Sunday, November 26, 2006

A Short Walk, a Short List

I took an hour's walk around Big Wood, starting down at Hanging Heath seeing some Woodpigeon and four Jay. I headed up a trail at the other side of the main path, which was quiet for a while and then a couple of Long-tailed Tit appeared. A falcon species caught my eye flying over, but it was only a short view and the light was bad (the sun was too low). It looked big enough to be a Peregrine and had a whitish underneath, but chances are it was a Kestrel.

Further on a possible Sparrowhawk caught my eye flying away from me in the trees, so I followed its general direction (up a horse trail) in hope of a better view. After re-sighting it flying away from me again, I didn't relocate it, and the view wasn't good enough for an ID. Further along the horse trail a Great Tit was calling and in came several others from various directions, a few Blue Tit and a single Wren were also drawn out.

After joining a main footpath again I stopped at a point before it joined onto the Woodman's Path. Here there were a single Dunnock, a Robin, more Blue Tit and Great Tit and a pair of Chaffinch. Then I followed the Woodman's path back to the Triangle. Near the garden that's next to Big Wood School Field I caught sight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, another pair of Chaffinch, more Blue Tit and Great Tit and a single Blackbird.

A nice quiet walk in the bright sunny weather, but only 14 species to show for it.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Rained Off

The weather forecast was fair so I had a long walk planned; around the Pit Tip lane to the Mill Lakes and then maybe to the lakes further north and back through Big Wood. When I set out at 8am there was a light rain, which I hoped would clear. Lots of Blackbird and Blue Tit were along the path in the hedgerows. Also seen were a few Wren, House Sparrow, a pair of Chaffinch, a couple of Dunnock, and a Redwing. A single Robin was at Orchard Corner.

Further on, the rain started to get heavier, so I sheltered under an oak tree for a few minutes. There were Woodpigeon, Magpie and Carrion Crow in the nearby fields. When it became lighter again, I decided to head on a little way to Dawson's Corner, but by then it was getting very heavy, with no sign of it easing up enough for me to dry out. The bins and camera were already pretty wet too, so I headed back. Another Robin was around here, and I'd also seen a few Great Tit up to this point.

The return journey only produced more of the same, with a Greenfinch in someone's garden at the back of Rise Park. In the woods along Front Line, I had some good views of two Jay chasing each other about, then it was back home to get a cup of tea and dry off.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

What a Day... to Leave the Camcorder!

I left just after 7am to get to the Mill Lakes before it got too busy, but ended up taking my time. I saw loads of Blackbird down the lane that runs around the Pit Tip, with Blue Tit, Great Tit and a single Goldcrest too. Where the path bends at a right angle at the back of Rise Park a Red Fox popped out of the undergrowth, only to see me and disappear back in again. As usual, there were loads of Rook in Farmer Fox's Cow Field, and I had close views of Goldfinch and Redwing at Dawson's Corner before heading along the Sustrands path to the Mill Lakes.

On arriving, I headed to the Vehicle Bridge to get a good view up the lake and saw some of the typical residents (Mallard, Coot, Mute Swan, Canada Goose and Tufted Duck) with a single Grey Heron hidden in the bushes on the near bank. Another Grey Heron was further away on the bank of one of the nearer islands.

There were some noisy kids down by the Reedbed area so I decided to avoid them and take the usual anti-clockwise route. I spotted my first patch Cormorant flying SE over the trees, then another when arriving at the first of the lake's viewing points. It was showing well, perched on a post just off Tern Island. I got a better view of the Grey Heron on the island bank from here, and another did a lap of honour flight around the same island before settling on the far side. One of the Great Crested Grebe was here too, maybe the juvenile, but I wasn't paying too much attention. I could also start getting views of the shy ducks from here, which included a Gadwall on the far side. Some Moorhen were also present.

The next viewing point showed three pairs of Gadwall complete with drake Shoveler in full-colour glory, two pairs of Teal and what I thought were a pair of Wigeon on the far bank, but not good enough views to tick. There were 22 Pochard in the middle of the lake staying north of one island and around 40 Black-headed Gull further up. A view from the side over the usually-quite area showed a female Sparrowhawk seemingly struggling in a bush at the near edge of the lake. After settling it flew off into a tall tree on one of the islands. A number of Long-tailed Tits were passing through here too.

