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BACK TO THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE HOMEPAGE -> Manchester Birding Forum -> COVID- 19 GARDEN LOCKDOWN BLOGS 2020: CLOSED -> Rob Thorpe, Ashton-in-Makerfield (COVID-19 garden lockdown)
Post Info TOPIC: Rob Thorpe, Ashton-in-Makerfield (COVID-19 garden lockdown)
Rob Thorpe


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RE: Rob Thorpe, Ashton-in-Makerfield (COVID-19 garden lockdown)
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Thursday 11 June 2020 to Saturday 13 June 2020

Very quiet, nothing of note.

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Rob Thorpe


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Wednesday 10 June 2020

A rainy day saw me stuck indoors yet again. It was a fairly quiet day, apart from the noisy Rooks and Jackdaws flying back and forth again. The Coal Tit was also back, and a family party of Long-tailed Tit were feeding in "woodpecker tree" during one of the heavier spells of rain.
It's been over 4 weeks since I added anything to the list now!

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Rob Thorpe


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Tuesday 09 June 2020

Working indoors all day yet again today, although I should have moved outside as the weather wasn't too bad... but, I was just too busy.
I did keep an eye out for Startings today, with small groups hanging around the neighbouring gardens all day, and around 40-50 gathering this evening in some nearby conifers where there's often a small roost.
Other things I noticed today were Rooks, lots of Rooks. They seemed to be heading north and south almost continuously, along with smaller numbers of Jackdaw. The largest single group of Rook being 11 birds.
A Pied Wagtail was on a rooftop 3 doors down from me, the first non-flyover pied wag of the lockdown.
2 Oystercatcher flew south this afternoon, and I heard one later on.
A Coal tit was busily feeding in the small conifer in my garden a few times (it's actually the only plant currently in my garden, unless you count the wildflowers / weeds!).
A Buzzard was mobbed by a Herring Gull in the usual area just north of me.

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Rob Thorpe


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Monday 08 June 2020

Didn't really spend any time in the garden today, but I did hear Oystercatcher a couple of times and saw a juvenile Blackbird in the garden with its parents. Not sure what the neighbours are putting on ther bird table, but it caught the attention of the local pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull and a nice adult Herring Gull. A pair of Buzzard were circling in the afternoon and Canada Geese were heard at dusk.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 8th of June 2020 10:32:53 PM

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Rob Thorpe


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Sunday 07 June 2020

Spent some time early afternoon checking out the local starlings. A Sparrowhawk over was the first I've seen here for a while, and a Linnet flew over. A flock of 8 Rook flew south, followed by another 2. Other than that it was pretty quiet.

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Rob Thorpe


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Saturday 06 June 2020

19:06: Oystercatcher south.

19:43: Oystercatcher south.

19:59: Oystercatcher heard.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 6th of June 2020 11:17:16 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Friday 05 June 2020

09:32: Grey Heron north, low, calling.

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Rob Thorpe


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Thursday 04 June 2020

10:41: A group of at least 22 Swift just moved through, heading east.

19:51: 2 Grey Heron circling low, drifting east.

22:44: Oystercatcher heard.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 4th of June 2020 10:55:17 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Wednesday 03 June 2020

No garden or skywatching done today, stuck indoors due to the weather and pretty much in back to back meetings for the whole day. I did however rescue what I initially thought was a mouse from the bloody cat. But, on closer inspection, I believe it to be a young Brown Rat.


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Rob Thorpe


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Tuesday 02 June 2020

It was a busy day work-wise, and between working and reading news updates on the chaos across the pond and the frankly unbelievable ineptitude on this side, there wasn't much time for birding.
Things I did notice though was that the Rooks were very vocal again, with many groups flying north and south through the day. A Buzzard was getting a hard time from 2 Carrion Crow and an adult Herring Gull just to the north of me. Linnets were heard 3 times, including one bird singing as it flew over.
I heard an unidentified call mid-morning, flying south, but never saw it and wouldn't even know where to start trying to find out what it was... didnt recognise it at all, and all I could liken it to would be a higher-pitched Grey Partridge like call. Who knows, but I obviously need to stay a bit more alert!
Looks like that's the last of the good weather for a while. Probably have to work indoors for the rest of the week.

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Rob Thorpe


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Monday 01 June 2020

Another quiet sunny day. A Linnet flew over early afternoon, and a few groups of vocal Rook flying over were noticeable, following their near absence over the last couple of weeks.

