Pittswood Birds

The last patch visit for the month didn't provide me with any new species for the June list, which ends on a very respectable 65 species, which is the 5th best June total, joint with the Junes of 2009 and 2012 and only 3 off the record total, only one species was added to the combined 13 year June tally, that was the Tufted Duck. In all then, not too bad considering I was away for 15 days  :-) It was still a bit disappointing however, not to have found a Turtle Dove or Yellowhammer, both species have declined dramatically here, the Yellowhammer for instance has been recorded on just 16% of full patch walks this year, compare that to when I first started recording the birds here, back in 2002, when Yellowhammers were seen on 86% of full patch walks. It's even worse for the Turtle Dove, so far this year I have recorded it on just 3% of full patch walks, in 2002 it was recorded on 33% !  ( I do 120 full patch walks each year)

Back to this morning, where I at last added a SONGTHRUSH to the 2014 ''Successfully bred'' list, the 39th species to do so, it had been fledged for a while as you can see in the image below, but it was no doubt hatched on my patch.

Immature Songthrush, found in the Greenhouse Grounds

There were also families of WHITETHROAT, BLACKCAP and WREN at the Greenhouse Grounds

Juvenile Blackcap

Juvenile Wren

The early sunshine only lasted until around 10:00hrs, but it gave me a chance to photograph these LINNETS that were on the fence line and hedgerow at Migrant Alley.

Linnet

 

What a stunner !

My sky watch produced two Gull species, those being LESSER BLACK BACKED and HERRING GULL, plus a pair of SPARROWHAWKS up hunting, and a COMMON BUZZARD, the KESTREL family were all accounted for after one had found it's way into one of the greenhouses yesterday  :-)  I also noted quite a large congregation of SWIFTS, at least 60 were feeding quite high up over the Wet Woods and Ashes Lane Fields.

SWALLOW on the cables above Ashes Lane