I moved on to try and get some better views of the Sparrowhawk, but in doing so heard and saw another raptor over the adjacent farmer's field. It was being harassed by a Black-headed Gull, but was managing quite well (being faster) and was happy to stay around swooping, circling and soaring over the field and showing quite well in the good light. Without the bins on it it showed typical falcon shape and I thought it was a Kestrel (although large). In the bins it showed obvious barring and my first thought was Sparrowhawk. I soon realised it was something a bit more special. The wing shape and fine barring on the tail combined with the definite black "hood" all pointed to Peregrine. To rule out Hobby I checked for red/brown "trousers" and there were no signs. (Could have been a juvenile, but later ruled out the possibility of any Hobby by the time of year.) It's just typical that the day I get good views of the rarest thing I've ever seen on this patch, I leave the video camera at home as the battery was low! I spent about 3-4 minutes watching this wonderful bird, before losing it whilst rummaging for the compact camera. C'est la Vie!

Thinking that the Peregrine might have headed to the Leen Pastures, I headed along the path in that direction. Just before the bridge a large flock of Fieldfare flew up from the same field into the nearby trees. On arrival at the gate of the Leen Pastures, there was plenty to see. First to grab my attention was a female Bullfinch in the trees to the left. Plenty of Blue Tit and Goldfinch were around with lots of Redwing too. When some walkers passed along the overlooking disused railway tracks, they disturbed the birds a bit and two smaller birds also caught my attention in the trees. A male and female Reed Bunting were happy to stay around for most of the time I was there - another great patch tick for me. A Robin and Wren were also about.

Some odd noises caught my attention. It sounded like calls from a raptor, but overly loud. This happened several times whilst I was in the Leen Pastures area. Sometimes the calls seemed hawk-like and other times falcon-like (at least they did to me), always lasting 10-15 seconds and with about ten minutes between calls. It seemed to be some kind of loudspeaker device in a nearby farmer's field. One time it sounded and flushed out quite a few birds, including a male Kestrel, which flew over me to the west. I decided to try and get better views by going up the side of the rail embankment. No sign of it by the time I got there, but I was surprised to find a golf course hidden on the other side of the embankment. Other than a small pond/lake there, there was nothing much to see apart from golfers on the course and walkers on the railway track.

Heading back to the Mill Lake showed more Fieldfare in the trees by the Double Gates, along with the usual Blue Tit. The single Greylag Goose was at the north end of the lake for once. Due the the light, I couldn't see much more from this side, so headed on back via the northern entrance, getting very close views of some House Sparrow in the hedge at the entrance.

I decided to take a scenic route home and headed north on the main road out of the village and then took a right up a supposed public footpath. At the top there was some kind of private looking scrap yard with no sign of a footpath. I found a couple of signs which indicated a very overgrown path, but gave up after the undergrowth got too thick. I backtracked a bit and took an alternate route, which led into a farmer's field. About to turn back, I saw a dog walker heading towards me through the field, so I waited around to ask. He pointed me in the direction of a farmhouse and then up through a sugar beet field. After a lot of clambering through thick undergrowth, I found my way to the path around the top of Bestwood Quarry. I checked the spot I saw the Weasel the week before, but no sign of it. I headed back home through Big Wood, but no sign of anything but Great Tit at that time of day. I didn't bother to look for much anyway, not after already seeing three new patch birds.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Weasely Recognized

Today it was cold, but dry and bright with some sunny patches, so I decided to head for Bestwood Quarry. I was up and out quite early and walked behind the houses in Warrenhill seeing many birds in and around the hedge of the garden next to Big Wood School Field. These were mainly tits, but three Great Spotted Woodpecker were there and a Dunnock too. I walked on and saw a Wren at the junction of Woodman's Path. Then I headed down the path known as First Valley. A little way down I came to an area with lots of chirping sounds that showed a Wren and some very close sightings of two Goldcrest - I'm starting to recognize their calls now.

