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Feb 2006
The
Bird Watching Magazine carried a report of an Eagle Owl being
sighted in the Calne area at the beginning of December – could
this have been the large, unidentified bird of prey that had
been seen over the downs west of East Kennett?
A covey of Grey Partridge was on the Ridgeway south of Kennett on
26th December, and a
Barn Owl was at the bridge in East Kennett and another also at
Silbury Hill in late December. A mixed flock of 30-40 Yellow
Hammers and Meadow Pipits plus Goldfinch and a pair of
Stonechats were near the Morton Cross track at East Kennett.
Stonechats were also on the Ridgeway near Overton Hill. My
garden was visited by a Jay on 27th
December – a first for me – also two male Bramblings arrived on
28th December and
stayed about ten days.
A garden at Lockeridge produced a count of 19 Greenfinch, a pair of
Nuthatch, two Bramblings and a Sparrow Hawk which took a Coal
Tit. Willow/Marsh Tits also seen at Lockeridge. Twenty plus Long
Tailed tits are roosting at West Overton. An unusual Pheasant
visits my garden every day. I’m told it’s a Marrangey, which is
a cross between a Michigan Blue Back and our own Ring Neck,
released last year at Shaw Farm. Its grey head with a white
circle is the most unusual feature.
Now is the time to check nest boxes, clean them out to make ready
for the new nesting season, put up new ones and so attract more
of our feathered friends to your garden.
March 2006
February is a good month. There are
many indications that Spring is on its way. As well as Hazel
catkins, Snowdrops and the odd yellow Crocus in the garden,
birds are changing their behaviour. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal
Tits, Chaffinches and the like are still coming to feed on nuts
and seeds, but now they tend to arrive in pairs. Unlike a long
period of free-for-all, an interloper of the same species is
often given short shift as pairs are beginning to mark out
nesting territories. Greenfinches are not following this trend
and are still turning up in large numbers but they are becoming
more aggressive towards each other. Along the valley Rooks are
noisily building or renovating nests. They are not too good at
recycling, preferring fresh twigs which they break off from
other trees around. This preference for new “living” twigs,
rather than for older building material, is probably due to this
more pliable material being more resistant to the battering from
next month’s March winds. Song Thrush started singing in the
valley at the beginning of the month. In the central Lockeridge
area there are at least three attempts to carve out territories
with singing males some two hundred metres apart. Of course all
this behaviour will be suspended for several days if there
should be a cold spell but nothing will stop the trend
continuing.
The end of January brought the annual Big Bird Watch on a
particularly cold weekend. Our own garden produced 14 species.
Greenfinches just beat Jackdaws as the most common bird but not
a single Starling made an appearance. A Goldcrest was a nice
surprise.
Two records of Snipe along the water meadows were obtained this
month but of particular interest were two Jack Snipe flushed
from the river bank in the Stanley Wood area on 10th February.
This is a very uncommon winter visitor to Wiltshire. With their
excellent camouflage both species are difficult to spot until
flushed, but the Jack Snipe is much smaller with a shorter bill,
both features being noticeable in flight. Both species use the
bill to probe for worms and other invertebrates in soft mud but,
unlike the commoner Snipe, which has a corkscrew flight when
flushed and is therefore a great prize for “sportsmen”, the Jack
Snipe has a more direct flight.
M.R.
(Our regular contributor, Derek, is absorbing sunshine in
Western Australia this month.)
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
April 2006
After the lovely hot sunshine of
Western Australia, it’s back to cold and windy England. A pair
of Barn Owls at Winterbourne Monkton can be seen at dawn and
dusk hunting the river bank. On 4 March at 2.30 pm one was near
the fisherman’s hut at Clatford. I’ve been told since that it is
nesting near Lockeridge. A Barn Owl knocked down on the A4 was
taken to the Sarsen Kennels where it made a full recovery and
was released 3 days later.
