LONG TAILED TIT, plus GREY HERON, MALLARD and MOORHEN on the water. Three more species were seen as I walked home across Marchants Field and the Tree Nursery, all of them Raptors, first the SPARROWHAWK - late today :-) , then the KESTREL hunting over at the Greenhouses, lastly a pair of COMMON BUZZARDS that were up high over Migrant Alley.
45 species for the day is a good tally for late October, and 51 species for the weekend is a fair reflection on my patch. The Tawny Owl seen last evening brings the months list of 77 within touching distance of the best monthly count ever, which at the moment goes to the August just gone, and the September of last year, both had 78 species recorded.
A few more photo's were taken this morning; Below is a PIED WAGTAIL at Migrant Alley

Next is a flight of GREYLAG GEESE that went over the Tree Nursery early on.

Below is a shot of one of the groups of Woodpigeon that streamed over for most of the morning ( click on photo to see them a bit better)

Lastly a photo over the College Stream ( actually the river Bourne) you can make out the far bank, which some ''Management experts'' have totally cleared, depriving birds and animals of a place of refuge and nesting opportunities for next spring.






14 comments:

Marc Heath said...

Looks like your garden is a great place to be, plenty of birds and some good ones at that.

Warren Baker said...

Marc,
Its good when the the surrounding football pitch sized gardens are ''mower free'' :-)

Greenie said...

Warren ,
Still a week left to equal or better .
Great morning wasn't it .
I shall be looking over my shoulder for a while .

Warren Baker said...

Greenie,
You should have a few points left if I remember rightly :-)

Phil said...

One week of October to go Warren. I seem to remember you worrying at the start of the month as to whether you would reach 68 for the month....

Warren Baker said...

Phil,
I was worried with good cause! 68 was the best october total achieved, and the average for the 8years 2002 - 2009 was just 61!

This October has been an unbelievable success :-)

ShySongbird said...

So you just need 2 more in the next week to beat your record! I hope you get them, I shall wait with bated breath. Good luck Warren!

I think I saw a Goldcrest at my garden feeders today but it was so quick I couldn't even get the bins on it, if so it was a garden first for me :)

Stewart said...

Warren lets hope you clinch a record breaker by the end of the week.

Bob Bushell said...

This must be the longest living Red Admiral, it comes out when the sun is here.

Monika said...

Amazing October is in the running for the best patch total ever! I would expect August/September to be higher, as they have been up to this point for you. Just one more species to tie!

Anonymous said...

Well done with the Tawny, Warren and here`s hoping you beat the all time monthly record.

Kelly said...

...glad the tally continues to climb!
Sorry they cleared the brush......it's a beautiful photo, though, with the sun streaming through. "Management" did the same thing at VOA park....cleared the brush around a pond. Now it's stark and unattractive and the swallows have no where to light. Uugh!

Chris said...

I would love to see a tawny owl mate! Still not on my list! Ok which species would you like to make it 78 ;-)
I love your last picture, the atmosphere is splendid!

Fraser Simpson said...
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