Recording Area Annual Totals

97 Species in 2013, 99 in 2012, 94 in 2011, 108 species were recorded in 2010;



Sunday, 16 February 2014

The Valentines Day Storm

Overnight, winds of up to 67mph battered the Amersham District and county, resulting in an unprecedented 270 trees felled. This was the scene down Nightingales Lane in Little Chalfont on Saturday......



The flooding still just as bad....



...and this tree very precarious




...narrowly missing a refuse truck



Thursday, 6 February 2014

Rain, rain and even more rain

THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY
 
Rain, rain and even more rain. It started at about 10am today and then continued. How more miserable can it get? Old Amersham is under threat of the swollen Misbourne flooding over.....


Back gardens in the High Street all under water...


....and the footpath completely flooded

I ventured out as far as SHARDELOES ESTATE and did a full circuit of the site recording just under 40 species.........
 
On the Lake were 12 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, the 3 resident Mute Swans (including their single offspring from last year), 19 Atlantic Canada Geese, 9 Mallard, 6 Gadwall, a pair of SHOVELER (first record this year), 2 Pochard, 19 Tufted Duck, 8 Moorhen and 60 Coot, 3 juvenile Argenteus Herring Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, while in the immediate surrounding land, Mistle Thrush (singing loudly in the rain), Common Blackbird, 2 Carrion Crow, 3 Goldfinch, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Jay, Great Tit and a singing Song Thrush were noted.


The overflow completely overflowing!


Grey Heron


A drake Shoveler (first of the year)



And 2 of 3 different juvenile Herring Gulls

To the west, the sodden field catering for the horses was attracting a huge flock of winter thrushes involving 296 Redwing and 428 Fieldfare - all probing the soft ground for worms and other grubs; 7 Common Starlings too - while walking besides the Misbourne to the weir added a Long-tailed Tit flock, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Wren, 2 Common Magpie, 2 Stock Dove and 2 WATER RAILS.





Fieldfare and Redwing galore

Up near KENNEL FARM, the Misbourne was in heavy flood, the pools attracting 7 Gadwall, 8 Moorhen and a pair of Pied Wagtails.


The Misbourne in flood by Kennel Farm

Along Mop End Lane, a tit flock in the first 100 yards held a single Coal Tit (a scarce species on the estate) as well as 8 Blue, 4 Great and a further 5 Long-taileds, with a male Eurasian Skylark singing from cereal crops a further 150 yards on. I then came across this nice patch of winter pheasant setaside where apart from up to 45 Common Pheasant, a flock of 62 STOCK DOVE was apparent, another small flock of Fieldfare and a mixed bunting flock comprising of 26 YELLOWHAMMER and 4 REED BUNTINGS. A group of 4 BULLFINCHES was nearby, with 5 more Jays, 2 Goldcrest, 25 Jackdaw and another 2 Song Thrushes noted.


A magnificent patch of setaside, hosting no less than 62 Stock Dove and 26 Yellowhammer

I then followed up some advice from Graham Smith and noted a flock of 13 Little Egret in the pigfield floods along OLD RECTORY LANE in HIGHER DENHAM.



These flooded pigfields are attracting Little Egrets daily

Monday, 3 February 2014

No Great Crested Grebe but GREYLAG'S back

MONDAY 3 FEBRUARY
 
The second reasonable day in a row with NO RAIN during daylight hours, just overcast, cold and windy conditions.
 
In the CHESS VALLEY first thing, the very wet walk underfoot between Latimer Bridge and Church Covert produced 10 COMMON SNIPE (a scarce bird locally), 2 Little Egrets (one feeding with the Sheep!) and 6 COMMON TEAL, along with 4 Red Kites, 2 Common Buzzards (aerial displaying), Grey Heron, 9 Mallard, 7 Mute Swans (including a new intruding cob), Green Woodpecker, 2 Long-tailed Tit, a Coal Tit (in Church Covert), 3 Wren, a Greenfinch, a SongThrush and 7 Common Magpies.



Common Buzzards in full display today




Red Kites overhead


Trees down and extensive flooding in Church Covert


Little Egret grazing with Sheep!




The resident pair of Latimer Bridge Mute Swans..



....and an intruding cob



6 wintering COMMON TEALS


...and COMMON MAGPIES having a laugh at the expense of a Sheep

No sign of the weekend's Great Crested Grebe at nearby CHESHAM FISHING LAKES but the single GREYLAG GOOSE was back again with 19 Atlantic Canada Geese and the Aythya flock yielded 25 Tufted Ducks and 3 drake Northern Pochards. Also noted were 6 Coot, 2 Red Kite, Common Kingfisher and Long-tailed Tit.






The 3 drake Pochards - fast asleep



 
In the fields at WENDOVER DEAN (SSE of The Firecrest pub on the east side of the A413), a flock of 240 Fieldfares, quickly followed by a spate of dead Badgers - 2 within 50 yards of each other just south of WENDOVER at SP 875 062 & 873 065 and another on the A41 east of KINGSWOOD at SP 698 184.
 
I then spent a long time searching the UPPER RAY MEADOWS for Warren's Grey Plovers and Ruff but with, as usual, little success. Lapwing numbers were dramatically down (from 5,000 on my last visit to today's 190) and wildfowl were significant by their absence; the only highlight were the formidable number of wintering thrushes: 740 Fieldfare and 290 Redwing - both specie seem to love the wet fields.
 
I then returned to TRING RESERVOIRS to do my first February counts of the month but the cold westerly wind was challenging on WILSTONE - just 6 Mute Swans, 34 Greylag Geese, 19 Atlantic Canada Geese, 80 Mallard, 370 Wigeon, 200+ Teal, 20 Gadwall, 41 Shoveler, 97 Pochard, 117 Tufted Duck and 402 Coot (I could not locate the Pintail but many duck were sheltering out of view on the Drayton Bank). Both Grey Heron and Sinensis Cormorant were busy nest-building/repairing on the Bank vegetation, with 2 Little Egrets roosting by the Poplars, while an impressive winter gull roost harboured at least 3,000 Black-headed and 159 Common.
 
TRINGFORD still held 6 Red-crested Pochards whilst the roost at MARSWORTH produced a healthy 148 CORN BUNTINGS - all in and accounted for by 5pm. A single Little Grebe was with 3 Great Crested Grebe there (11 of the latter had been counted on Wilstone), just 1 drake Shoveler, with Song Thrush and Goldcrest in full song in the wood. A measly 3 Reed Buntings came in to roost, as well as 8 Long-tailed Tits.
 

Over at WESTON TURVILLE RESERVOIR from 1705-1740 hours, I caught the last 4 Little Egrets flighting in to the Grand Union Canal roost-site at The Wides, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Coot, a Sparrowhawk almost in darkness putting the frighteners on small passerines roosting in the reeds and a flyby WOODCOCK at dusk.


Sparrowhawk photographed in almost total darkness in front of the hide


And the last dregs of daylight

Friday, 31 January 2014

Flooding abounds




Another band of heavy rain saw the return of severe flooding to the area