I
moved on to Nagshead RSPB Reserve between 1550 and
1630. The sun was shining in the
afternoon. Of note were 172 frogs
at least in the pond by the information centre along with frog spawn. Spring has arrived!
At
Ashleworth, the water level was much higher than on
26th February with the top end of
Slimbridge in the afternoon was bathed in sunshine and
there were still about 100 White-fronted Geese with the Pink-footed Goose with
them on the Tack Piece. Good
numbers of Bewick’s Swans are also still
present.
A
short visit was made to WWT Slimbridge. I noted 174 Bewick’s
Swans (203 have been reported) so not many have left on migration (probably
about 30 birds over the weekend).
This evening looks good as it is a clear night, not much wind and a
nearly full moon (full yesterday).
It will be interesting to see how many remain tomorrow.
Slimbridge
between 1330 and 1745. The
clouds cleared somewhat and the afternoon was breezy, cool but beautifully
light. There has probably been no
loss of migrants overnight but conditions for tonight look good. The swans and geese are becoming overdue
for departure because of adverse weather and now it would appear to be a clear
night with a favourable wind direction and almost a full moon. Almost perfect conditions except that it
could be quite windy.
Slimbridge
between 1400 and 1700. About
245 Bewick’s Swans were reported and there was
a good spectacle at the feed. About
100 White-fronted Geese were on the Dumbles and the
Pink-footed Goose was still with them.
Have some of the geese migrated?
At
Slimbridge in the afternoon, the rain set in. The Pink-footed Geese was with the
White-fronted Geese on The Dumbles
at 1530. About 20 Bewick’s Swans have been reported to have left on
migration. There are, however,
still a good number present and the feed is still a spectacle. At dusk, there was a large number of
Jackdaws flying in, presumably to roost.
At
New Fancy View between 1135 and 1300, Buzzards, Ravens and Goshawks were all on
the wing as was a lone Sparrowhawk. Two of the Goshawk sightings were
particularly good in the good light and sunny conditions. 3 deer were in the clearing below the
viewpoint. This is the ninth day
without rain and the maximum temperature noted today was 8 deg. C.
On
a general note, I have logged at least 4 dead badgers on the roads this last
two or three days. It seems that
they are on the move now and are coming into conflict with traffic.
13th February 2010 – Another cold
day. It seems that this is a colder
than average winter and the coldness is continuing for a long time.
12th February 2010 – A cold day
with sunny intervals.
11th February 2010. It was a bright, but cold day at Slimbridge.
Unexpectedly, there were at least 20 Mute Swans on Rushy
Pen at lunchtime. I suspect that
they have been disturbed from their usual haunt of Big Pen by the large civil
engineering project which has now started in that and the surrounding
area. A cold night last night with
the temperature at one point being down to -5 deg. C. produced a frozen back
pond here today. The Tack Piece,
although it did have plenty of standing water is now also frozen up and
consequently there were few birds on this area. However, many of the Bewick’s
Swan flock were there but most of those were sleeping but a transient flock of
Dunlin was of note too. The
Holden scrape held a good number of Wigeon and the
geese on the Dumbles included the White-fronted Goose
flock. Later in the day on Rushy Pen, I noted once again the male Pochard
with the bill saddle ‘3=’.
Another cold night was in prospect.
10th February 2010 – At the Cyril
Hart arboretum near Speech House, there is a feeder at the edge of the car
park. There were many birds there
including Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and Nuthatch with Redwing on
the ground.
At
Nagshead, later in the day between 1720 and 1810, it
was quiet in the woods towards dusk as would be expected but there were Tawny
Owls hooting at dusk down in the Cannop Valley. It
was a fine day with occasional snow flurries and the temperature had already
dropped to 0 deg. C. by 1800. Of
note, there was still some ice on the part of the pond by the information
centre. This has been the case to a
lesser or larger extent since around Christmas time 2009.
9th February 2010 – At Ashleworth, it was overcast with slight sleet and rain
showers and a cold north east wind.
I was there between 1100 and 1210.
About 150 Lapwing were in the air over Hasfield
Ham but when I walked up Stank Lane, 540 were in the extended field which has
the pond in it. There were some swans in the
distance on Hasfield Ham. There were Mute Swans present but I
could not identify all of the birds at long range.
