Snipe

A Snipe nearly made it on the garden list as it flew over shortly after nightfall. Unfortunately I couldn't pick it up, so it will have to join Tawny Owl on the list of birds only heard.

Garden Bird Watch, Wimpole Estate, Fowlmere

Similar weather to yesterday to begin with: sunny and mild, but with a string chilling wind. I left the children to do the RSPB Garden Bird Watch and they recorded the following:



Afterwards we took a family walk to Wimpole , where I knew that Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers bred. Unsurprisingly, with no information as to where to go (the site is secret) and the vast size of the estate, we failed to find any with a Green Woodpecker being the only woodpecker seen.

The wind had died when I walked around Fowlmere for the last hour or so before dark. The wintering Barn Owl was seen, and the year's first Tawny Owl heard. A (the?) Snipe also dropped in at dusk, and it or another could be heard in flight as I left.

Starlings and Fowlmere

Amazingly it seems as though the pair of Starlings in the roof above out bedroom have nestlings. Michelle and I heard them begging for food every time an adult flew in at dawn this morning. A look outside suggested that two birds were indeed collecting fat from the feeders and carrying it into a hole under the thatch. About three months premature according to BWP.

A one hour walk in the sun around Fowlmere early morning wasn't helped by the blustery wind. A single Snipe was all I could find.

Edit (15/04/2010): Apparently females regularly 'beg' for food from males as part of their courtship. This must be what was happening. Still very early, but a bit more reasonable.

Edit (16/04/2010): The 'begging' (or rather 'demanding') behaviour only occurs in the later stages of courtship, once the female has been impregnated and requires extra food to supplement the developing eggs. So still a mystery!

Shepreth L-moor

A quick walk around before dusk. Not much apart from a flock of eight roosting Yellowhammers.

Great Chishill, Shepreth L-moor, and Fowlmere

A very windy day didn't bode well for the ringing session planned at Great Chishill with Fowlmere Bullfinches junior RSPB. However, in the two hour session, a Great Tit, Robin, two Chaffinches, and two Blue Tits were caught. Tree Sparrow nest-boxes were erected and a new hedge planted. Tom and Sam (and me!) thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Late afternoon, myself and Tom had a quick walk around Shepreth L-moor. After a week of rain, there was more water there that I've ever known, and wading through it where we managed to flush a Snipe.

We then continued to Fowlmere and amazingly saw both Merlin and Peregrine! Despite staying until dusk, we failed to see Kestrel, thus missing out on the complete set of wintering British falcons! However, a Barn Owl was seen.

Fowlmere

Very similar to yesterday: a brief morning visit and a longer evening one. Apart from a couple of year-ticks and the weather (morning rain and a strong westerly) the result was pretty much the same.

Fowlmere and Baldock area

A very quick morning visit and an only slightly longer evening visit to Fowlmere produced very little apart from the news that I'd just missed a Merlin.

A drive along the A505 produced a total of five Buzzards enjoying the midday thermals in the Baldock area.

Fowlmere and Shepreth L-moor

A midday walk with the family at lunchtime produced seven Siskins, a Snipe, and a calling (but not seen) Nuthatch.

A late afternoon a walk around Shepreth L-moor produced very little apart from the year's first Yellowhammers. Then, at Fowlmere just before dusk, five Bramblings were found with Chaffinches in a pre-roost gathering.

Fowlmere

A very brief visit in the morning sunshine produced very little apart from a few year-ticks.

Cambridge Botanic Gardens

A lunchtime stroll in the mist produced at least three Goldcrests and a Green Woodpecker.

Fowlmere and Amwell

A late start on a dull, drizzly morning, with the first bird of the year being a male Blackbird in the churchyard, seen from the bedroom window.

My first ever Fowlmere year-list got under way mid-morning and an amazing thirty-seven species were seen or heard! Wow! These were Mallard, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Tufted Duck, Treecreeper, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Crow, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Bullfinch, and Reed Bunting, as well as four Hare.

The afternoon was spent with Tom at Amwell, where we saw Smew (two male), several Goldeneye including displaying males, Shelduck, Yellow-legged Gull (adult), and, at dusk, Bittern.

At Fowlmere on the way home, a Barn Owl was seen perched near the airfield.