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Rob Thorpe


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Craig Higson wrote:

Rob Thorpe wrote:

Saturday 30 May 2020

A juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker was on next door's fence first thing, before flying into their neighbour's tree, before I went out birding.


 



Am beginning to think you live in a different dimension to me! Considering we're only 50m apart its amazing what you manage to see!!! I've now seen more Ospreys from the Garden than I have GSWoodpeckers!!



GSW been in the tree circled in the attached photo a couple of times now

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Craig Higson


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Rob Thorpe wrote:

Saturday 30 May 2020

A juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker was on next door's fence first thing, before flying into their neighbour's tree, before I went out birding.


 



Am beginning to think you live in a different dimension to me! Considering we're only 50m apart its amazing what you manage to see!!! I've now seen more Ospreys from the Garden than I have GSWoodpeckers!!



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Rob Thorpe


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Sunday 31 May 2020

2 Grey Heron flew south early morning. Good numbers of House Martin and Swift were a constant feature throughout the afternoon.

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Rob Thorpe


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Saturday 30 May 2020

A juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker was on next door's fence first thing, before flying into their neighbour's tree, before I went out birding.
Upon returning from birding I found the remains of a juv Starling which had the hallmarks of a Sparrowhawk kill. Then, late afternoon, a male Sparrowhawk circled over, first I've seen in a while. After sunset an Oystercatcher was heard.

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Rob Thorpe


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Friday 29 May 2020

Highlights were a Kestrel circling over the green, Pied Wagtail heard, Oystercatcher heard, 4 Rook over, plus the now usual Goldcrest, Coal Tits and Long-tailed Tits.

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Rob Thorpe


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Thursday 28 May 2020

A flock of 3 Oystercatcher high overhead was the "highlight" of the day. Otherwise pretty quiet, but Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit were all present again.

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Rob Thorpe


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Wednesday 27 May 2020

2 Oystercatcher were noisily flying around this morning, and another flew over early afternoon. A Buzzard was around late morning. I heard the Goldcrest singing and the Coal Tits were very active again. 2 Swallow were chasing each other around over the green mid-afternoon.

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Rob Thorpe


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Tuesday 26 May 2020

Busy work day, but I did hear a Siskin fly over just before 9am, only my third of the lockdown. Also a new site record for Canada Goose, just after 3pm, with a flock flying south which I (over)estimated at around 40, but my dad (living due south of me) later confirmed as 35.


-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Wednesday 27th of May 2020 12:08:13 AM

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Rob Thorpe


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Monday 25 May 2020

Nothing out of the ordinary on a hot and sunny day. The Coal Tits were a little more vocal than of late, and the Long-tailed Tits continued back and forth. The Linnets seemed to be around more than they have for a while. The local Carrion Crows were less than impressed when a Buzzard was hanging in the breeze, high overhead, during the afternoon.

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Rob Thorpe


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Sunday 24 May 2020

Afternoon in the garden. Wind still a little blustery, but easing. 4 Buzzard over slowly heading into the wind at around 17:00. A Swallow flying around singing a lot, been past a few times in the last couple of hours. Lots of Swift action. Also over the last few days a pair of Long-tailed Tit have been commuting through the garden regularly. The local Starling flock is growing in numbers, probably around 30 or so birds now, with more and more brown juv birds seemingly by the day.

20:25: Great Spotted Woodpecker in neighbour's garden again, before disappearing off north, again.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 24th of May 2020 08:27:21 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Saturday 23 May 2020

Nothing to report.

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Rob Thorpe


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Friday 22 May 2020

07:27: Oystercatcher heard.

08:22: Canada Goose heard.

10:51: A blue plastic glove just flew past, going east.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 22nd of May 2020 10:51:48 AM



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Rob Thorpe


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Thursday 21 May 2020

06:40: Swallow south-west.

08:37: Swallow north.

09:28:Great Spotted Woodpecker just landed briefly in next-door-but-one's garden, before flying off north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 21st of May 2020 09:29:35 AM



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Rob Thorpe


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Wednesday 20 May 2020

Out and about birding all the local area most of the day, so didn't do any garden watching. I thought I heard a flyover Moorhen from the bedroom window, sometime around 23:30, but I couldn't be sure.

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Rob Thorpe


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Tuesday 19 May 2020

11:20: Oystercatcher heard. Sounded like at least 2 birds, and sounded like they were flying south. In the past I've seen them feeding on the large unpaved area of the car park at Haydock Park Racecourse, so maybe they were heading to there.

