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Jan 2008
Although it’s been wet and
windy during the last 6 weeks or so, the bird reports that I’ve
had are very good. In the valley from East Kennett to the
Wansdyke in late December: 4 Buzzard, 2 Red Kite, 4 Deer and a
Muntjac. 11 January was rather exceptional for my garden as
there were 20 Goldfinch, 30+ Chaffinch and 4 Brambling along
with Blackbird, Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Pied
Wagtail, Hedge Sparrow (5), Robin, House Sparrow and 1 Cock
Pheasant. On 12 January I had a visit from a Weasel hunting
through the beech hedge trying to get a lunch; haven’t seen it
since. Brambling have increased to 5.
On 8 January Yellowhammer, Brambling and 4 Tree Sparrow were
seen at Avebury Caravan Park; and from Avebury over the Downs to
Pickledean, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, 2 Raven, Grey Partridge
and 5 Stonechat.
On 15 January there were 60+ Canada Geese near The Bell Inn and
on 7 January over 100 Lapwing in the field south of Café Hill
can still be seen locally.
In late December a Woodcock was flushed from undergrowth at Shaw
and at West Overton a Stonechat was in the reeds by the bridge.
Lockeridge/Fyfield: 18 Siskin and 3 Redpoll feeding on Alder
cones in plantation near Lockeridge House on 18 December; a
covey of 9 Grey Partridge in winter wheat field just east of
Fyfield on 18 December; Snipe between Lockeridge and Stanley
Wood on 23 December; and a pair of Kingfisher on 31 December.
10-12 Siskin were still in the same area 1-14 January. At a
feeding station in Lockeridge there were 10 Goldfinch on 4
January; 8 Long Tailed tit on 7 January; 10 Brambling on 13
January and 130+ fieldfare over the water meadows on the same
day.
Song Thrush are beginning to sing early mornings; listen to
their sweet song – they have more notes than any other song
bird.
With the water meadows flooding, look out for Dunlin, Golden
Plover, Heron, Lapwing, Gulls and Teal. I’ll be watching these
sites over the days ahead.
The highlight for a lot of people was the Little Egret at
Fyfield and Lockeridge in late November, early December. It
stayed around for about 3 weeks.
A large flock of 600+ Starling in the Lockeridge/West Overton
area – stop and watch the aerial display.
15 February 2008
A lovely time of year: Spring just around the corner, Hawthorn
beginning to break into early leaf, catkins on the nut trees,
Blackthorn buds just waiting to burst into flower, hellebores in
the garden, their flowers dancing in the wind already attracting
the first queen bumble bees, queen wasps out of hibernation
looking for places to nest, and Rooks breaking off new twigs to
repair their old nests are already busy.
The flooded water meadows near Café Hill attracted 200+ Golden
Plover and 400+ Lapwing from late January to early February,
with Heron from East Kennett to Clatford. There were 60 Canada
Geese in the West Overton area and good numbers of Coot, Moorhen
and Mallard on our stretch of the river.
At Avebury a male Hen Harrier was seen on 20 January and a
female at Greyweathers on 26th. Also on 26th there was a
Peregrine Falcon above the River Kennett heading north near
Winterbourne Monkton. Tree Sparrows were at the mobile home park
on 29 January.
In Lockeridge Siskin and Grey Partridge are still about locally
and the Sparrow Hawk is a regular visitor to gardens hoping for
a meal. Two Green Woodpeckers were seen to the south of the
village and Nuthatch in two different gardens on 12 February.
The same day two male Bullfinch were feeding on the flower buds
of a cherry plum.
Six Yellowhammer were at Wyman’s Hill on 8 February and
Stonechat on the track to West Woods from the Boreham Wood
lay-by, and a pair was seen near the Bell Inn on 6 February.
At East Kennett a Barn Owl was on an early evening hunt the
first week of February, and a pair of Goldcrest were feeding on
greenfly larva in a Norwegian Spruce on 13 February. At 10.30 am
on 15 February in my garden there were 29 Brambling, 30+
Chaffinch and 14 Greenfinch. Others were Blackbird, Robin,
Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Blue and Great Tit, Goldfinch, Starling
and Collared Dove.
There are plenty of Long Tailed Tits throughout the valley.
22 March 2008
A Blackbirds’ nest in a Pyracanthus
on 25th February at West Overton and cold winds and snow showers
over Easter; did Mrs Blackbird start too soon? Will Mother
Nature benefit from these winds? There are catkins on the Hazel,
flower on the Blackthorn, but not many bees about so will the
winds help to pollinate the flowers and let us see an abundance
of fruit next autumn?
