5.30am Stoney Brow to small lake near College Farm
Stock Dove 1 Singing
Grasshopper warbler 2 singing close to each other, in competition
Lesser Whitethroat 1 still singing persistently
Red Legged Partridge 1

Tree Sparrow + juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker on Nut feeder in the Garden
Juvenile Chaffinch and Wrens being fed

-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Monday 16th of June 2014 07:29:11 AM

5.15am Beacon Country Park to the Small Lake near College Farm + Rough Park Wood

Lesser Whitethroat 1 singing persistently

Grasshopper warbler 3 Reeling including 2 probable 'new' (i.e ones I hadn't found previously)

Wren, Robin and Magpie fledglings

Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Reed Bunting carrying food



-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Tuesday 10th of June 2014 07:52:32 AM

4.30am Beacon Country Park to the Small Lake near College Farm + Rough Park Wood
S= singing

Garden warbler 1 (s) - another 'new' one
(4 Garden Warbler territories now found in 'the patch')
http://www.abcissa-websites.co.uk/maps/map_total_area_16_5_2014.jpg

Common Whitethroat 5 (s)
Willow Warbler 5 (s)
Sedge warbler 1 (s)
Blackcap 2 (s)
Chiffchaff 2 (s)
Bullfinch 1
Song Thrush 3 (s)
Swallow 4
etc

Canada Goose 2 with 4 goslings
Mallard 2 with 7 ducklings
Coot 1
Moorhen 1

Every time I approach the lake the (presumably) male Canada Goose swims up to aggressively hiss at me - bringing all the goslings in tow. This seems like an odd strategy as it's constantly bringing the goslings close to what it must regard as a potential threat to them.

Stoney Brow - nice to hear a Reed Bunting singing as they seem to be in short supply here , this year


-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Friday 30th of May 2014 09:59:54 AM

5.00 am Lafford Lane - Dean wood - Walthew Green
before it started raining

3 Tawny Owlets perched together - very striking size difference, the largest was practically adult size, the smallest about Collard Dove size,
then the....er....middle sized one

Grey Partridges 1 pair - I have quite often seen Red-legged in this area but not previously seen Grey's
Another pair of Partridges seen flying away from me, in the distance, also looked liked like Grey's but I couldn't be sure.

3 Yellowhammers singing
(now 10 Yellowhammer territories I am aware of the in the whole Roby Mill area)

Skylark 2 singing
Lapwing pair
Whitethroat 4 singing
Blackcap 3 singing
Willow warbler 1 singing
Chiffchaff 1 singing
Song Thrush 2 singing
Mistle Thrush 1 singing
Linnet 1 singing
Swallow 4
Pied wagtail 1
Treecreeper 2
Kestrel 1
Heron 2
etc

1 Brown Hare

This is a 'record shot' of the owls
http://www.abcissa-websites.co.uk/pix/93.jpg

p.s I like the fact that these days you can get away with showing terrible photos by claiming that they're 'record shots'
also good to see that owls get red-eye as well as people


-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Thursday 22nd of May 2014 10:33:13 AM

5.00am Beacon Country Park to the Small Lake near College Farm
S= singing
Garden warbler 1 (s) - a 'new' one
Grasshopper Warbler 2 (s)
Common Whitethroat 6 (s)
Willow Warbler 7 (s)
Sedge warbler 1
Blackcap 2 (s)
Chiffchaff 2 (s)
Reed Bunting 1 (s)
Yellowhammer 1 (s)
Linnet 1 (s)
Bullfinch 2
Skylark 1 (s)
Song Thrush 2 (s)
Dunnock 1
Goldfinch & Starling fledglings
etc

Canada Goose 2 with 4 goslings
Tufted Duck 2
Coot 1
Moorhen 1
Little Grebe 2

The total area I am recording is depicted in this map
http://www.abcissa-websites.co.uk/maps/map_total_area_15_5_2014.jpg
an area of 133 Hectares

This morning I 'did' a section I hadn't visited this year and added a further:
(s = singing)
Blackcap 7 (s)
Chiffchaff 5 (s)
Willow Warbler 3 (s)
Whitethroat 4 (s)
Sedge warbler 1 (s)
Goldcrest 3 (s)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Bullfinch 1
Song Thrush 2 (s)
5 Canada Geese 5 Goslings
3 Tufted Ducks

...amongst others

Lee I replied to your post below

14/5/14.


11 AM.

SCHOOL LANE/WALTHEW GREEN(SLACKS AREA).

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 1..SOUTH SIDE OF SLACKS
REDSTART 1 (female)..SOUTH SIDE OF SLACKS
BLACKCAP 3 SINGING
CHIFFCHAFF 1 SINGING
BULLFINCH 1 MALE
YELLOWHAMMER 2 SINGING.

