Big thanks to Surfbirds for obviously backing up their data quite well.. have written quite a lot on here over the months, so it would have been a shame to lose it all! Coincidentally, my home PC also suffered a nasty crash in the last month, and I too have been busy restoring data. Most was backed up, so I haven't had too many tears.. lost a few Bat Detector recordings, but the sightings are safely logged.
Here is a fairly long post of what I got up to in February:
30th Jan
late afternoon walk into copse south of house.
Didn't expect to see a great deal, more to find out how far into the woods I can get!
The woods extend right down to the M27, but I only got halfway through before the tracks ran out. Still some good undisturbed woodland to explore once you get out of range of the village, and it will be interesting to see what is around on an early morning spring visit.
Today's walk was typically quiet, a few Blue, Great and Long Tailed tits, Redwings, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Goldcrests, and best of all about half a dozen Woodcock flew out of a clearing. This was well after dusk, so not sure if they were roosting in the area, or feeding in the small boggy field I had stumbled upon.
Earlier in the day, found a small Pheasant run off Hoe Lane with an abundance of wildlife attracted to the area. Several Woodpigeons, and at least 4 Jays flew from the roadside as I pulled up. one or two birds feeding in the pheasant cover, need scope to find out what is there. Who knows, maybe even see a Yellowhammer here!
Nearby village of Lee looks quite bird rich. Hope to return for a longer walk along the Test. At least one public footpath heads out of the village, but a lot of the land is part of the Broadlands Estate, so very private.
4th Feb
A few hours in the field this morning!
Pheasant cover at Hoe Lane was fairly quiet, a few flocks of Starlings and Fieldfares at first light, plus a Buzzard. Most of the Pheasants here are the Japanese Green Pheasants, I think.
Moved on to Lee Village, and the River Test, again nothing spectacular, but plenty of Little Grebes, Goldcrests, a Grey Wagtail, and half a dozen Hares.. Some of them boxing, which is always fun to see. Distant fields had a couple of Female Roe Deer.
Went North of Romsey, to Mottisfont and followed the Test way for a mile or so. Lots of good habitat: flooded fields near the river, and a large quarry cliff face colonised by Jackdaws. A few Bullfinches around, and more Goldcrests and a small tit flock.
Did see a Skylark here (one of the species I'm missing from North Bucks!).
Finished the morning by calling into Casbrook Common.. This place looked superb! A footpath through the middle with Gravel workings on one side and a mosaic of small muddy ponds and scattered bushes on the other. Lots about with Goldfinches feeding on thistle heads, 3 Grey Wagtails, Green Woodpecker, 2 Snipe, and another wader which flew from a distant pond, didn't get much on this one, perhaps a Green Sandpiper?
Also saw another birder! so the place must be good!
Definately have to revist this place, looks like it is only "accessible" on Sundays when the workings are closed.
Looking at Live local ( http://local.live.com/ ) , there may be more pools further north, and the embankment to the east could be a great viewpoint to watch from.
One thing about all the sites I've visited is that the countryside is very open, and you can always see for miles! Could be good in the spring, with migration overhead.
Still missing a few of the common North Bucks birds! aside from Skylark which I finally saw a single today! I have yet to see Yellowhammer, or any Bunting in fact! and also an absence of Lapwing and Golden Plover. Could be better a bit further north towards Wiltshire and the Downs / Salisbury Plain. Or it may be that these species Winter on the coast.
Also around the garden this weekend, a Brimstone and Red Admiral both on the wing as soon as the sun came out
5th Feb:
Bought a very nice looking bird feeder for the front garden. Black iron, about 7ft tall, with a few hooks for hanging feeders / tables off. Very tasteful! Even better: in 24 hours, it has already attracted Robin, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue and Great Tits.
Have stacked it up with Niger seeds hoping to attract the local Goldfinches down from the top of the oak trees.
Neighbouring gardens have gone for suet balls, and peanuts. These don't seem to be as popular with the birds these days.. the birds prefer an easier meal perhaps?!
7th Feb:
birds continue to pour in to the new feeder.. Is it the only one in the neighbourhood! Coal Tit, Pied Wagtail, and a Squirrel which must have flew to get up there!
Went for a lunchtime walk in the Copse South of the house.. Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, plus Nuthatches present in numbers. A distant Buzzard and good numbers of the usual common Tits and Finches, plus quite a few Redwings made for an enjoyable lunch hour.
8th Feb:
Lunchtime walk to field at end of Hoe Lane.
Snow had just about melted, and the field was fairly quiet.. Suddenly livened up by a Merlin shooting through and just missing a Meadow Pipit. Fairly lousy view, as it sped north. Rest of field was fairly quiet. A kestrel on the pylons, and a Buzzard high overhead.
Found a previously undiscovered corner of the field with small paddock, and a few large bushes. 4 Stonechats were lurking in this corner plus a few House Sparrows (Quite a novelty here!).
All the good habitat within walking distance of the house follows a fairly obtrusive row of power cables. Suspect the cables have prevented the field being built upon in the past.
Garden has had a good selection of birds today with Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail, Coal Tit, the highlights and Nuthatch in one of the surrounding trees.
Also, may have had a Raven fly over house late morning, but views were lousy.. one that got away.
Had to check a leak out in my loft roof.. some new bat droppings on the floorboards! Look like Pipistrelle, but suggest that my attic is being used during the winter.. Can't wait until the Spring and a better idea of how they use the space.
As the house is right next to a brook, they could be Soprano Pipistrelles. Think these have larger maternity roosts, so could be fun if they use the house for Maternity purposes!
9th Feb.
