Four hares seen in Flora Field by the hedge near the oak tree.
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Category Archives: Wildlife
Peregrine and stock dove
Saturday 1 May
Very quiet with very few humans walking reserve but saw a Peregrine with small bird in talon fly into a hedge just by the path and then away toward the estuary.
There was a Stock Dove amongst the Woodpigeons by the two table feeders by Pony Wood.
Birds this morning
At this morning’s WWG we noticed
Two greylag geese on Alder Pond
A kestrel around Pony Wood
Quite a few goldfinches in the Orchard and fields.
A dunnock singing to us as we left the shed
Linnets near Feeding Tables
The linnets are acquiring their breeding plumage.
Dunnock
This dunnock was on a post opposite the Paddock yesterday.
Shelduck and cowslip
Two shelduck swimming on School Pond this morning. Also a cowslip in the Hay Meadow, towards the southern end, visible from the Fauna path .
Seen Today
Looking into Upper Sowerholme from a garden, I saw a chiffchaff singing away.
Also on the border between the Aldcliffe Road gardens and Upper Sowerholme was a bullfinch.
Then walking round to Pony Wood there was a swallow over the Arable Field, a reed bunting by the path and the two oystercatchers were sunning themselves in the field.
Then in Pony Wood box P2 was being occupied by two blue tits, both went inside.
In addition, the linnets were continuing to feed on the bird tables.
Oystercatchers
Yesterday a couple of oystercatchers were in the Arable Field.
I am not sure whether they are the same birds that we see across the Canal.
Last year a pair nested on the roof of B&Q!
Jacks galore!
The scheduled final flush count of the winter took place this morning. Much colder and drier under foot than last week. A total of 30 snipe, the most this late in the season since April 2015. 25 in Big Meadow, 5 in School Pond. The main point of comment was the high number of jack snipe – comprising a third of the total, all in Big Meadow. (Not as marked, but the proportion of jacks last Monday was also unexpectedly large at just under a quarter.)
Arable Field
Ploughing of the Flora Field took place on Good Friday.
A couple of stock doves (which nest in Pony Wood) took advantage of the bare earth (one shown).
Then the crop of barley undersown with pea was sown on Easter Saturday.
Finally, a group of six of us sowed the bird-friendly mix (to feed the birds next winter) and some cornflower seeds into the crop itself.