Seven Long Tailed Tits and a Nuthatch were reported in
Lockeridge on 28 February. During the first week of March at
Stanley Wood there were three pairs of Grey Partridge, three
pairs of Red Legged Partridge, and Skylark singing and one
Stoat, plus a Green Woodpecker drumming a dead Ash tree, and
near the sewage works a Curlew was calling. The warm afternoon
of 15 March brought out Queen Bumble Bees. My garden supports
Goldfinch, House Sparrow, one Tree Sparrow, a pair of Robins,
more than seven Blackbirds, two Pheasants, a pair of Pied
Wagtails, over thirty Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit and Coal
Tit.
The cold weather has affected the Rooks – whereas they should be
egg laying most Rooks are still nest building. I wonder if this
will affect other early nesting birds and, if so, will there be
the usual supply of insects, etc, to feed their young. We shall
have to leave it all to Mother Nature.
Thank you MR for last month’s Wild About The Valley.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
May 2006
Two birds take centre stage this
month: a female Redstart at East Kennett on 25th March and a
pair of Black Redstarts at West Overton on 11th April. The first
Swallow reported was at Avebury Trusloe on 5th April, the first
House Martin on 17th April and the first Cuckoo was heard on
18th April at West Kennett. From reports received it seems that
we have at least three pairs of Barn Owls locally. Also reported
from East Kennett were a Brimstone Butterfly on 29th March, a
flock of 50-100 Redwing/Fieldfare on 30th March, and 5
Bramblings on 4th April. From Lockeridge came reports of
Chiffchaff and Whitethroat on 29th March and 4th April, a female
Yellowhammer and Stonechat in Angel Wood on 3rd April, and a
Blackcap at Rookery Meadow and one at West Overton. A Kingfisher
was spotted at Lockeridge House and near West Woods at Boreham
there are Corn Bunting and a pair of Lapwings.
Extra care should be taken when walking our river banks as
Mallard, Moorhen and Coot are already nesting. There have been
no reports of the Dabchick on our river but there is a pair of
Mute Swans near Fyfield Garage.
July 2006
Where have all the Cuckoos
gone? I have only seen and heard one this year and I think this
is pretty general along our valley. A lot of our summer-visiting
birds seem to be down in numbers. Only one pair of Spotted
Flycatchers reported at West Overton. Whitethroats and
Chiffchaff seem to be less as well. At West Overton a Wren
nested in a hole in a sarsen stone wall - rather an unusual
place – must be a good cavity behind the hole. A Great Spotted
Woodpecker nested in a dead part of a horse chestnut tree near
the Kennet Valley Hall. I watched the parents feeding their
young on 11th June. A Red Kite was seen at Wyman’s Hill on 9th
June and a pair at Avebury Trusloe on 10th June. The Barn Owl at
Lockeridge started laying at the beginning of June.
August 2006
At the end of June a Death
Head Hawk Moth was found in a garden at East Kennet. I reported
this to the Butterfly and Moth recorder for Wiltshire and was
told that about four are recorded in the whole of Wiltshire each
year, so this was quite a rarity for the valley. The warm
weather has also brought quite a lot of Hummingbird Moths to our
gardens and a few Scarlet Tiger.
The Water Vole has returned to our river. One can be seen from
the bridge at East Kennett and I am told there are quite a few
on the Kennett at Preshute.
The pair of Tree Sparrows in my garden did nest again and this
time reared at least two young. That was at the beginning of
July and I haven’t seen them since. A flock of 30+ Lapwings were
seen in a field near East Kennett on 17th July. Not identified
at the moment is a pair of small brown birds in the reed bed at
East Kennett. All I can say is that they are rather shy birds
and don’t show themselves in the open very long.
During these very dry spells please put out fresh water every
day for our feathered friends.
September 2006
My
theory about the killing of the Buzzard found at Lockeridge is
that this bird was killed somewhere else and dumped at
Lockeridge to shift the blame from the area where it was shot.
A high-powered air rifle would have to have been used at a range
of some 50 to 60 yards and the person or persons involved would
have to be rather a good shot; but to get that close to a
Buzzard, considering their exceptional eyesight, would be rather
unlikely. The alternative is that those responsible were in a
vehicle and then to the bird this would have been no threat, so
I think we must look further afield than Lockeridge for the
culprits.