Spring is just around the corner: Cock Pheasants with their ears
up and wings down are strutting around their females; Collared
Doves are billing and cooing trying to impress the females by
ducking and stretching; Cock Robins are standing tall displaying
their red breasts to show the female “I’m the best!”; Great Tits
are whistling away near nest boxes trying to attract a female to
say “I’ve found a good place to nest”. Don’t just say “I’ve got
a lot of birds in my garden"; observe them and its surprising
how much more you can learn about our feathered friends.
There were Bramblings in my garden: 47 on 17th February, 52 on
20th February and 64 on 14th March. Since then the numbers have
gradually gone down to 16 on 22nd March but some of the cock
birds are getting their summer plumage. There was one Tree
Sparrow on 20th February.
On 15th February a Barn Owl was seen on the back road to
Lockeridge and two near the bridge at East Kennett on 25th
February and one in the same location on 22nd March. A possible
Montague Harrier was seen in Lockeridge on 19th February; also
Bullfinches and Green Woodpecker on 26th February plus a
Brimstone Butterfly, Yellowhammers at Wyman’s Hill on 27th
February, and once again a Red Kite over Winterbourne Monkton on
18th March.
On a personal note, why must ARK (Action for the River Kennet)
organise a river walk from West Overton to Silbury when Mallard,
Moorhen and Coot are beginning to nest? To disturb nesting birds
is against the law and this stretch of river is paramount to our
wildlife. Hardly anyone walks this stretch of river so why
should ARK? They would do more good by getting rid of the rats
by the George Lane car park.
18 April 2008
What did ARK achieve on their river
walk? What good did it do? Quite a few local people in the
Kennet Valley disapproved of the timing of the walk so why not
do it in February before birds start to nest, or in September
when they have finished nesting? Comments from ARK are welcome
to: Four Winds, East Kennett, SN8 4EY.
A possible Swallow was seen at West Kennett on 30 March with two
confirmed at West Kennett on 13th April. Three Little Egret seen
on 18th April between The Ball Inn bridge and George’s bridge.
They are in the withy bed. There Chiffchaff on 8th April in
Lockeridge and Red Kite over Winterbourne Monkton early in
April: that is four sightings in the location in the past six
weeks. There was a Barn Owl hunting at 9.30 am at East Kennet –
could it have young to feed somewhere? The early Blackbird’s
eggs were found pecked clean on the lawn on 17th April – with a
Magpie’s nest only 20 yards away, was he the culprit?
One Brambling is still coming to the garden. Two Tree Sparrows
are there every day and the nest box that they used two years
ago has been filled with dead leaves again so here’s hoping. A
sad note was four half grown baby Song Thrush were found dead in
their nest at Lockeridge on 10th April.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
16 May 2008
I thank ARK for replying to my criticism of their walk. I stand
by what I wrote but I think they did not really get the point I
was making. I quote from their letter.
“Mallard, Moorhen and Coot are not sky birds: the river bank in
Marlborough College is alive with nests despite the regular
disturbance of 870 students. I and my dog walk almost every day
between a Mallard and Moorhen’s nest less than a metre apart”.
Wherever a river runs through a town, bit it Marlborough,
Hungerford, Newbury or Salisbury, the three species are in
abundance; people feed them so they have no fear of human
beings. Semi-tame, semi-wild, be it as it may, but the birds of
the countryside are wild and they fly off as soon as you
approach them. Stand on the bridges at East Kennett, West
Overton or Clatford and all day you would hardly see them. Why?
Because these are genuine wild birds. I rest my case.
The last Brambling in my garden was on 23 April, a Red Kite east
of North Farm on 21 April and one at West Monkton on 3 May.
Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Bullfinch in Lockeridge,
the latter also at Fyfield. Also a Barn Owl being mobbed by
Rooks at Angel Wood. A Short Eared Owl at Tan Hill-Milk Hill.
Ravens and Marsh Tit at Shaw Farm. The first House Martin on 16
April: why do they prefer to nest where the eaves of a house are
white and not when the eaves are black?
The ring from a dead Barn Owl, killed on the A4, has been sent
to the RSPB in Bedfordshire. Hopefully I will have more
information on this for next month.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
20 June 2008
Details of the dead Barn Owl killed
on the A4 are as follows: Ringed on 29 June 2007 from a nest at
Manton House Farm – time since being ringed 268 days.
Information received from the BTO Thetford.