8th February 2010 – I was at Ashleworth between 1110 and 1230 where the weather was
overcast with slight drizzle/sleet and it was cold, the temperature at 1100
being 2 deg. C. I could see 22
Tufted Duck and 1 male Pochard from the hide. There were many Canada Geese but quite
of few of them were hidden behind hedges and trees which has extensive
floodwater around them. Hasfield Ham was still flooded and held many Wigeon. There was a total of 23 Mute Swans and 5 adult Bewick’s
Swans.
Slimbridge in
the afternoon. There were 2
Oystercatchers on South Lake and a single Black-tailed Godwit. From the
I
managed to read the metal ring on one of the Bewick’s
Swans which researcher, Julia Newth did not
recognise. The ring read
‘Z70655’ and after referring to the database, I found that this
bird was named Derek and was hatched in 1989. He had a mate called Dorrie
and was last seen in January 1998, 12 years ago. He is now 21 years old and his current
mate is not Dorrie as shown by the bill pattern. So, where has this bird been wintering
during the last 12 years.
7th February 2010 – An overcast,
calm and cold day with the temperature at 1830 being 3 deg. C. I was at Nagshead
RSPB Reserve between 1640 and 1810 but it was understandably quiet in the woods
but Tawny Owls started to call and duet at 1725 and the sound resounded around
the Cannop Valley. There was still a little bit of ice on
the pool near the inforation centre and the tracks
were very muddy which must be as a result of the thawing ground.
6th February 2010 – A misty start
to the day in Longhope and generally it was an
overcast and dampish day.
5th February 2010 – A fine
day. At Slimbridge,
the Tack Piece and The Dumbles
were full of birds. Waders on the
former included Lapwing, Golden Plover, Snipe, Dunlin, Curlew, Ruff (about 20),
Redshank (about 20) and Spotted Redshank.
An Oystercatcher was on South Lake making a total of 9 wader species in
total. The birds in general were
very jumpy, Rushy Pen being deserted when I arrived
at 1130. This was probably due to
the sound of the mechanical diggers which are doing a lot of work in Big
Pen. It is unfortunate that this
work is going on at this time. It
would have been better if it was started in about 2 weeks
time when many of the birds would have left on migration.
4th February 2010 – A damp day
with some rain but milder than of late.
3rd February 2010 – I arrived at Ashleworth at 1045 and it was overcast and cold with the
temperature at 1030 being 2 deg. C.
There were several Chaffinch flocks along Ham Road and Stank Lane. There was certainly some movement of
this species. There were
approximately 130 Lapwing over Hasfield Ham. Interestingly at the top of
In
the afternoon, I went to Slimbridge. An Oystercatcher on South Lake was the
first for me at that site. The Dumbles were covered in a lot of water from the recent very
high tides, and there were many duck, mainly Wigeon,
on and around the scrape in front of the Holden Tower. This was quite a spectacle. 161 White-fronted Geese were on the Tack
Piece. There were fewer birds on Rushy Pen than usual after a morning catch and other
unavoidable disturbance. There was
drizzle by dusk.
2nd February 2010 – At Nagshead, I walked the long trail but it was very quiet in
the woods. Of note was a very small
Grey Squirrel which must have been a young one and which has survived the
recent snow and the very cold weather.
There were rain showers this morning but brighter later.
1st February 2010 – At Slimbridge, it was overcast with some sunny intervals. The birds of note were on South Lake
where there was a female Ring-necked Duck and a female Ruddy Duck. The White-fronted Goose flock were on
the Tack Piece but I could not find the reported Pink-footed Goose. A female type Red-crested Pochard was also on South Lake but the bird looked odd and
was almost certainly a hybrid.
30th January 2010 – It was sunny,
cold and crisp with a blue sky at Ashleworth and the
temperature at 1030 was 0 deg. C. Hasfield Ham was
flooded and ice free. Ashleworth Ham was generally ice free and the water is no
longer over the road. Along Stank
Lane at 1100, there were 70 Lapwing on the ice on the crater field where there
was some duck too. Gulls and ducks
were also scattered over Hasfield Ham. In the afternoon, there appeared to be
more Canada Geese present. I
flushed a Snipe along Stank Lane and then found 3 adult Whooper Swans on Hasfield Ham. A
Long-tailed Tit flock was a pleasure to see along the lane. The water along the lane was lower than
this morning. It is draining away
quite quickly. Meanwhile, a Grey
Squirrel was eating a green apple near the hide. At 1654, 5 adult Bewick’s
Swans flew into Hasfield Ham, which I saw from the
hide. There had been shooting to
the north of the reserve and this made all of the swans wary and the Canada
Geese took flight but most returned.
