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Feb 2007
16 February 2007
The winter months of December and January were very poor for bird
watching. Was this down to the mild weather, as fewer birds
seemed to be coming to feed in the gardens? Was this the result
of more berries on the hawthorn, holly, rosehip and rowan, as
they seemed to last longer this year? Or was it because there
were fewer migratory birds coming in, such as Fieldfare, Redwing
and Starling, so resulting in our garden birds having more
natural food about the hedgerows?
From reports I’ve had, I think the RSPB Big Garden Watch will be very
disappointing this year. Only six species in my garden, and only
three in one garden during a one-hour watch, a long way off from
last year’s count.
The River Kennett started to flow on November 19th.
This is one of the earliest flows that I can remember; last year
it was the end of January. Water round Silbury Hill is the first
for four years and also the water in the meadows south of
Overton Hill. The snow in February brought the birds back to the
garden and numbers seem to be increasing.
The large bird of prey south of East Kennett has still not been
identified. It stands at least six inches taller than a buzzard
and when not to flight has very slow wing beats and flies about
two feet off the ground.
Bird sightings: 50+ lapwing at Beckhampton and West Overton; Red Kite at
East Farm, Winterbourne Monkton; two Barn Owls near Silbury
Hill, also two at Lockeridge and a Kingfisher, Jay, Green and
Great Spotted Woodpecker at West Woods; Bullfinch, Goldcrest and
long-tailed Tits at Lockeridge, the latter two also at East
Kennett.
What has happened to the Rooks this year? They seem to be very slow in
building their nests and numbers seem to be down. They should
start laying at the beginning of March so are we in for some
more bad weather and they know something we
don’t?
Derek
Hartshorn (01672-861278)
March 2007
Rooks did eventually start nest
building the second week of February and some are still building
now. A Carrion Crow has nested close to the A4 near North Farm.
Early Frogspawn in my pond hatched on 10th March. Herons at
Clench Common have been taking Frogspawn from a large pond,
maybe eating some but leaving a lot on the banks.
Hawthorn bushes are beginning to break into leaf and the blossom
on prunus trees this year is an absolute picture. The lovely
warm spring weather this past week has brought out a good number
of Brimstone Butterflies. Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell and Cabbage
Whites have also been seen. 6th April saw the first Swallow last
year. Will the very mild weather bring them in any earlier and
will we be hearing more Cuckoos this year?
The flock of Lapwings was still left of the Devizes Road week
ending 10th March and a pair is to the north in a field at the
bottom of Cafe Hill. Little Grebe (Dabchick) are on the river at
West Overton. A Blackbird’s nest was seen on 6th March and she’s
sitting 13th March. A few Fieldfares are still about. On 13th
March there were Mistle Thrush nesting in a garden at Lockeridge
and birds feeding in my garden include 20+ Chaffinch and 10
Goldfinch. Lastly a Red Kite flew over East Kennett on 12th
March.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
April 2007
Snow and icy winds 17th – 20th March
so it looks like the Rooks got it right by nesting late. Can
they really predict the sort of weather we will have as some
Rooks were still taking twigs to their nests at the beginning of
April? There were 20/30 Golden Plover near the Lockeridge
Boreham road on 20th March and they were still about locally
until 13th April. After 7 months absence the Tree Sparrow
returned to my garden on 22nd March and its mate returned about
5 weeks later so hopefully they will nest again. A Yellow Hammer
was seen at Avebury mobile home site on 26th March and there is
a pair on the West Overton/East Kennett road.
The 27th March was a lovely warm day and in a garden at
Lockeridge it brought out the butterflies. Those seen were a
Common Blue, Wall, Peacock and Red Admiral, and since then a
Comma, Orange Tipped and Speckled Wood have been seen. There was
a Little Grebe by the bridge at West Overton on 2nd April and it
is still about now. On the same day a Barn Owl was spotted at
Silbury Hill. There was a pair of Bullfinch at Lockeridge on 3rd
April and the first Swallow was seen at East Kennett on 5th
April with a pair at Lockeridge on 8th April. A small flock of
Fieldfares was heading north on 5th April and Chiffchaff on 6th
April. The first Cuckoo was heard at Fyfield on 13th April and
House Martins the following day. There were two reports of a
Garden Warbler 17th April, one at the south of Lockeridge and
one at West Woods. It might be the same bird. A Marsh Tit is a
regular visitor to a bird table in a Lockeridge garden.
Finally, a gentleman from Calne who reads my article reported
that there was (may be still there) a Little Egret to the left
of the A4 near Froxfield.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
May 2007
A very quiet month for bird watching
– only one Cuckoo heard in Fyfield/Lockeridge area; Green
Woodpecker at Lockeridge and East Kennett; a pair of Spotted
Flycatchers in a garden at Lockeridge, so will probably nest
there.
I will mention that our first bird watching walk is/was
organised for 27 May at 6 pm. I hope most of you saw our
notices. A report will appear in the July issue. See details of
our next walk in this issue.
A Coot is nesting in mid-stream by the bridge at West Overton.