I came out on main drive right before Alexandra Lodge where the double "fence post" gate is. Before getting to the lodge, a Sparrowhawk dived into the large pine on the right, where three or four Woodpigeon flew out unharmed. I tried to get a better view of the Sparrowhawk, but it flew out of view almost immediately afterwards. I walked on through Alexandra Lodge checking all the action around its gardens. Lots of tits were on the feeders along with some Chaffinch too. Blue Tit and Great Tit mainly, but one or two possible Coal Tit too (not clear enough to see for sure). Another Wren around the feeders and lots of Long-tailed Tit in the trees around there, but none on the feeders. I had good views of a Nuthatch in taller trees behind the gardens to the left. It's the first time I've seen them this far down into Big Wood. I saw a couple of Robin chasing each other by the Woodman's Cottage, and two or more Goldcrest here too. I also heard an unknown "wi-pit wi-pit wi wa poo" call, that stood out above chirping of tits - I doubt I'll ever know what that was from that description!

I carried on to the entrance of Bestwood Quarry, seeing more Blue Tit and Great Tit in hedgerows. I also had a good view of a juvenile Dunnock in the hedge next to me (about a meter away). There were lots of Blackbird in the hedges. I walked into the quarry and took the red path all the way until it split to the sandy path, which I followed up to the top without seeing much - just one or two Magpie and the odd pigeon. I heard what was probably a Skylark singing over the main quarry, but couldn't be sure from the distant views. I carried on to the top and followed the path down to the small wood behind Mushroom Farm. I didn't go into the wood at first, but spotted two thrushes on a overhead wire running through the adjacent field. I spent some time trying to VidiBin them for an ID. Most probably they were Song Thrush, but I'm not certain. A smaller bird joined them on the wire for some time, but it was too distant to even hint at an ID.

After about 10 minutes of failing to VidiBin or ID on the thrushes, I walked into the wood only to see what I first thought was just a small reddish-looking squirrel. It turned out to be a Weasel, but had partially hidden itself in a tree hole by the time I had the video camera on it. It did sit up for a while before hiding further in the hole [see video still]. It's the first time I've seen one! I walked on a bit in the wood, but it was getting late so I didn't want to head too much further. I turned back, but took a slightly different route, sticking to the red path and turning off where it looked like there was a cut-through straight back into Big Wood.

It turned out to be a big time saver, bringing me out by Warrenhill Plantation (probably on the horse trail though). I walked a little way along Collier's Pad and cut down the middle path to Main Drive again. I walked back up to Big Wood School Field along the Second Valley path, but spent some time at the bottom watching Goldcrest, tits and with great views of a Nuthatch (couldn't get the video camera on in time, though). When back at the School Field, I had good views of male and female Chaffinch in the hedge of the same garden from earlier. Walking back home also showed a couple of Collared Dove., which meant a total of 18 species... not too bad for the woodland.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Woodland in Autumn - Blue, Gold and Green?

A short, but pleasant, morning walk in the bright sun showed just 10 species, but plenty of interesting colours. On entering the woods I turned right and heading towards the Triangle seeing a Nuthatch almost immediately. Then I headed down into Ted Heath. It was quite quiet, but I did see the a Wren on the way down and the usual Great Tit flock with some Blue Tit. Two Robin were chasing each other around down there too.

Heading up the north side to the main path showed some Goldcrest and then I had reasonable views of Great Spotted Woodpecker. Whilst at the same spot I saw my first Green Woodpecker in the actual woodland - normally I only ever see them on the Pit Tip or around the edge of the woodland. At the point I met the Woodman's Path a Dunnock was showing well at the top of a bush. I followed Woodman's Path back around to Big Wood School Field to pick up a Jay before heading home.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

A Song in the Park

I set out around 7am for a walk to the Mill Lakes via the Pit Tip. I couldn't hang around long today as we'd planned a family afternoon at Clumber Park. There were a small group of Fieldfare at Dawson's Corner and I got a patch tick in the form of a Song Thrush. Of note at the Mill Lakes were small numbers of the scarcer ducks: a single Gadwall, three Teal, and two Pochard; a single Little Grebe and two Great Crested Grebe (one juvenile). I caught a glimpse of the Kingfisher, and a single male Bullfinch was feeding on the berries in a tree top along the Back Ride.

On the way home I caught a glimpse of a Blackbird with white secondaries on one wing, before it vanished into one of the gardens in Rise Park. A total of 31 species was pretty good going considering I didn't have too much time. I also got some of my first reasonable footage of Fieldfare, Gadwall and Bullfinch.