Mote Tetrad Work - SP 96 06 and SP 97 06 HOG LANE AND HOCKERIDGE/PANCAKE WOODS

WEDNESDAY 6 JULY

Although the first half of the day was relatively bright and calm, the second half was dominated by increasing winds from the Southwest. A few sharp heavy rain showers also quickly swept through. This deepening front was responsible for pushing over 660 Cory's Shearwaters in front of it, moving west past the Runnel Stone at Gwennap Head, Porthgwarra (West Cornwall)......

With such conditions, I fully expected a wave of new waders in Rookery Pit South but the only arrivals landed after I had departed the site.........

SP 96 06 HOG LANE FARM AND ENVIRONS (BUCKS) (continuing tetrad work)

Another bird-rich tetrad, with a broad diversity of habitats. A total of 23 species encountered -:

Red Kite (pair nesting)
Common Kestrel (1 in the vicinity of Short Heath Farm)
Woodpigeon (present and nesting)
Collared Dove (pair visiting spilt seed at Johns Lane Farm)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 present at 'The House in the Wood')
European Barn Swallow (pair nesting opposite Hog Lane Farm, with 3 pairs and fledged young at Johns Lane Farm)
Pied Wagtail (pair with single juvenile feeding by horses in Willow Wood stable fields with another pair still feeding young in barn roof at Johns Lane Farm)
Robin (pair feeding young along Hog Lane, with another at Holly Bank)
Wren (pair at 'Owl Meadow')
Common Blackbird (juvenile in one of the small coppices)
Common Chiffchaff (singing male in garden of Willow Wood Barn and adult with young near Willow Wood)
Great Tit (1 by Hog Lane)
Blue Tit (3 by Hog Lane)
*Common Treecreeper (family party of 5 birds on the perimeter of Highfield House)
Rook (68 feeding with other corvids in vicinity of Johns Lane Farm)
Carrion Crow (20 birds feeding in the vicinity of Johns Lane Farm)
Common Magpie (5 in vicinity of Johns Lane Farm)
Jackdaw (55 in vicinity of manure heaps at Johns Lane Farm)
House Sparrow (colony of 15 birds at Johns Lane Farm)
Chaffinch (pair feeding fledged young at 'Owl Meadow' and another family at 'The House in the Wood')
Greenfinch (singing male near Highfield House, with further males at Hog Lane Farm and Little Paddock)
Goldfinch (pair in garden of Old Farm Cottage and another at Little Paddock)
BULLFINCH (family party of 5 birds in grounds of Highfield House with perhaps the same drinking at a roadside pool in Northchurch Lane adjacent to 'The House in the Wood')
Comma Butterfly (1 along Hog Lane)

SP 97 06 HOCKERIDGE AND PANCAKE WOODS, ASHLEY GREEN (BUCKS)

These woods belong to the Royal Forestry Society and are being managed for timber production, wildlife and amenity. They have been replanted with a variety of ornamental and forest trees and in many areas, the evergreen conifers are 'nursing' groups of Beech, Oak or Cherry. In all, 20 species are represented, including several Larch and Fir. The site has long been a traditional haunt of the Edible Dormouse and in recent years, Firecrests have colonised. An exhaustive search this afternoon yielded just 19 species.

Common Pheasant (1 male)
Woodpigeon (20+ pairs)
Carrion Crow (adults with fledged young)
Wren (8 separate territories, two pairs feeding fledged young)
Dunnock (just 1 pair located)
Robin (four pairs in Hockeridge Wood)
Common Blackbird (three different pairs)
Song Thrush (singing male in Pancake Wood and just one nesting pair in Hockeridge)
Blackcap (just 1 singing male)
Goldcrest (total of 11 singing males/family groups)
FIRECREST* (frustratingly, too late for recording singing males, as core area devoid of birds - elsewhere in wood, just one transient family group located, probably numbering 6 birds)
Blue & Great Tit (in noisy family parties)
Coal Tit (2 family groups)
MARSH TIT (single scolding bird noted in Hockeridge Wood)
Long-tailed Tit (family party)
COMMON TREECREEPER (family party)
Chaffinch (5 singing males)
BULLFINCH (family group at north end)