SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS at last......

TUESDAY 20 JULY

Another very hot day with temperatures reaching 84 degrees F in the early afternoon. No sign of any rain but wind picked up late afternoon and thick cloud cover then moved in. I managed 67 species today, with SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS finally recorded in my immediate area for this year........

LANE WOOD CIRCUIT, LITTLE CHALFONT (BUCKS) (SP 990 986)
(walked from Forest Cottages west through wood to Round Wood and Raan's Farm and then returned via the Saw Mill footpath to Bell Lane)

Red Kite (pair feeding young at edge of Round Wood)
Woodpigeon (15)
Green Woodpecker (1)
European Barn Swallow (successful breeding at Raan;s Farm - family of 5 birds)
House Martin (2 over the wood)
Eurasian Skylark (singing male in cereal field immediately west of Lane Wood)
Robin (7 along the trail in scrub behind Bell Lane school)
Common Blackbird (5+ including two males by the Raan's Farm paddocks)
Song Thrush (7 birds noted in total with breeding proved)
Wren (3)
Common Whitethroat (family party of 4 birds just west of Lane Wood)
Common Chiffchaff (adult giving anxiety calls along trail behind the Saw Mill)
GOLDCREST (6 - all in one family group by Forest Cottages)
Blue Tits (5 - family party)
Coal Tit (2)
Great Tit (3)
*MARSH TIT (1 with the tit flock by Forest Cottage)
Nuthatch (1)
Magpie (10+, with 3 juveniles in the paddocks by Raan's Farm)
Jay (2 juveniles along Saw Mill Trail and further birds by Forest Cottages)
Carrion Crow (4)
Jackdaw (2 juveniles)
Greenfinch (3)
Goldfinch (2)
Linnet (5 - breeding in hedgerows by Raan's Farm and 4 together in the clearing just west of Lane Wood)
Yellowhammer (pair feeding young in scrub in clearing just west of Lane Wood and an additional singing male in hedgerows north of Raan's Farm)

Common Shrew (2 in Lane Wood)

Speckled Wood Butterflies (35+)
Chalkhill Blue (1)
Gatekeepers (25+)

LITTLE CHALFONT (BUCKS)

The Common Swift colony increased in number to 28 birds today whilst House Sparrows were proved breeding at 46 Bell Lane.

CHESHAM FISHING LAKES (BUCKS)

Great Crested Grebe (just 1 adult noted; ominously now none to be found on smaller lake)
Mute Swan (first-summer still present)
Atlantic Canada Goose (28)
Mallard (female with 4 small young)
Tufted Duck (2 females)
Coots (pairs with 3 tiny young and 2, 1 and 1 larger fledged young)
Western Reed Warblers (3+)
Blackcap and Common Chiffchaff
Wren, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit
Jackdaw (86 in post-breeding flock - large number of fledged juveniles)

On the neighbouring Pow-Wow Lake were 12 Mallard, 2 Moorhen and 2 Coots, whilst a family of Goldcrests was in hedgerows and trees bordering McMinn's and Red Admiral, 2 COMMON KINGFISHERS and Coal Tit along the Riverside Walk.

LATIMER ROAD: In the vicinity of Bois Mill, two freshly dead Badgers, one a small youngster.

LATIMER VILLAGE AND GREAT WATER (BUCKS)

Still 9 active HOUSE MARTIN nests on 'The Village House' with a total of 26 birds counted, whilst between Neptune Falls and Latimer Bridge were Little Grebe, 1 Mute Swan, a pair of Coot with 1 surviving youngster and Green Woodpecker.

On Great Water itself, Grey Heron, 20 Mute Swans (including an adult tending 1 cygnet), 30 Atlantic Canada Geese, 2 Little Grebes, 12 Tufted Duck and 30 Coot (including a pair with 4 young).

A nest was found of the usual pair of Common Kestrels, the female attending noisy young in a nest hole (presumably ready to fledge)

TROY MILL GP (HERTS)

Despite an extensive search, no sign today of the summering female Common Goldeneye (seen yesterday by Paul Lewis). Species noted included Great Crested Grebe (15 including the sole juvenile), 2 LITTLE EGRETS, 1 Mute Swan, GADWALL (13, including a female with two small young), Tufted Duck (females with broods of 4, 8 & 5 respectively), NORTHERN POCHARD (female with two young and an additional female), Moorhen, Coot (88 including pair with 2 young on river), 5 Black-headed Gulls (2 juveniles), COMMON KINGFISHER, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Sand Martins, 3 Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blackcaps, a singing male GARDEN WARBLER and 2 SEDGE WARBLERS in sedge and reedmace by the river.

SHARDELOES LAKE (BUCKS)

A routine check revealed the presence of 4 SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS - the first to be recorded in the Amersham District this year. A pair was feeding two spotty young in the Willows and thick vegetation at the western end of the lake.

Also noted were -:

Great Crested Grebe (the resident pair but still no young)
Little Grebe (a well-grown juvenile present, presumably moved in from elsewhere in the Misbourne; 2+ adults too)
Grey Heron (3)
Mute Swan (the resident pair and all 3 of last year's offspring still present)
Atlantic Canada Geese (22)
Mallard (females with 8 and 7 young respectively)
Gadwall (1 female at the west end)
Tufted Duck (female with 4 small young plus 2 females)
Moorhen (6)
Coot (115)
Stock Dove (2)
Green Woodpecker (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (2)
Common Swift (noticeable passage involving 30 birds)
Pied Wagtail (male on the cricket pitch)
Robin (fledged family party in gatehouse garden)
Song Thrush (adult gathering food)
MISTLE THRUSH (post-breeding flock of 18 mixed adult and juvenile birds feeding on cricket ground)
COMMON WHITETHROAT (a singing male was in scrub by the Misbourne 100 yards west of the main lake - a scarce species at Shardeloes Estate)
Carrion Crow (5)
Goldfinch (5)
Greenfinch (3)

DEEP MILL POND (BUCKS) (SP 907 995)

A female Tufted Duck with 5 small young was a nice record, with an additional adult female in tow, with 5 Coots (3 young) and 8 Moorhens (4 young).