14:06: 2 Swallow west.

17:15: Coal Tit just heard, first sign of it since the day before #gardenbirdrace!

18:07: Sparrowhawk circling to the south. Another one that's been missing since the day before the race!!

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Tuesday 19th of May 2020 06:08:45 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Monday 18 May 2020

10:25: Goldcrest singing.

12:16: Swallow west.

13:23: A gold star-shaped balloon, drifting north-east.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 18th of May 2020 01:24:26 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Sunday 17 May 2020

Out birding this morning, for a change of scenery after yesterday's garden marathon! So only just out in the garden from about 11am.

11:26: A very shiny balloon, that looked to be very high, amongst the clouds, and therefore probably pretty big. Couldn't figure out what shape it was, it just looked long. It was moving at exactly the same rate as the surrounding clouds, so when looking through the binoculars it looked to be perfectly still, until I realised I'd turned quite a few degrees whilst watching it!

Didn't end up doing much birding, I heard a Common Tern and saw a Buzzard, but not much else.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 18th of May 2020 10:24:57 AM



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Rob Thorpe


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Saturday 16 May 2020

#gardenbirdrace day

05:30: Oystercatcher heard.

06:50: 2 Swallow north.

07:23: Goldcrest singing.

07:33: Oystercatcher north-west.

07:58: Swallow east.

08:06: 2 Lapwing south-east.

08:08: 2 Cormorant south-east.

08:09: Skylark north-west.

08:13: Pied Wagtail heard.

08:42: Oystercatcher heard.

08:57: Swallow west.

10:36: Cormorant west.

11:32: Buzzard south.

12:38: 3 Buzzard circling over to the east.

15:29: Buzzard circling overhead.

15:37: Hobby south, fairly high.

18:29: 2 Canada Goose, low, west.

20:00: 3 Swallow north.

20:07: Another 3 Swallow north.

watched pretty much non-stop from 04:07 to 20:40, recording a slightly disappointing 36 species in total. Some of the daily regulars typically decided not to show today, with no sign of Sparrowhawk, Rook or Coal Tit. The only highlight being my 2nd garden Hobby. The day started off quite promisingly weather-wise, but the gusty north-wersterly wind soon picked up and put a stop to that. Pretty cold by the time I called it a day.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 16th of May 2020 10:06:54 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Friday 15 May 2020

06:01: Oystercatcher heard.

07:51: Oystercatcher east.

08:16: tern sp. north. Only caught a glimpse of it, but almost certainly a common tern.

12:52: Swallow west.

13:30: Swallow north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 15th of May 2020 01:31:19 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Thursday 14 May 2020

08:35: Sparrowhawk south-west. It's been a quiet morning so far.

08:40: Grey Heron north.

10:06: 2 Herring Gull east.

10:09: Goldcrest singing.

10:16: Distant Buzzard to the west.

13:38: Sparrowhawk low and fast from the green.

14:47: Buzzard west.

16:01: Swallow north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 14th of May 2020 04:01:57 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Wednesday 13 May 2020

07:56: Skylark singing right over my garden. Nice!

08:14: Swallow north.

10:54: Cormorant east, really high.

10:57: Osprey circling overhead and gaining height before heading off north. My second for the garden lockdown!

12:00: Buzzard east.

12:04: Swallow north.

12:26: Swallow north.

12:42: 8 Swift and 5 House Martin north-west. Bullfinch heard.

12:53: Buzzard circling overhead, then heading east.

13:03: Newly fledged Starling.

13:18: 2 Buzzard in from the south-west, circled overhead gaining height, then continued north-east.

15:23: High-altitude Buzzard, north.

21:07: Oystercatcher south.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Wednesday 13th of May 2020 09:10:12 PM



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Rob Thorpe


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Tuesday 12 May 2020

07:40: 2 Swallow south.

07:45: Singing Linnet heard.

08:05: Bullfinch heard.

08:12: Goldcrest singing.

09:43: 6 Swallow south as another band of rain moves in.

13:53: Buzzard hovering to the north.

14:22: 22 Swift east in the last minute.

14:34: Common Gull (2cy) west. Garden lockdown tick!

14:46: Long-tailed Tit in my garden. Hopefully it'll show up for the #gardenbirdrace this Saturday!

16:17: Cormorant circling and heading north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Wednesday 13th of May 2020 12:26:07 AM



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Rob Thorpe


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Monday 11 May 2020

Working indoors today as that wind is just a bit too cold. Even had my breakfast indoors!!! Not much seen from the kitchen window yet, except a pair of Swift zooming around, brief visits from a Coal Tit and a Great Tit, and 2 pairs of Blackbird gathering food.