The swans began to settle and I left at 1740 in the dusk and I believed
that they would roost. 9 Tufted
Duck including 2 females were disturbed by the shots but remained in front of
the hide.
29th January 2010 – It was
overcast with a cold breeze at Ashleworth at
1100. The flood water is still just
over Ham Road at Dirty Lane and at Stank Lane crossroads. A Little Egret was near Stonebow Farm.
From the hide, I could see at least 88 Canada Geese but there was almost
certainly more on the extensive floodwater. The river level was ‘only’ 8.32m
and the floods should be going down.
At
Slimbridge in the afternoon, there was quite a number
of Pochard on the Rushy Pen
at lunchtime including the one with the bill saddle ‘3=’. The White-fronted Geese were
predominantly on the Dumbles. There was a snow shower in the middle of
the afternoon which cut the visibility dramatically but the snow did not really
lay. There were no swans on the
roadside fields or the canalside fields to the
south. There was another snow
shower at 1730 on the A38 to the south of Gloucester and the roads around Longhope were very icy with snow on the grass. The temperature at 2000 was 0 deg. C.
28th January 2010 – I went to Gigrin Farm Red Kite Feeding Station to try to find the
reported Black Kite. First, I
walked along the path alongside the reservoir above the visitor centre at the Elan Valley.
Here it was very quiet in slight drizzle and a very cold breeze. Only birds noted were 2 Goldfinch in the
small trees alongside the water and a pair of Mallards flying up the reservoir.
When
I arrived at the farm at about 1320, there were about 150 kites in the air
above the buildings. The Red Kites
appear to come into the feed, which is set out at 1400
27th January 2010 – It was
overcast and cold at Slimbridge with the temperature
reaching 2 deg. C. at 1100. In the south
middle field, (field 12) alongside the road running into the Centre, there were
67 Curlew. Along the fields to the
west of the canal near to Cambridge Arms Bridge, there were about 700 Lapwing. From the Holden Tower, on the Tack Piece
there were 24 Redshank in a tight, small flock. Most of the Bewick’s
Swan flock were also in this field.
Highlight of the day was at 1615 where I found a Stoat in the grass car
park mooching around a parked car tyres and reaching
up on its hind legs to look into the wheel arches.
22nd January 2010 – A very wet day
with 18mm of rain today.
21st January 2010 – Overcast and
dull. A new bird
for the house today in the form of Redpolls in the trees opposite at lunchtime.
20th Jauuary
2010 – Snow again fell overnight but the thaw soon set in and a total of
14mm of rain fell today.
17th January 2010 – It was a mild
and sunny day at Ashleworth. I arrived at 1305 and the temperature
was 8 deg. C. En route, I noted
that the River Leadon near Highleadon
had burst its banks, a legacy, no doubt, of the sudden thaw and the melting of
the copious amounts of snow which has now disappeared. At Ashleworth,
the water level is high but is yet to reach the road. The top of Stank Lane is flooded and on Ashleworth Ham itself, the water is still iced over with a
little open water to the south. Hasfield Ham is flooded but here there is no ice at
all. Later in the day, on my way
home, I noted that the River Severn is very high near Maisemore. At Ashleworth,
the counts of waterfowl were as follows – 341 Wigeon,
165 Teal, 19 Mallard, 3 Shoveler, 3 Gadwall, 12
Pintail, 2 Greylag Geese, 9 Canada Geese and 3 Mute Swans. Also present, 5 Black-headed Gull and 3 Common
Gull on the east side of
16th January 2010 – The thaw
continued with still some snow covering some of the fields at Longhope. The
disappearance of the snow was helped not only by the rise in temperature but by
very heavy rain overnight which amounted to 4 mm. There were some further, short but very
heavy rain showers in the afternoon.
15th January 2010 – Again it was
an overcast and grey day but much milder than of late with the temperature
reaching 7 deg. C. at 1300 at Slimbridge. There were some Bewick’s
Swans on the south middle field which is an area alongside the road leading to
the car park. There were 17 birds
including 3 cygnets in one family.
At 1445, I noted 18 Bewick’s Swans
including one cygnet on the far side of the Tack Piece near to the hedge
dividing it from the Ox Piece where there were at least 60 birds and probably
more since some must have been hidden behind the hedge. This is the first time this winter that
I have seen these swans using that particular field.