Hi phil, don't know if you have managed to get down to the slacks yet!,the footpath entrance is at the far end of walthew
green or past the house( set back) opposite the phone box near the grave yard exit.
Its a good place also under watched,good for warblers in spring and autumn , also seen hawfinch there a while ago
and 2 years ago hobby...from lee bailey. ps good to know that the college is being really watched now...one day
there will be houses on it!!!!!!!!.

Sunday 11th May 10.00am Farley Lane to Lees wood
(s = singing)
Yellowhammer 6 (3s)
(8 Yellowhammer territories that I'm aware of in the Roby Mill area)

Skylark 2 (1s)
Common Whitethroat 1 (s)
Blackcap 1 (s)
Chiffchaff 1 (s)
Swift 25
Swallow 5
House Martin 2
kestrel 1

Also near Beacon Country Park there's a Whitethroat singing, that has an unusual song - more Redstart than typical Whitethroat-sounding. In fact the first time I heard it, a couple of weeks ago, I got pretty excited thinking it perhaps WAS a Redstart (although it wasn't quite right for Redstart either).

Even when I got the binoculars on it I had a hard time convincing myself that the bird singing and what I was looking at were one and the same. After a spell of 'doing Redstart' it seems to revert back to more typical Whitethroat......interesting.

-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Monday 12th of May 2014 11:28:00 AM

Originally posted by Lee Bailey today:


11/5/2014.....8:30 AM -10:00AM.

Area covered today....ST JOSEPHS COLLEGE GOLF COURSE(disused) and KNOWLES FARM.


LESSER BLACKBACKED GULLS....100+ (SOUTH).
WOOD PIGEON...11 (SINGING,st josephs college golf course).
SWIFT...3 (NORTH).
JACKDAW..30 (SOUTH).
CARRION CROW...5 (st josephs college golf course).
SWALLOW..6 (st josephs college golf course).
WILLOW WARBLER..2 (singing,knowles farm,st josephs college golf course).
BLACKCAP..2 (singing,knowles farm).
LESSER WHITETHROAT...1 (st josephs college golf course).
COMMON WHITETHROAT...8 (singing/display..Knowles farm,st josephs college golf course).
NUTHATCH..1 (Knowles farm).
BLACKBIRD..7 MALE/ 1 FEMALE (gardens,knowles farm,st josephs college golf course).
SONG THRUSH...3 (including 2 singing) (Knowles farm).
MISTLE THRUSH..2 (st josephs college golf course).
ROBIN..13 (singing,st josephs college golf course,knowles farm,gardens).
HOUSE SPARROW..14 MALE/ 12 FEMALE (through the village).
CHAFFINCH..17 MALE singing (Knowles farm,st josephs college golf course).
BULLFINCH..1 MALE ( st josephs college golf course).


(st josephs college golf course is a disused golf course with areas of scrub,woodland(mixed),rough grassland).
(stoney brow,roby mill,is a mixture of gardens,srub-fields,farmland and small woodland).
(walthew green,lafford lane is a mixture of farmland with patches of woodland on the western boundary of dean wood
golf course....NOTE CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN BIRDING NEAR WALTHEW GREEN AS THERE ARE PRIVATE HOUSES AND
A CARE HOME FOR THE ELDERLY).

An area I hope to cover in the future is an area known locally as the slacks, a steep sided mixed wooded area,stream
with farmland and rough grassland near by. Has been good in the past for warblers,finches during passage time.
In the past redstart,hawfinch have been noted there ,as have hobby.
I have lived in the village for 41 years and birded since I was six here,if anyone has any questions etc I would be happy
to help!....

5.45 - area to the East of Beacon Road as per this map
www.abcissa-websites.co.uk/maps/map_30_4_2014.jpg
(s = singing)

Grasshopper warbler 3 reeling
Common Whitethroat 16 (s)
Lesser Whitethroat 1 (s)
Blackcap 6 (s)
Garden Warbler 1 (s)
Chiffchaff 8 (s)
Willow warbler 16 (s)
Reed Bunting 1 (s)
Song Thrush 3 (s)
Mistle Thrush 1 (s)
kestrel 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 drumming
Tawny Owl 1 being mobbed
Sand Martins 2 -> East
Red Legged Partridges 2


The area in the map above is approximately 21 hectares, Willow warbler and Whitethroat therefore are at very healthy densities 0.75 per ha

I intend to cover the whole area (Farley Lane - Stoney Brow - Beacon Lane - College Farm) in a much more systematic fashion this year. I think it holds populations of some Red / Amber listed species which are important at a County level.