13:00: 2 Buzzard circling to the north.

15:38: Swallow south.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 11th of May 2020 03:39:38 PM



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Sunday 10 May 2020

10:45: A very smart Herring Gull and 2 Swift, north.

11:00: 2 more adult Herring Gull north, one with a dangly leg.

11:08: Herring Gull north.

11:13: 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Herring Gull fighting over something.

14:00: Grey Heron south.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 10th of May 2020 02:02:19 PM



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Saturday 09 May 2020

06:49: Lapwing north-east.

06:58: A newly fledged Robin.

07:23: A newly fledged House Sparrow, following its dad around a birch tree on the green.

07:47: Some low-altitude screaming Swifts, love it!

07:51: Oystercatcher heard.

08:05: Sparrowhawk circling to the west.

08:21: Cormorant north.

09:11: Oystercatcher heard.

09:38: Sparrowhawk north-east.

10:04: Swallow north.

10:40: Sparrowhawk circling overhead, before a vertical dive towards the green.

10:49: At least 12 Swift screaming and chasing each other around, high overhead.

10:51: Sparrowhawk north.

11:17: 2 Sparrowhawk interacting, high overhead, before moving off east. It's been a sparrowhawky morning.

11:19: Swallow north.

13:40: A Raven chased south-west by one of the crows, while a Buzzard was circling super-high to the west.

13:57: 2 Buzzard circling to the north.

15:02: Sparrowhawk south-west.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 9th of May 2020 03:02:33 PM



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Friday 08 May 2020

11:05: Lapwing west, and Swallow south.

11:13: Swallow south-west.

11:28: 2 Buzzard high to the north.

11:48: A red balloon (standard balloon shape) drifting east, pretty high up. Record shot attached.

13:45: A union jack balloon.

15:11: Grey Heron west.

15:55: A loose flock of 2 pink and one green balloons, heading south south-east, gaining height.

18:24: 2 Swallow north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 8th of May 2020 06:25:05 PM



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Thursday 07 May 2020

07:21 Oystercatcher south. Also earlier, around 06:45, a probable Sanderling (heard only, flying south) joined the growing list of ones that got away.

08:31: Grey Heron north.

09:49: Sand Martin heard.

10:39: Sparrowhawk drifting east.

11:29: A Buzzard winding-up the local crows.

13:04: Sparrowhawk west, really high up.

13:50: 7 Swift and a couple of House Martin over the green.

15:08: 2 Common Tern west.

17:55: Sparrowhawk over the green.

18:26: Sand Martin north-west.

18:44: Grey Wagtail north-west.

18:58: Swallow north.

20:00: Setting fireworks off, in the daylight? Get a grip! Lots of Woodpigeon and Starling flying about, but those idiots won't notice the impact they're having on the wildlife.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 7th of May 2020 08:25:10 PM



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Wednesday 06 May 2020

11:15: A Buzzard thermalling with 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Herring Gull, before gliding off to the south. It's been a quiet morning, been out in the garden since around 6am, but little of note. A handful of Swifts, a flyover Linnet and a Coal Tit gathering food in the garden.

12:45: A Kestrel hovering over the green... never seen that before. Also a few more Swift knocking about, and a short time ago 2 Herring Gull and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull squabbling over a food item.

15:09: Cormorant north.

16:02: Linnet north.

16:23: Swallow north-west, singing.

19:11: Common Tern east.

19:31: Swallow north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Wednesday 6th of May 2020 07:32:43 PM



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Tuesday 05 May 2020

06:22: Swift north-east.

06:24: Another Swift, east.

06:38: A brief song from a Meadow Pipit, somewhere south of me, maybe over St Thomas' school field?

06:44: Oystercatcher heard, heading east.

07:07: Swallow north.

08:00: Cormorant south.

09:44: Raven chased north by a Carrion Crow.

09:53: Buzzard circling to the north.

13:43: 5 Swift feeding overhead.

14:05: Swift south-east.

15:49: Jay south-east, only my second of the lockdown.

17:27: Swift south-east.

17:50: 8 Swift high overhead.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Tuesday 5th of May 2020 08:49:12 PM



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Monday 04 May 2020

06:30: Goldcrest singing.

10:01: Whimbrel heard.

11:14: Kestrel north.

12:19: Sparrowhawk west.

12:50: Swallow north.