Watch out for Hedgehogs on the country roads at night. There are
quite a few about.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
June 2007
Our first Bird Watch Walk turned out
to be a wash out. Heavy rain made it impossible. Let’s hope for
better weather on 1st July at West Woods.
Lots of birds nesting at the moment: a Song Thrush at East
Kennett and, rarer still, a Tree Creeper behind the bark of a
dead Horse Chestnut at Lockeridge. Young Blackbirds tend to
leave their nest before they are able to fly properly. If found
in your garden do not try to rescue and feed them as they will
not be abandoned; the parent birds will find and feed them. No
reports of nesting Barn Owls so far. There are three pairs of
Spotted Flycatchers at Lockeridge with two pairs nesting at
different locations. A little bit unusual are three House
Martins’ nests built on top of security lights at a house in
Lockeridge. The large bird of prey is still a thorn in the side.
This time one was sighted near the A4 to Calne.
The new hedgerows, along with the old, are beginning to benefit
the birds including Yellow Hammers, Linnet and Whitethroat. A
Montague’s Harrier was spotted over Avebury on 13th June and a
Red Kite flew over Lockeridge the same day. There was a Marsh
Fritillary Butterfly in my garden at the beginning of June.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
July 2007
Our bird watching trip into West
Woods proved a bit disappointing. It was quite a windy evening
so spotting birds was a bit difficult. The picnic area south of
the Lockeridge car park was the most rewarding. The only real
sightings were Bullfinch, Robin and Chaffinch but we did hear
Blackcap and Whitethroat and a possible Willow Warbler, and on
the way back a Song Thrush gave us a marvellous musical
rendition of a wide range of song. Our next walk will be the one
that was cancelled: meet at 6 pm at the barns along the
no-through-road at West Kennett opposite the houses at the side
of the A4. Let’s hope for better weather. Date: 12th August. It
is suggested that the September walk can be arranged for Coate
Water. More details next month.
The Tree Creeper at Lockeridge hatched on 24th June. There are
maybe five young. There is a Swallow nesting in the Long Barrow,
West Kennet, and five Sand Martins flew over East Kennett
heading north on 16th July; also 20+ Swifts heading south the
following evening. Five Goldfinches nested in the hedgerow
opposite my garden this year. I wonder if this might be due to
keeping my nyger seed feeder well stocked. A young Great Spotted
Woodpecker is a regular visitor. A Sparrow Hawk made a
Greenfinch its evening meal – after thirty minutes only a few
feathers remained.
August 2007
(17 August 2007)
On 5th August a young Buzzard, unable to fly properly, was found
near East Kennett barrow. It was rescued and put into the
branches of a tree and hopefully the parent birds found it and
it will survive.
Our downland walk on 12th August was very successful. The first
sighting was of a pair of Linnets near the Gun Road made famous
in the film “Saving Private Ryan”. Next were 5 Goldfinches
feeding on thistle down, and a Yellowhammer perched at the tope
of a dead hawthorn branch. The full list of birds seen: Buzzard,
Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Domestic White Doves, Rock Dove,
House Martin, Swallow, Jackdaw, Rook, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Wren,
Whitethroat, Pheasant, Skylark, 4 Kestrels, 40+ Lapwing and 4
Hares. Thank you to all who turned up for a very enjoyable 3
hour walk.
There have been reports of a Skylark’s nest in a field near the
Dene, Lockeridge, with 5 young and one egg that didn’t hatch;
Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers at East Kennett and
Lockeridge; also Little Owl at Lockeridge and West Overton.
Heron and Great Black Back Gulls were on the flood water south
of the A4 on 21st July. On arriving home the night of 28th July
there was a Long Eared Bat in my outhouse which stayed long
enough for me to film it.
Our next bird outing will be to Coate Water – see this issue of
the Kennet News for more details.
PS. On September 4th the Post Office is releasing a set of first
class stamps, 10 in total, featuring British birds.
November 2007
After a very quiet September and
October with hardly anything significant to report the bird life
in the valley has suddenly picked up, the only interesting
reports until now were 13 buzzards over East Kennett in
September and the arrival of Redwing at W. Kennett on October
2nd.
The heavy rains of the summer have seen the river Kennet flow
all the year, this is only for the second time in my 37 years at
Kennett, on the downside of this a lot of nesting birds along
our river got washed out. A R.S.P.B report says that Blue Tits
were one of the garden birds worst hit, insects and caterpillars
were washed away so the young starved and died in the nest.
Redwing and Fieldfare have arrived now in force with a flock of
200/300 at E. Kennett.
Nov 5th, Barn Owl between W. Kennett and Silbury. Nov. 13th,
small flocks of Long Tailed Tit are quite common across the
valley, a Marsh Tit at Lockeridge Nov 15th and a pair of Gold
Crests at W. Overton on Nov. 18th. A very late report of a pair
of Stone Curlews in a field at East Farm, Winterbourne Monkton.
The star of this months report was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
at Lockeridge on November 16th. This was a first for one of our
keen birdwatchers who has lived in the valley for a very long
time. The last one I saw was way back in the 70’s.
November 12th saw the return of the Tree Sparrow into my back
garden, first sighting since April.
Derek Hartshorn 861238 |