Revisited Hoe Lane Pheasant Cover at lunchtime. The cold snap has certainly focussed the birds into flocks.. Best of all: Reed Buntings everywhere in the Pheasant cover. Impossible to count, but 20-30 would seem about right. Also a similar number of Chaffinches.
Adjacent fields had a big flock of 210 Starlings, 105 Redwings, and about 20 Fieldfares.
Hoe Lane East still has the Wintering Stonechats (3 today) showing well at the paddock with two Pied Wagtails. Also, House Sparrows, Greenfinches and Dunnocks in nearby hedges.
Wanted to return to the Pheasant cover at dusk to scan for Raptors or an Owl, but weather has turned to heavy rain, which looks set to ruin the weekend!
Drove along Chilworth access road, and Misselbrook lane which looked good on live local, but nothing special. Difficult to park at the former, but worth a walk in spring perhaps.
10th Feb:
Hit the New Forest for the first time since moving down to Hampshire.. though the sheer size of the Forest is daunting. Started at a well known venue, Blackwater Arboretum, and saw, fairly predicatably, at least 9 Hawfinches assembling in the tree tops before dispersing into the Forest just after sunrise. Also TreeCreeper and 3 Bullfinches, and a few other common species. No sign of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but one was seen later in the morning. I left as the clouds looked certain to open!
Drove on to a random area of heathland, and had an enjoyable hour with a couple of nice but brief views of Dartford Warblers, and a small herd of Fallow Deer, the Stags looking splendid. Also saw 2 very distant Ravens flying over, their calls heard from the best part of a mile away. One perched in a tree with Magpies.. the difference in size was truly bewildering, the magpies were dwarfed.
Spent an hour in an area north of the main road (A31) running through the forest. Area looked good for Woodlark, but was very quiet. A Stonechat, Mistle Thrushes, and a Green Woodpecker the only birds seen.
finished off at Eyeworth Pond. Nice views of 4 Mandarins, and the car park bird feeders had 5 species of Tit in the space of a couple of minutes (the 5th being Marsh!). Some more likely Woodlark territory drew a blank!
11th Feb: Casbrook, 7:30am - 9:00am
Enjoyable walk across Casbrook Common, depsite a few heavy showers.
Birds seen were Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Raven, Buzzard, and 6 Linnets. Plus a few Redwings, and several sightings of Green Woodpeckers.
Two Jack Snipes flew out of a large muddy area on the edge of wasteground, right next to the footpath. Weak low flight landing 100yards away, and deep croaking call was distinctive. The advantage of being the first person to walk a footpath in the morning! Also fairly sure I heard another at the south end of the common, but didn't see anything.
Noticed on Live local (http://local.live.com/) two decent sized lakes just north of the common. Sure enough, the other side of an embankment, two very steep sided lakes. A few tufted Ducks, and Mallards plus Coot and Moorhen here. Plenty of mud, but no waders this time.
17th Feb:
Took children to Lepe Country Park, so not a concerted effort to see birds, but did manage some very close Turnstones, a distant flock of 12 Eider, and 2 Summer Plumaged Med Gulls amongst the offshore Black Headed Gulls. Summer Plumaged adults I can pick out!
18th Feb:
Looking after the children again today, I ventured into the New Forest to Beaulieu Road Station to look for Woodlark.
Got near the well documented territories after dragging the pushchair through several small lakes only for my older daughter (3 yrs) to need the loo, and ask to go home in favour of squatting behind a bush. Persevered to the train footbridge, and after seeing 2 Meadow Pipits fly from the ground into bushes, was lucky enough to see a Woodlark fly up, circle, and head straight back towards me and land on some bare earth. Got excellent views of a very smart bird, before legging it back to the car before daughter had an accident. Even better, back at the car park another Woodlark was circling overhead in full song flight. This one was a nice surprise and felt a bit less "twitched"!
Also saw Buzzard and Stonechat as per usual! and Pied Wagtail.
My Partner Kathleen returned home in time to see a Male Blackcap in the back garden, and a very showy Goldcrest.
Drove through Beaulieu (difficult word to spell!) and noticed a big lake with a huge reed bed.. Wonder if this has turned up anything in the past? Certainly looked big enough to hold Bitterns, Water Rails, etc. perhaps even Marsh Harriers.
21st Feb 2007:
Visited a flooded field visible from the A27 just north of North Baddesley. Over the weekend it looked to have a few very distant birds on the shore of a large pool, but was unable to stop.
Returned today, pulled over into a layby, and as luck would have it, there was a single gap in the hedgerow that was out of sight of the passing traffic, and offered a decent view of the muddiest area.
Was very pleased to finally see some Lapwings! 74 of them in all, plus 6 Stock Doves, 2 Pied Wagtails, and a lot of corvids and Starlings.
Also returned to the feeding station I have put up at Hoe Lane. the peanut holder is very popular and was almost empty, but the ground tray feeder hasn't been touched. May need to rethink that one, too much competition from the pheasant covers perhaps.
23/2/07:
Dawn walk round Mounbatten Park on the edge of North Baddesley. Pleasant enough walk with plenty of Goldcrests singing, a couple of Buzzards, and Great Spotted plus Green Woodpeckers calling throughout. Also plenty of Roe Deer, and the feeling that this place doesn't get many visitors. Will stick my neck out and predict a Wood Warbler or two in the spring.
Had hoped that this wood joined up the Hoe Lane Pheasant Cover and the flooded field of Lapwings off the A27 to enable a single walk to take in all the habitats, and although I could see the two sites, was never able to get close enough to either of them.
Dusk visit to the Pheasant Cover on Hoe Lane was unproductive except for a Kestrel, 2 Buzzards, and plenty of Redwings. Owls are difficult to come across round this part of the world!
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