15:41: Swallow north and a Sparrowhawk over the green.

17:04: Buzzard circling to the north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 4th of May 2020 05:04:50 PM



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Sunday 03 May 2020

12:20: Common Tern east, towards George's Pond. Garden Lockdown #65.

2 Buzzard over earlier this afternoon, while I was rescuing a freshly emerged Lime Hawk-moth from our curious cat.

14:31: Sparrowhawk hunting the green.

14:58: Buzzard circling to the west.

16:35: 2 Swift south-west.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 3rd of May 2020 04:38:50 PM



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Saturday 02 May 2020

10:52: Buzzard north.

11:35: 2 Buzzard north-east.

15:11: Sparrowhawk circling overhead. First one I've seen since Monday!

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 2nd of May 2020 03:13:16 PM



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Friday 01 May 2020

It was raining first thing when I got up for breakfast, so wasnt able to sit out in the garden. Also, really busy with work since early morning so not had much chance to look outside. I did hear a Pied Wagtail earlier, but nothing else of interest, yet.

10:41: Swallow north.

12:50: Buzzard north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 1st of May 2020 12:51:11 PM



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Thursday 30 April 2020

06:27: 3 Swallow south.

07:02: Another / the same 3 Swallow, south.

07:15: Another Swallow south.

07:30: 14 House Martin hanging in the wind, drifting east.

07:52: Swallow south.

08:20: 3 Swallow south-east.

08:45: Swallow south-west.

09:18: Swift south-west. About time!

09:34: Oystercatcher south.

09:38: 11 Starling on the lawn.

09:41: Buzzard south-east.

11:39: Mallard record smashed again, with 6 overhead!

11:48: Swallow north.

12:14: Swift south.

12:58: Swallow south.

13:00: Buzzard south.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 30th of April 2020 01:01:09 PM



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Wednesday 29 April 2020

06:19: 2 Canada Goose south.

15:47: 2 Cormorant north.

15:51: Swallow north.

15:53: Police helicopter east.

15:56: Lapwing north. New for the garden lockdown! Seems to be a bit of stuff moving now that rain has cleared.

16:08: Skylark in song-flight, high to the north.

16:31 probable yellow wag really high up, flying north... crap views as it was flying away from me and I only saw it because I was watching a Herring Gull circling when it shot through the bins!

20:14: Swallow north.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Wednesday 29th of April 2020 08:47:39 PM



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Tuesday 28 April 2020

A murky morning!

05:57 Bullfinch west.

06:59: 2 Swallow north.

08:45: Goldcrest calling.

16:37: A record flock of 5 Mallard over!

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Tuesday 28th of April 2020 04:38:34 PM



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Monday 27 April 2020

09:34: Swallow north.

09:43: Pied Wagtail north-east.

09:45: Canada Goose heard.

12:15: Buzzard west.

13:05: Goldcrest singing.

13:45: Canada Goose heard, and at least 6 House Martin buzzing around.

Work very busy today, so not much skywatching, but I did notice one of the local Sparrowhawks circling overhead this afternoon. Also, I thought I heard a swift, but they're stubbornly refusing to get on my list!

18:08: 2 Sand Martin north-west.

19:56: 2 noisy Canada Goose north.

19:58: Swallow north-west.

20:27: 6+ Sand Martin north-west, low and fast.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 27th of April 2020 08:27:57 PM



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Sunday 26 April 2020

Out on the bike again this morning, checking out the wider recording area, so nothing to report from here up to now. I'm thinking I probably need an assistant warden to man the observatory while I'm out and about.

10:47: 4 Buzzards sharing a thermal, over to the west.

11:06: 4 House Martin feeding overhead.

11:12: Sparrowhawk, high, south-west.

11:24: Now 6 Buzzard together, to the west.

13:12: Sparrowhawk south-west.

13:15: 3 Herring Gull west.

14:51: 2 Sand Martin north.

15:35: Sparrowhawk circling high over the green, then diving to the east.

17:26: Police helicopter west.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 26th of April 2020 06:05:32 PM



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Saturday 25 April 2020

Out birding by bike this morning for a change of scenery, then been doing a few odd jobs around the house. Off to get some shopping soon too, so probably not much skywatching until later this afternoon. Only thing of interest so far is 6 Starling checking out my freshly mown lawn.

13:50: Starlings now up to 16!

14:07: Sparrowhawk drifting north-west.

22:23: Oystercatcher heard.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 25th of April 2020 10:23:57 PM



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