At
feeding time on Rushy Pen, I checked through the
Canada Geese which had come in for the feed to try to find the reported
possible Todd’s Canada Goose.
A bird was pointed out to me and this was a slightly smaller individual
with a slightly smaller bill reminiscent of a Pink-footed Goose bill. There was a white eye ring and the
primaries were very dark and these contrasted with lighter secondaries. There was a dark patch under the chin
which the other birds seemed not to have and the flanks were very dark ending
with a ‘C’ shape where there was much contrast with the lighter
rear. Under the belly there was a sharp
demarcation between the dark lower breast and the white undertail
feathers. I realised that this bird
had been pointed out to me yesterday but it was not easy to see the whole bird
as it was among many tightly packed individuals and before a good look could be
had, the feed had started and the bird was lost from view. However, I had noted some of the
aforementioned features including the fact that the bird had a limp as did this
bird and which clinched the fact that I was looking at the same bird today. This bird, with so many differing
features, albeit sometimes subtle, from the nominate race may well be the
subspecies, interior – Todd’s Canada Goose.
14th January 2010 – It was an
overcast and very dark and grey day.
A thaw has set in but there is still a lot of snow at Longhope but less at The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge.
There is a little bit more open water on Rushy
Pen and the female Goldeneye was seen just before
lunch. After lunch I went down to
the fields near The Moors to the south east of the reserve where the Bewick’s Swans often use a field alongside Penny
Lane. There were none in that field
but beyond the copse along the lane, some birds were heard and finally they
were located further to the south.
There were 110 Bewick’s Swans in field
335 and 4 in an adjoining field.
With the big flock of swans were 257 White-fronted Geese which explained
why they did not seem to be around the reserve on the Dumbles
area. This is understandable since
the latter area is frozen and covered with snow whereas some of these fields
are much greener than others and offer easier feeding. A Little Egret moved up the rhine along Penny Lane as I moved along it in search of the
swans and geese.
13th January 2010 – More snow
overnight at Longhope and it finally stopped at 1600
but not before there was another 3 ½ inches on the patio.
12th January 2010 – At Slimbridge today it was overcast yet again but this time
there was a strong breeze which made the cold seem even worse even though the
temperature was just above freezing as a slight thaw was taking place. The Cherry Blossom which has come out on
a tree in the car park before Christmas is now gone which is not a surprise. It will be interesting to see if there
is another burst of bloom. The snow
has largely gone off the sandbanks of the river. It was there yesterday but today, there
are large slabs of ice which have floated down the river and grounded
themselves on the sand/mud. A
female Kestrel took refuge from the icy wind in the vegetation in front of the
Holden Tower. The Tack Piece and Dumbles are an icy white mass. A party of Long-tailed Tits were on the
feeders on the Holden walkway, a species which sometimes struggles to survive
in prolonged cold weather, so this sighting was particularly pleasing to
see. Other bird numbers and
distribution were similar to yesterday.
11th January 2010 – At Slimbridge, it was overcast and very dull with a slight
thaw. The car park, however, was
still iced over. The only two bits of
open water were on Rushy Pen by the swan pipe and on
South Lake away to the left of the hide in the deep water area. There appeared to be quite a number of
birds on Rushy Pen but in reality they were nearly
all in the one place of open water and therefore there appeared to be more
there were in reality. Having said
that, it was still quite a spectacle.
There appeared to be smaller numbers of Pochard
than pre freeze dates and there were certainly less than the 300+ Bewick’s Swans that had been reported a few days
ago. A female Goldeneye
on the Rushy Pen was a little unusual but the Pochard with the bill saddle with markings ‘3=’
was still present.
Back
at home at 1900, I heard a scratching outside of my window in the veranda. When I went out, a male Great Tit flew
into the kitchen. I put the light
on in the veranda and ushered the bird out. The bird then spent some hours in
the relative warmth of this area.
The veranda has wrought iron gates at the end so the bird was free to go
as and when it pleased. I suspect
that it roosted in there but was gone the next morning.
10th January 2010 – A slightly
warmer day with a little bit of a thaw but there is still a thick layer of snow
on the ground here at Longhope. Most of the snow in the trees has now
gone. There is a lot of activity
with the birds locally. Greenfinch,
Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit feeding voraciously in the trees
around my garden and they seem to be picking off the start of any new buds for
food. A lone Bullfinch, Robin and Dunnock were foraging likewise on the ground under bushes
and searching everywhere. Song
Thrush, Redwing and Blackbird were all in numbers and again were looking for
food.