The Kennet Valley Birders walk at Avebury on 18 May was a great
success. Among the birds seen were Stonechat, Whitethroat,
Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Lapwing and
Linnet, plus 3 Deer. Swallows are back nesting in West Kennett
Long Barrow. There are pairs of Spotted Flycatchers at Avebury
and Lockeridge. 16 Deer were seen in the field north of Pumphrey
Wood on 27 May. Goldcrests were at the Bell Inn on 29 May and a
flock of 50+ Lapwing over East Kennett on 10 June. Pairs of
Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers at Beckhampton were reported on 19
June. Lime Hawk Moth at West Overton on 19 May.
Derek Hartshorn (861238)
20 July 2008
The Tree Creepers’ nest at
Lockeridge was destroyed, probably by a Great Spotted Woodpecker
as this bird did drill a hole in the back of one of my nest
boxes and took the young Blue Tits. Birds reported to me include
a Grey Wagtail with eggs and a Pied Wagtail with a second brood
of young; also Robin, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird
and Song Thrush. Four pairs of Spotted Flycatchers are nesting.
All this in the Lockeridge area. A Red Kite was seen over
Lockeridge House at the beginning of July and stayed circling
for about 20 minutes.
There is a Pyramid Orchid growing in a field near Fyfield.
Please don’t pick this lovely flower – let it seed and hopefully
increase.
I’m sure that we have a Hobby or Merlin in the East Kennett
area. It flies past too fast to identify but it’s not one of the
regular birds of prey we see. A Barn Owl was seen late evening
by The Sanctuary on 11th July and 5 Buzzards over East Kennett
Church on 13th July. A Kestrel has successfully reared young
again in a barn near East Kennett. Reports across the valley
suggest that the number of House Martins and Swallows is well
down on previous years. There are no Swifts nesting at East
Kennett but they are at West Overton and Lockeridge.
October 2008
From
late July to late September not much was happening concerning
bird life in the valley and a report of the wild life would only
have been a couple of lines in the September-October KVN. Sorry
folks!
Late
nesting Swallows were still feeding young at West Kennett on 30
September and House Martins feeding young on 2 October at
Lockeridge. Most of these birds were already heading back south
to Africa. I doubt if these late young will make it back next
year. Nuthatch, Jay and Green Woodpecker are still visiting
gardens south of Lockeridge towards West Woods. A Grey Wagtail
made a brief visit to my garden on 27 September and a pair of
Willow Warblers was visiting for a fortnight about the same
time. Goldcrests have been seen at East Kennett, Lockeridge and
West Overton quite regularly – also Long Tailed Tits. There is a
pure white hen Pheasant near the bridge at East Kennett. It is
in the road quite a lot so can drivers please be cautious.
I must
mention the Over 60s trip to the Lake District. We stayed at the
Shap Wells Hotel which has an isolated wood where a colony of
Red Squirrel live. They are fed every day by the gardener and
you could get within a few feet of them – a wonderful sight.
Also a Dipper was along the mountain stream by the hotel.
Do you
want something a bit different to do on 14 November? Why not
come along to Lockeridge Lower School for a quiz night where I
shall be your quiz master. Come along and pit your wits!
Derek
Hartshorn (861238)
PS
Unidentified flocks of Finches near Shaw Farm on 13 October.
The Embroiderers guild reported
the following on the sports field
I
We wonder if your 'Wild about the valley' writer might be
interested to know that the Embroiderers Guild members were
entertained by a good view of a heron on the cricket pitch on
Monday, Sept 29th. We were stitching away at about 11 a.m when
we noticed the heron standing in the sunlit field, occasionally
wandering across the grass and at one point standing on the
crease looking as though it could be waiting to bat. It stayed
for about 20 minutes. a beautiful scene.
November 2008
The Barn Owl found dead by The Bell
Inn on 28 August was one of four ringed on 18 June 2007 at Shaw.
This was information received from the BTO.
With all the rain that we have had the River Kennet has now
flowed continuously for two years. This is a record for my 38
years at Kennett.
The cold weather has brought some early migrants in: male
Brambling on 27 October; female Brambling on 7 November;
Fieldfare at Lockeridge on 23 October and 200-300 passing
through at East Kennett on 3 November; male Siskin at the end of
October and a large roost of Starlings in conifers at Lockeridge.
Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Jay, Long Tailed Tit and
Green Woodpecker can still be seen throughout the valley. To
help to attract Siskin to your garden it is said that they
prefer to feed from red peanut holders.
To help birds through the winter months feed them peanuts, fat
balls, sunflower seed, niger seed, currants/sultanas and wild
bird seed mix and apples and pears. Bread is not suitable food
but cake is.
The flood water by the withy bed at West Overton is already
attracting Ducks and Waders.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! |