MONDAY 16 MARCH
No sign of the female Blackcap at the
CHAFFINCH HOUSE feeders early morning but a COAL TIT
Rain set in early today and although light
and patchy continued throughout the rest of the day. Pretty cold still too at
just 6 degrees C with a very slight northerly wind.
In the BOIS MILL area in the CHESS VALLEY, 2
Little Egrets and a single Mute Swan on the meadow brook and 2 Mute Swans, 8
Canada Geese, 2 Coot & 2 Grey Heron on the lake.
Along the WATERCRESS COTTAGE LOOP TRAIL,
Grey Heron, 5 Red Kite, 2 Magpie, singing Great Tit, Goldcrest, 2 Wren and this
Reeve's Muntjac noted...
On the POW WOW LAKE, we have two pairs of
Grey Heron nesting this year, with 2 Mute Swans, 2 Coot and a pair of Gadwall
also in attendance, Red Kites overhead and Great Tit, Song Thrush, Wren and
Chaffinch all in song. The first COMMON CHIFFCHAFF of the spring in the Chess
Valley is singing away for its third day on the CHESHAM FISHING LAKES, where
green Woodpecker, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Magpie, several Robins, 6 Dunnock, 6 Moorhen, 2
Mute Swans, 12 Coot, the Great Crested Grebe, 27 Tufted Duck, 8 Canada Geese, 46
Black-headed Gull, 3 Common Gull, adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Blackbird,
Chaffinch and Common Treecreeper all noted. A pair of Grey Wagtails was by the
waterfall and a Little Egret on the Chess adjacent. A further Little Egret was
foot-paddling in the Chess at WATERSIDE.
A visit to WILSTONE RESERVOIR yielded little
of note, with wildfowl numbers largely depleted. Migrants were null and void.
Just 9 Wigeon remained, along with 4+ Teal, 40 Shoveler, 2 Pochard, 55 Tufted
Duck and 2 Mute Swan, with the Barnacle Goose dropping in with the Greylag Geese
in Cemetery Corner. Singing COMMON CHIFFCHAFFS included singles in the north
hedgerow by the new overflow and in the Black Poplars just beyond the bridge,
whilst Jay, a pair of Common Treecreepers (new for 2015), Goldfinch, Skylark,
Common Pheasant, singing male Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Little Egret and 6
Lapwing were also noted. Thanks to a rendezvous with Gary Hinton, I connected
with my first LINNETS of the year - a flock of at least 40 in the grassy field
immediately west of the Drayton Bank trees. At least 17 Reed Bunting were also
in the field, as well as 7 Yellowhammers and 40 Chaffinch.
Over at TRINGFORD RESERVOIR, a single Meadow
Pipit was in the grass field by Tringford Farm, with 3 Mistle Thrush, 30
Redwing, Little Egret, 2 Shoveler, 4 Pochard, 6 Mute Swans, Long-tailed Tit,
Song Thrush, 4 Dunnock, Skylark, Grey Wagtail, Kestrel, Great Tit and 2 Pied
Wagtails also being seen. The number of active Rook nests had risen to 9, with a
pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls holding territory on the concrete turret in
the centre of the reservoir. In the field opposite the Sewage Works, the
Barnacle Goose was with 16 Greylag and 26 Canada Geese - a site first for
me.
A staggering 24 Great Crested Grebes was
present on MARSWORTH, with Coot numbers increasing to 10, 3 Tufted Duck, the
Mute Swan pair, just 5 Shoveler, 30 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Pied Wagtails, singing
Reed Bunting and the overflow CETTI'S WARBLER all being recorded.
A flock of 8 SAND MARTIN were hawking for
insects over the east side of STARTOP'S END RESERVOIR, with the first-winter
female GREATER SCAUP still present, diving out in the centre. A juvenile HERRING
GULL was a migrant, with 4 Little Grebes still present and just 2 Wigeon. The
only Mute Swan present was '4BKD', with the female Red-crested Pochard still on
the canal and 6 Pied Wagtails on the north bank; the GREY WAGTAIL pair were busy
checking out potential nesting sites near the car park.
Walking the WILSTONE GREAT FARM FIELDS with
Gary Hinton, we came across an impressive feeding flock of farmland birds,
including at least 60 Yellowhammer, 32 Reed Bunting and 8 Chaffinch. Also at
least 4 Meadow Pipits in the vicinity, as well as Song Thrush, 10 Redwing and 8+
Skylark
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