About
the fly infestation in some areas, has the Council given any
thought to the number of Badgers and Foxes killed on our roads
and left to rot on the roadside? This is the ideal breeding
place for flies especially with the hot weather we have had. In
Australia Kangaroos are killed daily on the roads but the
Government’s Conservation and Land Management (CALM) staff
remove 90% of dead animals within 24 hours. Could not a similar
scheme be made to work here?
Except for a
few pools of water the River Kennet has dried up again as far as
Lockeridge. Some fish have been trapped in these pools so will
make easy pickings for the Herons. At the end of July and early
August there were Grey Wagtail and three Blackcaps at Lockeridge,
and at East Kennett mid August a pair of Willow Warblers in my
garden on and off for two weeks. Kestrels have brought up three
or four young at Lockeridge and one at East Kennett.
October 2006
Once again I urge drivers to drive
with caution on the Lockeridge to Alton Barnes road in the area
of Shaw, where a lot of pheasants cross the road to feed in the
fields. Early morning and late afternoon are the most crucial
times. Many have already been killed, and I suspect many more
will suffer the same fate before Winter is out.
With the daylight hours getting less, our garden birds have less
time to find food and sustain themselves, so garden feeding
stations become more essential. I have found that the Robin food
mix is ideal for the bird table. It’s a little bit dearer than
ordinary wild bird mix, but has a good variety of seeds and
sunflower hearts which will still attract all our other garden
birds. Keep the bird tables clean to prevent disease and supply
fresh water.
Birds coming into the garden just lately seem to have dropped in
numbers. This I think is down to the abundance of fruit in the
hedgerows, the trees of the hawthorn, rowan and crab apple are
loaded this year, plus plenty of rosehips and sloes.
A raven was at Avebury mobile home site at the end of August, a
pair of late Swallows at Lockeridge on October 14th, a small
flock of Long Tailed Tits at West Overton on October 16th.
Sparrow Hawks, female at Lockeridge and male at East Kennett.
Lapwings, a flock of 80+ at Beckhampton and 50+ at Shaw.
A Chiffchaff still singing at Lockeridge October 2nd, Tawny Owls
have been heard calling right across the valley on nice
moonlight nights. A covey of Grey Partridge at Beckhampton on
October 9th. Two Hummingbird Hawk moths seen week-ending October
14th and still a few Red Admiral butterflies about as I write.
November 2006
With such a wet start to November will we see the
River Kennet’s upper reaches flow again in December?
Early November frosts brought the garden birds back to their
feeding stations: House Sparrows, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock,
Robin, Wren, Greenfinch and Blackbird have all returned with the
odd sighting of Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. Sparrow Hawks are
still unwelcome visitors. Within 5 minutes both M and F came
through my garden on 7th November but didn’t get a meal. There
were Grey Wagtail at Overton on 19th October and at East Kennett
on 24th October, Goldcrest at Lockeridge on 24th October, Long
Tailed Tits at Lockeridge on 25th October and at East Kennett on
28th October. The end of October still saw Hummingbird Hawk Moth
(29th), Bumble Bee (29th) and Wasps (30th). Red Admiral
Butterflies are still about in the second week of November.
Redwing and Fieldfare have arrived for winter with the first
report of 30-40 on 1 November. Since then 100 plus have been at
East Kennett and 70-80 and 30-40 at Lockeridge on the same date.
A pair of Barn Owls are still at Lockeridge and Skylarks at
Angel Wood (this is the name given to the new tree plantation at
the back of Fyfield). Bullfinches were feeding on Rowan berries
at Lockeridge on 9th November. Female Foxes were calling the
last week of October.
The highlight of the month, which I was privileged to see, was a
Peregrine Falcon with a kill of either a Pigeon or Rock Dove in
the field between Back Lane and Breach House, Lockeridge. It was
mobbed by Rooks and three times it tried to carry off its prey,
eventually deciding to eat it where the kill took place.
Thank you to all those persons who have sent me reports of
sightings and have a Merry Christmas
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