9th January 2010 – Another cold
day with the temperature not rising above 0 deg. C. all day.
8th January 2010 – Another cold
night with a similar temperature to the night before. It was a slightly warmer day in that the
temperature almost got to 0 deg. C.
There is still lots of snow cover.
I walked to Five Acres.
Along the way, there were a lot of Blackbirds and Thrush species in
peoples gardens where there were bird feeders or bushes with berries. There were many deer tracks in the snow
which came out of the woods and although the main road was clear of snow, it
was possible to see the tracks on the other side of the road after they had
crossed it. Of note in several
places were the sight of brand new mole hills poking out of the three or four
inches of snow on some of the verges.
Even though the ground appears to be frozen, these animals are still on
the move underground.
7th January 2010 – Amazingly the
temperature dropped to -11 deg. C. and then rose to a maximum of -2 deg. C.
during the day. There is a lot of
snow in the trees.
6th January 2010 – At dawn this morning,
I woke to six and a half inches of snow.
5th January 2010 – The temperature
fell to -2 deg. C. overnight. Snow
started to fall just before lunch and started to lay immediately on the cold
ground. There was a good covering
of the white stuff by dark.
4th January 2010 – Yet another
blue sky day. Nothing of real note
to report but on passing the Stone Works at Cannop
when I was on foot, a Siskin on the feeders was of interest. This species appears to be regular here.
3rd January 2010 – Another blue
sky day but very cold with the temperature only reaching 0 deg. C. at 1100 and
a maximum of about 2 deg. C. for the day.
At 1130, I was at New Fancy View. There were 2 Buzzards, 2 Ravens
interacting and rolling and a Sparrowhawk in the air
but no Goshawks were seen.
Crossbills overflew a couple of times and once
they descended into the trees by the car park and 2 females gave good
views.
At
Nagshead, it was quiet in the woods again with a lone
Redwing near the cave and a Goldcrest with a tit flock
near Nagshead Lodge.
By
2000 this evening the temperature was approaching -4 deg. C. so a cold night in
the offing.
2nd January 2010 – A very cold day
again with the overnight temperature falling below -1 deg. C. It was 0 deg. C. at 1000 and rose to 4
deg. C. by 1330. Ashleworth between 1015 and 1200. Both Ashleworth
Ham and Hasfield Ham are flooded and frozen over with
some patches of open water. On the
former, there were Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler, Mallard and Canada Goose with many of these birds
asleep on the ice. There were
approximately 500 waterfowl. 102
Lapwing were on the ice on the east side of Ham Road near Colways
Farm with some Black-headed Gulls.
Along Stank Lane, there was a Redwing and Fieldfare flock on a south side
field (field 2). On Hasfield Ham, there were 7 Mute Swans of varying ages, some
gulls and a few duck. On my return
along Ham Road, near Colways Farm, a Red Kite was
circling and this then flew to the north. It was in immaculate plumage and did
not have any wing tags. At noon, I
noted 3(1) Bewick’s Swans fly into Hasfield Ham and I confirmed this from the hide.
After
lunch, I went to Coombe Hill Canal. Here, conditions were similar to Ashleworth. The
fields around the hide are flooded and frozen over but there is a large section
of open water in front of the hide and this whole area can be viewed from the
towpath where a Bullfinch was of note.
The swans present included 25 Mute Swans, both juveniles and adults and
2 adult Bewick’s Swans. Also present, and a delight to see, were
3 adult Whooper Swans. There were also many Wigeon,
Teal, Canada Geese and Greylag Geese and 2 White-fronted Geese. There were also a lot of gulls including
Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed and Common
Gull. There were well over 1000
birds present.
1st
January 2010 - A Happy New Year to
my visitors and good natural history in 2010.
The
first bird of the year was a Tawny Owl heard at Longhope
not long after midnight.
A
clear, blue sky day for the start of a new year. The temperature dropped to -5 deg. C.
overnight and was only -1 deg. C. at 0930.
At Slimbridge, there were at least 90 Curlew
on the first right hand road field after the canal bridge. There were more of this species in the field
beyond. There were plenty of birds
present including 281 White-fronted Geese on the Tack Piece in the
morning. A Mute Swan with a none
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust darvic ring (Orange
‘N87’) was on the canal between Patch Bridge and Cambridge Arms Bridge. Total number of species for the day was
59 including Redpolls on the Holden Walkway.