-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Wednesday 30th of April 2014 09:36:52 AM

6.00 Beacon Country Park to the Small Lake near College Farm
1 Garden warbler Singing
2 Grasshopper Warblers reeling
1 Lesser Whitethroat
12 Common Whitethroats singing
1 Yellowhammer singing
etc
Pair of Bullfinches, female carrying nesting material
1 Siskin over

11.00 - Scrubby area to the east of Beacon Country Park
1 Grasshopper Warbler reeling - first here this year for me
Whitethroats now in good numbers
and Willow warblers seem more plentiful that last year

6.15 - Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park

1 Lesser Whitethoat heard singing and later seen

Very nice to find one near Stoney Brow, last year there was one further up near the beacon.
I had drawn a blank with hoped for Common Whitethroat or Grasshopper warbler,
but this made my morning, also had been hoping for one on my previous mornings trip to Martin Mere.

Plenty of Chiffchaff, Willow warbler and Blackcap also heard

6.45 - Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park

1 Chiffchaff singing

(quite a lot of places have had Chiffchaffs over the last few days - early for such a general arrival - as opposed to the odd 'outlier' which
can turn up at almost an time)

2 Yellowhammer Singing - didn't hear any singing here last year


1 Buzzard
2 Redpoll

A distant wader may well have been a Whimbrel
- can't put it down as anything more that a possible though

Phil Barnett wrote:

---

A pair of Tree Sparrows showing a keen interest in a nesting box in the garden this morning

---

 That would be fantastic!!!  They are colonial too, so chuck up a few more boxes!

7.45 - Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park

Brambling 2
Fieldfare 22 -> w
Pink-Footed Goose 5 -> n
Yellowhammer 4
Goldcrest 8
Treecreeper 1
Kestrel 1
Tawny Owl 1
Buzzard 1
no Redwings

Over the past week, in the garden, a Pair Tree Sparrows have been frequently on the seed feeder + going into a nestbox.
The male attempted to copulated with the female a couple of days ago - I thought this was a strange behaviour for November, however
according to Dennis Summer Smith's - 'The Tree Sparrow' it's unusual but not unknown.

7.45
Pink-Footed Goose 30 + 40 -> S; 70 + 75 -> E
22 Mistle Thrush, 1 flock -> S
c 100 Fieldfare in small flocks - > S
c 80 Redwing in small flock -> S
c 200 Wood Pigeon - > S
1 Siskin over
1 Redpoll over
1 Meadow Pipit over

In my last three visits - I've heard or seen a Crossbill. The one flying over on Monday, I assumed to be on passage,
however I've since heard Crossbill calls from a small stand of Scots Pines, so there's possibly one (or maybe more)
which has taken up temporary residence....which is nice.

7.30 - 8.30am
Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park
1 Fieldfare over - first one here this autumn (finally)
1 Brambling
70 + 30 Pink Footed Geese -> SE
2 Blackcaps
1 Siskin over
Redwings 10

Another arrival of Song Thrushes (c20 flightly birds looking like new arrivals)
and Goldcrests (c20)

Also seen:
Canada Goose, Black headed Gull, Pheasant, Wood Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Starling, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Robin, Mistle thrush, Blue Tit, Coal tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Reed Bunting, Yellow Hammer - 38 Species

9.09am
28 Cormorants over the house in a fairly tight flock -> NE




-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Thursday 17th of October 2013 09:31:12 AM

7.45am - 8.45am
Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park

32 Pink Footed Geese -> SW
2 Redwings

but very quiet compared to last week,
5 Goldcrest as opposed to a multitude and
just the one Chiffchaff as opposed to double figures last week

Also very little overhead movement, just 1 skylark and 1 pied wagtail
(plus the geese)

p.s c120 Pink Footed Geese > N at 1.30 over the house



-- Edited by Phil Barnett on Tuesday 8th of October 2013 02:09:01 PM

Well I was rather jealous of your Hobby and late Whitethroat yesterday Paul

- the grass is always greener on the other persons patch

(as I almost never say)

7.15am - 9.15am
Scrubby area between Stoney Brow and Beacon Country Park
Seems to have been another arrival of thrushes
Song Thrushes c 30
Blackbirds c 20
also 11 contact calling Dunnocks, probably also arrivals, interestingly I think Dunnock autumn passage, such as it is,
is often associated with movements of thrushes.

Chiffchaff 11 (4 singing)
Blackcap 1 heard calling
Mistle Thrush 1 singing sub-song
Goldcrest a few heard but many fewer than yesterday

Overhead
1 House Martin
8 Siskins
3 Skylarks
25 Meadow Pipits
5 Linnets
1 Pied Wagtail
2 Dunnocks
2 Yellowhammers