The girls welcoming in the New Year
JANUARY 1ST 2014
Having finally finishing partying with
Carmel, Jade and Emma at around 0415 hours, on the way home added several
Mammals to the 2014 list with a BADGER in Hyde Heath (Bucks), Muntjac and Rabbit
in Copperkins Lane, Chesham Bois, and a Red Fox here at Chaffinch House (Little
Chalfont) when we eventually got home around 0500 hours
The forecast was awful for today and it was
just gone 11am that I eventually decided to go out in the field. It had been
very strong winds again overnight with lots of rain - pretty useless birding
conditions.
Virtually nothing in the garden at CHAFFINCH
HOUSE - just a single male Chaffinch, 2 Woodpigeons and 5 Common
Starlings.
Venturing out into the CHESS VALLEY, it was
flooding everywhere..........
At CHENIES BOTTOM bridge, both resident Mute
Swan pair were to be seen, and between there and CHURCH COVERT, no less than 7
LITTLE EGRETS were feeding but no sign of the Great White (last seen just before
Christmas). A lot of the valley fields were in flood with these 12 Mallard with
a Grey Heron and Moorhen just east of LATIMER BRIDGE....
Just north of Latimer in FLAUNDEN BOTTOM,
the Corvid flock consisted of 97 Rook and 143 Western Jackdaws, with a few
Carrion Crows in the sodden fields too....
Two Common Buzzards were drying out their
wings on fenceposts in the LATIMER GREAT WATER vicinity whilst at CHESHAM
FISHING LAKES, a reasonable haul included 47 Atlantic Canada Geese, 18 Mallard,
6 Tufted Duck, 2 Northern Pochard, 8 Coot, 6 Moorhen and 3 Black-headed Gulls; 2
Common Magpie were unusual here whilst at least 8 House Sparrows were chirping
from the hedgerow opposite alongside HILL FARM ROAD.
At CHESHAM MILLFIELDS in WATERSIDE, this
Little Egret was performing well (the 8th individual currently wintering in the
Chess Valley) and I finally notched up my first Common Blackbird of the
year.
There was no respite in the weather and the
birding was largely restricted to the car - CHESHAM'S BURY LAKE yielding nothing
more than 8 Woodpigeons and another male Common Blackbird and the fields near
White House Farm on FULLER'S HILL, more Corvids in the shape of 124 Western
Jackdaw and 106 Rook; COPPERKILNS FARM nearby producing just 2 Common
Pheasants.
The rain continued to fall and deluge,
leaving me to make the most of the rest of the day at SHARDELOES ESTATE. The
lake afforded shelter for the usual 3 Mute Swans (pictured below), 62 Coot, 5
Gadwall, 3 Tufted Duck, 4 Mallard, 2 Pochard, 13 Little Grebe, an adult Lesser
Black-backed Gull, adult Common Gull, 15 Black-headed Gulls and a COMMON
KINGFISHER, whilst 4 Carrion Crows graced the cricket field and 2 Robin,
Chaffinch, Great Tit and 3 Blue Tits in the trees.
A couple of Dabchicks fishing and an adult Common Gull standing on the end of the branch
Up to 5 Red Kite and 3 Common Buzzard were
loafing around, with the Misbourne Valley further along producing 33 Redwing, 18
Fieldfare, 2 Song Thrush, 8 Goldfinch and a Common Treecreeper.
The Misbourne up near KENNEL FARM was in
flood where at the weir, a 'new' cob Mute Swan was in attendance, with the
flooded meadow harbouring 5 Gadwall, 5 Mallard and 8 Moorhen. Whilst standing on
the bridge at the weir, I heard some rustling in the undergrowth and was then
amazed to see a WOODCOCK tower up from the ground - the first I have ever seen
on the estate. Grey Squirrel was the 5th mammal species of the day and walking
back, a Greenfinch and 2 WATER RAILS were recorded - the latter in exactly the
same place I had seen the family party in June.
At dusk, a total of 977 Western Jackdaws
flew into the Hundred Acres roost...
A total of 39
species recorded for the day
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